Juha S. Niemelä, Director General of Metsähallitus, Finland, has been elected as the new President of EUSTAFOR by the Annual General Assembly of EUSTAFOR. In addition, EUSTAFOR’s General Assembly, held in Brussels, elected Vice-President Georg Schöppl (Österreichische Bundesforste) and eight other members of the Executive Committee.
Juha S. Niemelä replaces Reinhardt Neft, Managing Director of Bayerische Staatsforsten AöR.). Mr. Neft stepped down from EUSTAFOR’s presidency, which he held for the last four years, but will continue to serve on the Executive Committee.
Further members of the Executive Committee, elected for a term of 2 years, include Österreichische Bundesforste(Vice-President – Austria), Lesy České Republiky s.p. (Czech Republic), Office National des Forêts (France), Coillte (Ireland), Lasy Państwowe (Poland), ROMSILVA (Romania), Riigimetsa Majandamise Keskus (Estonia), Sveaskog (Sweden) and ANARF (Italy).
At the same meeting, EUSTAFOR welcomed the State Specialized Forest Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” as its 37th member.
EUSTAFOR was established in 2006. Its members are state forest management organizations from 26 European countries.
