Mr. Heikki Pajuoja,
Chairperson of the Timber Committee
We all are meeting real challenges. The whole forest sector is under
strong competition from
regions of the world where forests grow faster, production costs are
lower and where also markets
are expanding faster than in our region. The response to that challenge
is to create a higher degree
of value added to existing products and services. And when it comes to
competition with other
materials and sectors, our important asset for the sector is that it
bases itself on a renewable
resource. This is a marketing power and tool that has not been recognized
widely enough yet. Another problem concerns the acceptability of forest
management practice to the general public
whose understanding of forest issues is often based on fundamental misunderstandings.
There is a lot of diversity across countries in how the forests are viewed
and used. Forests
serve a multitude of functions. Sustainability and multifunctionality
are guiding principles of
forest policies and forest management. Achieving sustainable forest
management is primarily a
sovereign national responsibility. However, regional international
cooperation will contribute
by developing and disseminating concepts and information, sharing experience
and defining
standard measurement tools (indicators). We need to respond to society’s
concern on a range of
issues related to the sector, like climate change, forest health, biodiversity,
deforestation, wastes,
emissions and recycling of materials. For example when climate change
is discussed we should
underline that wood when sustainably produced is a CO2 neutral and a
renewable resource.
In 2000 governments of the UNECE region adopted a series of objectives
to promote and
facilitate the transition to a more sustainable energy future. The
importance of wood as a biological
energy source has increased and it will be a larger and integrated
actor in the European systems
for energy supply. This requires new business models and advanced
manufacturing technologies.
Our challenge is to create a reliable source and base for information,
which is needed to be able
to follow the development of the wood energy sector.
Public procurement policies for forest products increasingly aim
to promote products from
sustainably managed forests. However policies differ so much from
country to country that a
major concern is emerging that these differences are leading to
possible distortion of competition
and effects on trade. The UNECE Timber Committee, together with
the FAO European Forestry
Commission, will organize a policy forum on public procurement
policies in autumn 2006 to
address these issues.
The forest sector has the potential to become more knowledge-based,
more customer
and innovations driven. Our task is to help in creating more
links between different actors like
policymakers, forest owners, civil society and the industrial
users of wood. The main contribution
of the programme is through developing and applying tools to
analyse and monitor both policy
and developments on the ground, collecting, validating and disseminating
information and
analysis, as well as stimulating the exchange of experience, and joint
efforts to measure progress. While all countries benefit from international
cooperation, the programme recognizes the special
needs of the countries of the CIS and South-East Europe, where forest
sector problems tend to be
more acute and national capacity weaker.
As stated now the objective of the working programme is: to contribute
to achieving sustainable
forest management, including the sound and legal use of wood,
other forest products and services,
throughout the UNECE region, and to ensure measurement of that
progress. These are challenges
where we need strong international cooperation. The Timber
Committee and the FAO European
Forestry Commission have a joint programme of work and wherever
possible work in partnership
with other organizations. Operational partnerships are in place
with the Liaison Unit for the
Ministerial Conference for the Protection of Forests in Europe
(MCPFE), Eurostat, International
Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) and the European Forest
Institute (EFI). Cooperation has been
established and is on-going with a wide range of social, economic
and environmental NGOs.