At the invitation of the consortium management of the German SFI project to support the integration of the forestry sector, a Ukrainian delegation led by Volodymyr Buchko, First Deputy Head of the State Forest Resources Agency, took part in the sixth meeting of the SFI Steering Group in Berlin.
Taras Vysotskyi, Deputy Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture, and Oleh Bondarenko, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management, addressed the meeting participants with welcoming remarks.
They emphasised the importance of supporting Ukraine’s forestry sector and acknowledged the assistance provided by international partners: the political framework for the implementation of the SFI project is provided by a joint Declaration of Intent, recently signed by the German Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Regional Identity (BMLEH) and the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine.
During the meeting, participants reviewed the project’s achievements and familiarised themselves with the current work plan across three defined areas of activity. Specifically, these are:
aligning Ukraine’s forestry legislation with EU standards, particularly in the field of the National Forest Inventory (NFI) based on remote sensing;
developing NFI methodology based on remote sensing and utilising the collected data for strategic development;
providing international expertise on forest management and nature-friendly forestry. It should be noted that the aim of the SFI project is to enhance capacity in the field of forest policy, primarily relating to the NFI, public forest management and forest management planning based on European and German experience, integrated into the overall framework of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU.
