FOREST EUROPE Expert Level Meeting, Oslo 30th – 31st March 2011

Opening remarks,

Distinguished delegates, dear colleagues and friends.

Welcome to Oslo.

The snow is just about to disappear in this city and the spring is here. The roads are dirty and the city is grey.

In June, however, the surroundings of Oslo are green and we occasionally experience pleasant temperatures during summer. Please bring your minister and come back then.

Before that you have to finalise your work and preparations for bold decisions at the ministerial conference. Actually, you should finalise it this week.

I have had the possibility to follow the development of draft decisions, background papers and additional documentation for the conference. I am impressed by the work you have done. 

I have learned that it is much focus on the work on the draft decision on launching negotiations on a legally binding agreement. That is understandable. It is a possible new direction for the European cooperation on forest policies. We should always consider such steps carefully. That is actually what we have done. The detailed and well prepared documents are a good basis for an efficient follow up after the conference.

I understand that you still have some issues to resolve. It is tempting to comment on them, but I will limit my suggestion to one particular issue:

I suggest the nomination of Mr. Jan Heino from Finland as Chair of the Bureau and the Intergovernmental Negotiation Committee and that this proposal is pursued for consideration by the Ministerial Conference in Oslo in June.

The reason for this is first and foremost due to Mr. Heino’s personal qualities and his experience. But it is also the fact that he is coming from a country with advanced, balanced and future oriented policies for managing forests and natural resources and their practise of supporting the work in different international fora. We need these personal qualities, and the chair needs this support from his country. Many countries can provide excellent persons as candidates, but few can match this combination of personal qualities and country support. We will need that.

Sustainable forest management is an evolving concept. We need to adapt to new challenges and demands from society. For this reason we should continue to develop our tools and means in order to be able to develop comprehensive forest policies and manage our forest in a holistic manner. I appreciate the fact that you have suggested to improve the tools of FOREST EUROPE as an action for follow up of the conference. These tools have proved to be of importance for guiding national forest policies in countries throughout our region.

The understanding of the multiple roles of forests and the understanding of sustainable forest management are under threat. The concept is well understood by you, but from other sectors and interest groups, forests are viewed with particular interests - and often within limited scope.

Forests cannot be managed with a tunnel vision. Sustainable forest management has proved to be the strategy that works and that has restored the forest in Europe after unsustainable practices in the past – and we shall improve it further.

FOREST EUROPE can help us in this effort. A legally binding agreement can help us in this effort. A legally binding agreement within the framework of Forest Europe can support us in the work to secure the multiple benefits from forests in Europe in the future.

I am of the opinion that we have an opportunity now to lay the basis for a future oriented cooperation and a legal framework that can secure and develop sustainable forest management in Europe. We should not miss this opportunity. We will not get many new chances to correct inaction now.

I wish you all the best for the meeting and your stay in Oslo.

Thank you for your attention.