The EU is ready to establish a fund to support Ukraine’s forest sector

The European Forest Institute (EFI), together with experts from Forest Europe, supported the creation of a Multi-Donor Trust Fund to assist Ukraine’s forest sector during a meeting of experts of the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe held in Brussels. This was reported by Maryana Ostrovska, Head of the International Relations, Science and Communications Unit of the State Forest Resources Agency of Ukraine.

«As part of the presentation we delivered to our European colleagues, I spoke about the condition of Ukrainian forests amid the full-scale Russian invasion: forest fires caused by missile attacks, equipment being blown up by mines, and the systematic destruction of forest infrastructure and ecosystems. We managed to gain understanding and support from Forest Europe experts that Ukrainian forests need assistance from the EU», - said Maryana Ostrovska.

She added that the initiative to establish the fund was supported by Robert Mavsar, Director of the European Forest Institute (EFI), as well as representatives of relevant European institutions.

«Robert Mavsar has more than 25 years of international experience in forestry research and development, bioeconomy, and the economic valuation of ecosystem services. His support is very important for us», - she emphasized.

According to her, the creation of the fund to support Ukraine’s forest sector was also backed by Michael Losch, Principal Administrator and Bioeconomy Coordinator at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development.

«The capacity of the future fund will help Ukraine develop and implement a long-term action program for the forest sector in line with Forest Europe policy decisions. It will also support continued progress on the European integration track – aligning national forest policy with EU legislation», - Maryana Ostrovska concluded.