ŠGD Hercegbosanske šume hosted the 10th Jubilee KUPRES 2025 Conference

On 21-22 March 2025, EUSTAFOR’s Executive Director, Piotr Borkowski, participated in the 10^th Jubilee KUPRES 2025 Conference on Forests and Forestry in Bosnia & Herzegovina. The main theme of the conference was the impact of geopolitical developments on the forestry sector in Bosnia & Herzegovina and in the Balkan region.

The conference started with a tree planting to celebrate the International Year of Forests 2025, which was followed by a Press Conference. The subsequent session was divided into four thematic blocks with a focus on:

1. Instability and volatility of the market and ways to find sustainable solutions to cope with this problem
2. Climate change threat to forest ecological services of forests
3. Innovations and technological solutions for a more stable business in forestry and the wood sector
4. Multidisciplinary approach to the development of the forestry sector – perspectives of science and research, economic operators, policy making and the non-governmental organisations

Finally, the participants took part in a retrospective discussion on a decade of the forestry cooperations in the Balkan region and the role of KUPRES Conferences in strengthening this cooperation.

The Executive Director was invited to share EUSTAFOR’s views on the climate change impacts on sustainable forest management. He also participated in a panel addressing the forestry sector from the EU perspective. Recent forestry-related legislation and policies, such as the EU Deforestation Regulation, the Renewable Energy Directive and biomass sustainability, as well as restrictions to forest management from climate and environmental laws, were addressed in a panel with representatives of forest owners, forest certification schemes and academia.

The Executive Director was also invited to present the Award for the Best Young Forest Engineer of the Year 2025, whereas EUSTAFOR received congratulations on 10 years of promoting cooperation with Herzeg-Bosnian forestry at the European level.

The KUPRES Conference, organised by ŠGD Hercegbosanske šume, an Associated Member of EUSTAFOR, is the biggest event on forests and the forest-based sector in the Western Balkan Region. Croatian Wood Cluster from Zagreb is an important partner and facilitator of this co-operation.

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