Ministers call for increased international cooperation on forest resilience

A joint declaration by the Ministers of Agriculture of seven Eastern European countries has called for strengthened international cooperation and contributions to EFI’s work in improving resilience and the adaptation of forests to climate change.

The declaration was made during the meeting of the Ministers of Agriculture of Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia in Prague on 4 October, which focused on the main challenges for the forestry sector due to climate change.

The Ministers recognised that climate change, related droughts and pests and diseases such as bark beetles had unprecedented detrimental impacts on European forests, and underlined the need for climate smart approaches. They called for increased international and transboundary cooperation to enhance the exchange of information about the spread of pests and diseases, compare different approaches and share best practices, in particular contributing to EFI’s activities.

Marc Palahí, EFI Director, welcomed the declaration. “The climate crisis and forest disturbances like bark beetles transcend national boundaries, so strategies and actions too should transcend them”, he said

EFI together with CIFOR and ICRAF is calling for global leaders to come together and hold an Earth Forest Summit, to discuss the future of forests.

The need for international collaboration to integrate, connect and share science-based knowledge was again emphasised at the ThinkForest event on “How to respond to Forest Disturbances in Europe”, which was held in Prague on 4 April. EFI’s ongoing activities also include connecting science, practice and policy via the SURE (Sustaining and Enhancing the Resilience of European Forests) project coordinated by EFI’s Bonn Office.