The Forest Europe Ministerial Conference opened today at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Oslo, Norway. In attendance were ministers responsible for forests and high-level representatives of European countries and the European Community, as well as representatives of observer countries and organizations.

HRH Crown Prince Haakon of Norway opened the conference and welcomed participants to Norway. He noted the role forests play in society, economy, biodiversity, and climate change and stressed cooperation and good governance for sustainable forest management (SFM). Dag Terje Andersen, President of the Norwegian Parliament, called for investments in forests as a renewable resource.

Delegates heard keynote addresses from Victor Nikolayevich Maslyakov, Head of Federal Forestry Agency, Russian Federation, and Silva Rodriguez, Director-General, European Commission, who discussed continuing forest-related challenges in the Russian Federation and Europe, respectively.

After the opening ceremonies, delegates participated in a thematic session entitled "Europe's forests – challenges and opportunities.” Christopher Prins, international forest expert, presented the report “State of Europe’s Forests 2011,” highlighting progress made and remaining challenges in implementing SFM in Europe. Delegates then participated in a panel debate on European forests in a global perspective, where they heard statements from representatives of Major Groups and other panelists. Much of the discussion focused on forests for bioenergy and the role of forests in the green economy.

In the afternoon, delegates heard statements from signatory countries during a Ministerial Roundtable. Ministers expressed their support for the Oslo Ministerial Mandate for Negotiating a Legally Binding Agreement on Forests in Europe, as well as the Oslo Ministerial Declaration: European Forests 2020, which describes a vision, goals and targets for European forests.