Title News The meeting with the Swedish delegation discussed forest policy in the context of climate change
Assessment
Specialists from the Ministry of the Environment met with members of the Environment and Agriculture Committee of the Swedish Riksdag. During the meeting, good practices were shared, guests were introduced to Lithuanian forests and forestry, and forest policy issues in the context of climate change were discussed.
The main discussion was about the changes in forest policy and the search for a balance between the ecological, social and economic functions of the forest and related activity restrictions. One of the examples of practice discussed is the National Forest Agreement, which encouraged different interested groups to discuss the future of Lithuania’s forests. It was extremely important for the delegation of Swedish parliamentarians to hear the experience of Lithuania, because Sweden is also intensively discussing the future vision of forests and looking for common points of agreement with different groups of society.
A lot of attention is also paid to the challenges of forest policy in the context of climate change. Lithuania aims to create forests that are more resistant to climate changes and able to adapt to them, while contributing to the mitigation of climate change. It was discussed that in order to achieve the goals, forest cover is increased every year by planting new forest areas. In addition, Lithuania has a vision and an agreement to form more climate change-resistant forests that are diverse and long-lasting. Climate change leads to a change in vegetation, the diversity of trees decreases, therefore the example of a beech tree was discussed – foresters of the State Forestry Agency collect the seeds of this tree so that more beech trees that like warmer regions can be planted in the country.
The meeting also discussed what should be the role of the European Union in the formation of forest policy. Even though the EU countries do not have a general forest policy, the policies of other areas formed by the EU have a strong influence on the national forest policies. It was noted that the Green Course promotes the green transformation of the construction sector. In Sweden, wooden construction has gained momentum, so the delegation welcomed Lithuania’s decision that starting next year, at least half of the materials used in the construction of public buildings should be organic. At the same time, the project of the administrative building of the State Forestry Office was presented, which will become an example of modern wooden construction in Lithuania.
The delegation also visited the Durbava nursery of the State Forest Office, its pine field and seed storage. Since this is the only storage of forest tree seeds in Lithuania, it was discussed that, taking into account the geopolitical situation, it would be appropriate to have a second, spare place for storing seeds.
