5th Meeting of the REAWG for Sustainable Forest Management in Skopje, North Macedonia

The 5th Regional Expert Advisory Working Group (REAWG) meeting on Sustainable Forest Management took place in Skopje, North Macedonia, from Nov 13-15, 2024. The REAWG was founded in 2022 to promote sustainable approaches to forest management and to improve the political framework in the Western Balkans in terms of close-to-nature forest management. The aim is to strengthen the political framework for sustainable forest management – especially regarding the implementation of the EU Green Agenda for the Western Balkans and the EU Forest Strategy 2030.

In recent years, existing challenges have been identified and foundations laid for future strategies. The working group's priorities for 2024/2025 are the evaluation of adaptation and mitigation strategies in the area of climate and the integration of forest biodiversity into sectoral policies and practices. 

The meeting in Skopje emphasized the importance of cooperation and exchange of experience to further promote sustainable forest management and biodiversity conservation in the region. 

Dr. Torsten Möllmann from HessenForst, international key expert in the project, gave two presentations: “Overview of forest-related climate policy in Germany” and “Status of forest biodiversity in the federal forest inventory and the forest management planning system in Germany”. 

On the second day of the event, concrete measures were discussed, including a planned study trip to Germany and a virtual forestry school.