|
m
|
t
|
w
|
t
|
f
|
s
|
s
|
 |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||
|
The 5th Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe (MCPFE 5) opened today at the Sheraton Hotel in Warsaw, Poland. In attendance were ministers responsible for forests and high-level representatives of 44 European countries and the European Community, as well as representatives of 14 observer countries and 31 observer organizations. The President of Poland, Lech Kaczynski, opened the conference and welcomed participants to Warsaw. After the opening ceremonies, delegates participated in a thematic session entitled "Europe's forests - state of the art and challenges ahead," and engaged in a Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue. In the afternoon, delegates heard statements from signatory countries.
|
|||
 |
 |
 |
|||||
|
Lech Kaczynski, President of Poland, drew linkages between forests and climate change and highlighted Poland's achievements in increasing its forest cover in the past 15 years.
|
Jan Szyszko, Minister of the Environment of Poland and co-Chair of MCPFE 5, underscored the role of sound forest management in combating climate change, species extinction and desertification.
|
Terje Riis-Johansen, Minister of Agriculture and Food of Norway and co-Chair of MCPFE 5, emphasized the importance of securing sustainable forest management (SFM) to enhance the contribution of forests to quality of life. |
|||||
 |
 |
 |
|||||
|
Marek Belka, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), said that the next challenge for Europe is to develop a rational consensus on the role of wood in renewable energy supply.
|
Mariann Fischer Boel, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, emphasized the need to balance two objectives in the forest sector: encouraging competitiveness and supporting the role of forests in biodiversity, water, climate and quality of life.
|
Piotr Borkowski, Head of the MCPFE Liaison Unit Warsaw, presented the report “Implementation of MCPFE Commitments, National and Pan-European Activities 2003-2007.”
|
|||||
 |
 |
 |
|||||
|
Jan Szyszko, Minister of the Environment, Poland.
|
Jose Luis Herranz Saez, Director General for Biodiversity, Ministry of Environment, Spain
|
Terje Riis-Johansen, Minister of Agriculture and Food, Norway
|
|||||
 |
 |
 |
|||||
|
Gerhard Mannsberger, Director-General of Forestry, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water of Austria, said that Austria is currently analyzing the full potential of wood that can be mobilized sustainably from national forests.
|
Piotr Semashko, Minister of Forests,
|
Karel Turecek, Deputy Minister of
|
|||||
 |
 |
 |
|||||
|
Tono Kruzic, on behalf of the State Secretary of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management,
|
Rita Annus, Deputy Minister of Environment of Estonia, reported on national plans and activities in the forest sector, noting that forests are monitored and evaluated using Pan-European indicators.
|
Hilkka Summa, European Commission, urged the use of biomass in a sustainable way, and improving forest fire management capabilities at all levels.
|
|||||
 |
 |
 |
||
|
Related Links
|
|||
|
|
Links to IISD Resources
|
|||
|
|
|||
Digimarc and the Digimarc logo are registered trademarks of Digimarc Corporation. The "Digimarc Digital Watermarking" Web Button is a trademark of Digimarc Corporation, used with permission. |
|||
|
|
|
|
Please e-mail the