What is Forest Europe?

FOREST EUROPE is the brand name of the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe. It is the Pan-European voluntary high-level political process for intergovernmental dialogue and cooperation on forest policies in Europe. FOREST EUROPE develops common strategies for its 47 signatories (46 European countries and the European Union) on how to protect and sustainably manage their forests.

Since 1990, the collaboration of the ministers responsible for forests in Europe has been setting agenda for policy making at national and European levels by providing  main policy framework for sustainable forest management and balancing its economic, environmental and social pillars. FOREST EUROPE has led to achievements such as the internationally agreed guidelines, criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management.

With the aim of agreeing on how to manage forests in Europe, the FOREST EUROPE process periodically hosts ministerial level conferences where ministerial commitments and resolutions are adopted.

By endorsing the declarations, decisions and resolutions at the FOREST EUROPE platform, the signatories make clear political commitments to protect and sustainably manage their forests.

Commitments endorsed by the ministers serve as a framework for implementing sustainable forest management in the European countries, adapted to their national circumstances and done in a coherent way with the rest of the region, and strengthen international cooperation at the same time.

FOREST EUROPE is involved with other global and regional processes and initiatives dealing with issues of highest political and social relevance related to forests.

Currently the Slovak Republic holds the chairmanship of FOREST EUROPE process and will pass it to Germany during the 8th Ministerial Conference. The Liaison Unit currently sits in Bonn (LUBO) and acts as a secretariat.