In her speech at the meeting, the Minister provided an introduction to the vision and objectives of forestry in Estonia. “In Estonia, for the next ten years, the principles governing the protection and management of forests have been agreed upon. We want our forests to be viable and diverse, well maintained and sustainably managed. This year, in order to ensure this, we adopted the Forest Development Plan Until 2020,” said Keit Pentus. In her speech, the Minister of the Environment stressed the need to also recognise and include private forest owners. “The more that private forest owners are included in matters involving forestry, the more advice they are given, and the clearer the legal framework, the stronger the foundation upon which sustainable forestry rests,” stated Keit Pentus. In her words, the objectives of the forestry development plan approved in Estonia are already tallying with the visions for European forests being debated at the Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe. “Both set as an objective the development of forests that are viable, protectors of biologically diversity, productive and with multi-faceted uses.” At the meeting, the ministers wish to reach an agreement on the vision for Europe’s forests and to begin negotiations on the topic of a legally binding agreement for European states on the topic of forestry. Pan-European ministerial conferences on the protection of forests have been taking place since 1990. The purpose of high level meetings is to create a political framework for the sustainable management of forests and to take into consideration topical problems facing European forestry. Nearly 30 declarations and resolutions have been adopted at previous meetings, which currently serve as the basis for the forestry policy of the majority of states as well as the EU’s Forestry Strategy, including Estonia’s Forestry Development Plan Until 2020. |
