This week, during a work visit to Slovenia, Minister for Agriculture Armands Krauze signed the guidelines of the alliance “For Forest Group+”, confirming Latvia’s membership status in the group. “For Forest Group+” is an informal strategic alliance of forest-rich European Union (EU) member states, established to promote sustainable forestry, coordinate common positions on EU policy, and improve forest management at the national level.
Minister of Agriculture Armands Krauze:“The goal of the member states of this alliance is to think about and care for forests and their sustainable management in the interests of public benefit. Important to note, that public interest in forests lies in things like forests recreation, mushroom gathering, nature conservation, as well as the financial contributions made to the state budget by forest managers. Latvia’s admission to this group demonstrates that, despite frequent critical claims made in the public sphere, Latvia’s forest policy is aligned with the common European forest policy, and our country is committed to sustainable forest management.”
The objectives of the alliance are to safeguard national competencies in forestry, reject a “one-size-fits-all” approach, balance climate and economic goals, and improve forest monitoring and data quality. Until now, the members of “For Forest Group+” included Austria, Finland, Slovenia, Sweden, and France. This week, Latvia and Italy have also joined the alliance.