European forest owners and managers welcome the 4th European Forest Week and underline the key role of sustainable forest management for providing solutions to societal challenges

CEPF, Copa and Cogeca and EUSTAFOR today welcome the 4^th European Forest Week. The theme of the week, “Forests, our common good”, provides an opportunity to highlight the key role of Europe’s millions of forest owners and managers for providing solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing society today, not the least climate change and sustainable development.

The 4th European Forest Week will be celebrated through Europe on 9-13 October 2017, under the theme of “Forests, our common good”. It will be held in conjunction with Las2017 in Warsaw, Poland (‘las’ means ‘forest’ in Polish) – the Joint Session of the UNECE Committee of Forests and the Forest Industry (COFFI) and the FAO European Forestry Commission (EFC).

On this occasion Europe’s forest owners and managers would like to highlight how an economically viable and responsible forestry sector contributes to overall societal objectives, like fighting climate change and ensuring a sustainable development.

By balancing the three pillars of sustainability, economic, social and environmental, in their day-to-day management, Europe’s forest owners and managers are providing a multitude of benefits to society. Growing forests clean the air of carbon dioxide, provide areas for recreation and biodiversity and provide a range of ecosystem services and as well a crucial renewable resource that can replace non-renewable materials and energy. Furthermore, forestry contributes to a living countryside, providing jobs and income in Europe’s rural areas.

The 4^th European Forest Week once more provides a great opportunity to show the commitment of European forest owners and managers to contribute to a sustainable and productive forestry sector that is able to respond to future challenges and to ever-increasing demands from society.

For more information about the Las2017, please see the conference website.

Read more on European Forest Week here.

For further information, please contact:

CEPF – Confederation of European Forest Owners

Contact: Emma Berglund, emma.berglund@cepf-eu.org, www.cepf-eu.org

COPA and COGECA – European Farmers and European Agri-Cooperatives

Contact: Amanda Cheesley, amanda.cheesley@copa-cogeca.eu, www.copa-cogeca.eu 

EUSTAFOR – European State Forest Association

Contact: Piotr Borkowski, piotr.borkowski@eustafor.eu, www.eustafor.eu