Forest Europe summit 'to shape' policy

 Forests cover almost one half of Europe's land area.

 

 

 

Forestry ministers from across Europe are attending a summit to shape future policy on how woodlands are managed.


Delegates from 46 nations are expected to decide whether they will go ahead and establish a legally binding agreement on forest management.


Yesterday, the conference is being officially opened by Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, and the State of Europe's Forest 2011 report is set to be published.


Ministers at the three-day gathering in Oslo are also set to adopt resolutions that will help shape European forest policy for the next decade.


It is estimated that forests cover more than half of Europe's land area.
"Forest Europe is a unique process for sharing information and experience between different countries," said host minister Lars Peder Brekk.


"It is a very important conference, and I hope we can get good results," he told.



Brekk explained that there were two main goals for the sixth meeting of ministers.


"One is to consider the goals, targets and actions for Forest Europe for the coming years.


"And for me, as the minister that is leading this work, it is also very important to make progress and launch the proceedings for the legally binding agreement."


He added that launching the process towards such an agreement would be a "huge success" for the sixth ministerial gathering since Forest Europe was established in 1990.


Brekk said: "It is very important for the future - it can be a model for such legislation and work in other parts of the world."

However, he was keen to stress that management of forest resources remained under the sovereignty of individual nations, and any agreement through the Forest Europe process would be more about sharing information and experiences.
 

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G8: Libya’s Gaddafi ‘should go’, say world leaders

World leaders at the G8 summit in France have issued a joint call for the embattled Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to step down.
Russia, which has criticised Nato’s campaign in Libya, said it agreed Col Gaddafi had lost all legitimacy.
In a communique issued at the end of a two-day summit, the G8 also criticised Syria’s deadly crackdown on protesters.
The bloc’s statement included plans for a $20bn (£12bn) package for Tunisia and Egypt over the next two years.
BBC world affairs correspondent Christian Fraser, at the summit in Deauville, says the communique by the leaders of the US, Russia, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and the UK has 25 pages and 93 sub-sections.
‘Finish the job’
But the part that has attracted the greatest attention, he adds, is an agreement on all sides – including the Russians – that Col Gaddafi should step down.
In his comments at the end of the summit, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the wording of the communique had been toughened overnight and fully endorsed by the Russians.
It says: “Gaddafi and the Libyan government have failed to fulfil their responsibility to protect the Libyan population and have lost all legitimacy. He has no future in a free, democratic Libya. He must go.”
US President Barack Obama – after talks about Libya with the French president – said: “We are joined in resolve to finish the job.”
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told a news conference at the end of the gathering in Normandy that he was prepared to mediate Col Gaddafi’s departure, but he said Libya should be preserved as a single state.
The communique was issued as Nato reported that government forces had laid landmines in the rebel-held western Libyan city of Misrata.
Nato intervened in Libya after the UN passed a resolution in March mandating the protection of civilians in the country, following the uprising against Col Gaddafi.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said the time was right to “ratchet up” pressure on the Libyan regime, as he confirmed that the UK would deploy Apache attack helicopters for the campaign.
But a statement issued by a group of former African presidents – including South Africa’s Thabo Mbeki and Nigeria’s Olusegun Obasanjo – expressed “grave concern” that there was still no sign of an end to Nato’s campaign in Libya.
As Syrian government troops dispersed a new round of protests in Damascus, the G8 communique called on the regime to “stop using force and intimidation” against its people.
But while Russia was seen as having toughened its stance on Libya, Moscow insisted on softening the G8′s wording on Syria.
It obliged its partners to drop a threat of UN Security Council sanctions in favour of more general warning of “further measures”.

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