Activities in Central and Eastern Europe

CEPF has been directing targeted activities towards Central and Eastern European countries since 2003/2004. These include facilitating the exchange between forest owners and their organisations as well as focused work on the policy level. In the latter, not only private forestry organisations but among others, national forestry administrations, FAO, World Bank, IUCN , Dutch Development Agency and the European Commission  have been the main partners so far. This has resulted in different forms of cooperation having been set up and projects developed.
 
CEPF is actively represented in Central and Eastern Europe through:

• its member organisations from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Albania
• the CEPF Contact Office Budapest, which is maintained in cooperation with FAO SEUR,
World Bank PROFOR – CEPF project on “Private and community forestry – developing livelihoods on the basis of secure property rights in selected countries of South East Europe (SEE)”, 2008-2009
• and FAO - IUCN-CEPF framework project on “Private and community forestry in CEEC” , 2003 - ongoing (see best practice workshops in CEEC private forestry - Lithuania 2007, Bulgaria 2010)
  

Priority issues for CEPF in its work with partners addressing the sub-region are:

• the promotion of the private forestry sector via e.g. private forest owners associations (PFOA) or equal organisations representing interests of the private forest ownership in policy formulation;
• the networking and cooperation with organisations based either nationally or internationally but active on forestry issues in or about CEEC;
• contribution to a better information flow on forestry related issues in the EU towards non-EU member countries and organisations