General Assembly Appoints Juha Niemelä from Metsähallitus as President of Eustafor for a Second Term

Juha S. Niemelä, Director General of Metsähallitus, Finland, has been re-elected as the President of EUSTAFOR by the association’s General Assembly. His appointment comes together with the re-election of the Vice-President, Georg Schöppl (Österreichische Bundesforste), and nine other members of the Executive Committee.

Mr. Niemelä will be continuing his presidency for a new term, having first been elected in 2023 when he replaced Reinhardt Neft, Managing Director of Bayerische Staatsforsten AöR. On 18 March 2025, the EUSTAFOR General Assembly appointed the following members of the Executive Committee to guide and steer the Association’s work for the next 2-year term:

President

• Juha S. Niemelä, Director General of Metsähallitus (Finland)

Vice-President

• Georg Schöppl, Österreichische Bundesforste (Austria)

Executive Committee Board Members:

• Josef Svoboda, Lesy České Republiky s.p. (Czech Republic)
• Natalie Barbe, Office National des Forêts (France)
• Mark Carlin, Coillte (Ireland)
• Jerzy Fijas, Lasy Państwowe (Poland)
• Marius Dan Sîiulescu, ROMSILVA (Romania)
• Mikk Marran, Riigimetsa Majandamise Keskus (Estonia)
• Olaf Johansson, Sveaskog (Sweden)
• Sara Maltoni, ANARF (Italy)
• Manfred Kröninger, Bayerische Staatsforsten AöR (Germany)

As the new EU policy term begins and the European Commission has been fully appointed, Mr. Niemelä and the Executive Committee will prioritize a key strategic goal: enhancing communication with EU policymakers and the public. Their focus will be on promoting state forest management organisations and their contribution to balancing economic, environmental, and social roles to meet societal needs.

 

“EUSTAFOR is growing but so are the policy advancements and initiatives in forestry. Our challenge is to keep managing our forests sustainably to provide timber and bio-based products and contribute to the decarbonisation of our economy while preserving our forest ecosystems. Communication and involvement in all the discussions, both at EU and national levels is key” – Juha Nimelä, President of EUSTAFOR.

 

As one of the first deliverables under the new ExCom, the General Assembly adopted a position paper outlining EUSTAFOR’s calls for balanced and sound land protection approaches. The position paper can be accessed here.

At the same meeting, EUSTAFOR Members took statutory decisions regarding the annual work plan and the budget, as well as welcomed the full membership of Junta de Castilla y León (Spain). Furthermore, new members from the Netherlands, Staatsbosbeheer, and Germany, Hessenforst were welcomed.

During the General Assembly EUSTAFOR was awarded the Kordelas of the Polish Forestry Award by the Polish Directorate General of State Forests (Lasy Państwowe) as a testament of EUSTAFOR’s outstanding contributions to the sustainable management of Europe’s forests.

This year’s General Assembly took place at The Delegation of the Government of Catalonia to the European Union. Catalonia has been a member of EUSTAFOR since 2016 and a voting member since 2020. This year’s event, held at their permanent delegation, shows the Government of Catalonia’s clear commitment to collaborate and participate closely with the EUSTAFOR to promote multifuncional forestry and sustainable forest management.

Together, EUSTAFOR’s 39 members — dynamic and capable entities managing state forests across 28 European countries — regularly collaborate to share knowledge and expertise. They engage not only with each other but also with key stakeholders in the forestry sector and EU decision-makers. Their positions are grounded in proven, expert-backed practices implemented across approximately one-third of Europe’s forested areas. Through a consultative approach, they provide relevant, valuable, and reliable input to EU policy development processes.

For further information, please contact:

Juha S. Niemelä, President of EUSTAFOR, office@eustafor.eu

Piotr Borkowski, EUSTAFOR’s Executive Director, piotr.borkowski@eustafor.eu

For more information on our association:

Please visit our website at www.eustafor.eu and follow @EUSTAFOR on X and LinkedIn.

EUSTAFOR was established in 2006. Its members are state forest management organisations from 28 European countries. These organisations practice sustainable forest management in approximately 1/3 of the Europe’s Forest area, including more than 18 million hectares of designated Natura 2000 sites and other forests protected by law. They harvest approximately 145 million m³ of round timber annually and, together, employ over 130 000 people.

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