10th Meeting of the Working Group on Sustainable Forest Management

The 10th Meeting of the Carpathian Convention Working Group (WG) on Sustainable Forest Management will occur on 28 – 29 April in Bratislava, Slovakia.

The meeting addressed a variety of key topics crucial for advancing the implementation of the Carpathian Convention and its Protocol on Sustainable Forest Management. The WG Forests meeting brought together officially nominated forest experts, designated by the Convention National Focal Points.  The WG Forests group also engages a broad range of observers, including NGOs, academia, and strategic partners.

WG Forests meeting featured sessions on:

• Updates on inventories and assessments advancing forest conservation in the Carpathians
• Implementing relevant EU frameworks and the Carpathian Biodiversity Framework
• Supporting the Ukrainian Carpathians
• Cooperating with relevant projects, conventions, and networks

MEETING DOCUMENTS AND LINKS

Presentations:

1. Report on the Outcomes of the Carpathian Convention COP7 and the Mandate of the Working Group on Sustainable Forest Management, based on the Work Plan on Sustainable Forest Management (2023-2026); Presentation and update of the Inventory of the virgin forest in the Carpathians; Presentation and update of the Inventory of the virgin forest in the Carpathians –  Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention   

2. Presentation of the final report of the Assessment of climate change risks and impacts on the Carpathian forests and their ecosystem services – Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention

3. Presentation of National biodiversity and action plan and National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) till 2030 – Eva Viestová, the Slovak Ministry of Environment, on the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan  

4. Presentation with the new EU Nature Restoration Law – Jozef Dóczy, Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic 

5. Presentation of the EU Forest Strategy and EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 – Boris Greguška, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak Republic

6. Forest Europe Ministerial Conference Bonn 2024 and the establishment of the Forest Risk Facility (FoRISK) – Mr. Bernhard Wolfslehner, European Forest Institute Forest Europe, FoRISK 

7. Presentation of “Development of the transnational Carpathian LIFE SNaP (Strategic Nature Project): Contributions related to Forestry” – Dorothea H. Palenberg, blue! advancing European projects and the Secretariat 

8. Overview of the activities and cooperation with support to Ukraine – Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention 

9. Presentation of the Peace Park Initiative – Gabriel Paun, Agent Green and Daria Kholiavchuk, Chernivtsi National University  

10. Presentation “War and climate change are threatening Ukraine’s forests. Ukrainian foresters are calling for support to implement close-to-nature forestry in the Carpathians” – Mariana Ostrovska, the State Forest Resource Agency of Ukraine 

11. Presentation of the “Corine Land Cover Carpathian land use mapping and monitoring of landscape fires in the region”– Sergiy Zibtsev, National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, Regional Eastern Europe Fire Monitoring Center (REEFMC)

12. Review of the recommendations of the international roundtable “Ecological and Legal, Scientific-Education al and Cross-Border Aspects of Implementation of the Carpathian Convention and its Protocols” held in Rahiv, Ukraine, in October 2024 – Fedir Hamor and Iryna Jonash, Carpathian Biosphere Reserve 

13. Presentation of the WWF-CEE and WWF-UA “Support Without Harm: Preventing Environmental Violations in Ukraine” – Ganna Lobchenko, Senior Expert Forests WWF-Ukraine  

14.  ForestConnect project presentation – Kostadin Valchev, Senior Forest Expert, WWF Bulgaria  

15. NaturaConnect project update “Valuation and mapping of recreational benefits provided by forests” – Marek Giergiczny, University of Warsaw, Department of Microeconomics, Warsaw Centre of Ecological Economics  

16.  Presentation of the Permanent Secretariat of “Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe” – Jana Baumgartner, E.C.O Institute of Ecology

17. Overview of Forum Carpaticum 2025 – Jakub Csabay, Comenius University       

Other relevant documents: 

Carpathian Biodiversity Framework:

• Carpathian Biodiversity Framework
• Guidance Document for Streamlining the Carpathian Biodiversity Framework into National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans 
  • Annex I: Table with example policy actions relevant for the Carpathians for more information on the process

Relevant Developments, Projects and Networks:

• Assessment of climate change risks and impacts on the Carpathian forests and their ecosystem services
• Inventory of Virgin Forests of the Carpathians
• Table for collecting scientific data, national inventories and maps of virgin forests
• Criteria and indicators for identifying quasi-virgin forests
• NaturaConnect project on building a resilient ecological network of conserved areas across Europe for nature and people
• Recommendations and Inputs from the Science for the Carpathians
• ForestConnect project