Delegates from 24 FOREST EUROPE signatory countries and the European Union, as well as from FAO, UNFF, Bioversity International and the Union of Foresters of Southern Europe, which are observers to the FOREST EUROPE process, met in Madrid, Spain, on 1-3 June 2015 in order to advance the drafting of the decisions to be taken at the 7th FOREST EUROPE Ministerial Conference.
Delegates worked hard and in good spirit on the wording of the documents. As a result, a more defined version of four decisions was drafted. The draft decisions address, respectively: the role of European forests in the global agenda; green economy and social aspects of sustainable forest management; the protection of forests in a changing environment; and the future direction of FOREST EUROPE.
Despite the fruitful discussions and intensive work carried out during these days, some details of the documents remained pending at the end of the meeting. A new drafting meeting will be convened on 29 June 2015 in Madrid with the aim of finalising these. It will be held immediately before the Expert Level Meeting for the preparations of the 7th FOREST EUROPE Ministerial Conference that will have to give the final approval to the documents before they are presented and adopted by the ministers responsible for forests in Europe at the 7th FOREST EUROPE Ministerial Conference.
The 7th FOREST EUROPE Ministerial Conference will take place in Madrid on 20-21 October 2015.
More information relating to this drafting meeting for the preparations of the 7th FOREST EUROPE Ministerial Conference can be found at this link: http://foresteurope.org/events/2nd-drafting-meeting-preparation-7th-forest-europe-ministerial-conference