RMK Chairman Aigar Kallas elected vice-president of European State Forest Association 09.09
Yesterday, at the general assembly of the European State Forest Association (EUSTAFOR), Chairman of the Management Board of RMK Aigar Kallas was elected as the new vice-president of the organisation, replacing a colleague from Finland. The CEO of the Bavarian State Forest Enterprise will continue as the president of EUSTAFOR.
Aigar Kallas. Photo: Jarek Jõepera
EUSTAFOR is the association of state forest management companies from 25 European countries. Its main aim is to share knowledge about best practice in forestry with its member states. The organisation is headquartered in Brussels, where it works with other silviculture organisations as a centre of excellence for European Union forestry law.
"The biggest challenge for Estonia’s and other European state forest management companies alike is developing a common forestry strategy that gives equal consideration to maintaining biodiversity in forests, battling climate change and increasing the range of applications of timber," Kallas said.
The members of EUSTAFOR are collectively responsible for maintaining almost a third of all forests in Europe. Just over 80% of the 50 million hectares of land under EUSTAFOR is forest and almost 20% is other types of land. By comparison, RMK is responsible for maintaining 1.4 million hectares of land, of which slightly over 1 million hectares is forest.
“Our colleagues consider RMK's ability to unite economic and nature conservation aspects and values related to forests our greatest strength, but we have a lot to learn from them when it comes to diversifying the use of forest and land,” Kallas said, describing how Estonia could benefit from his new position.
Visit the EUSTAFOR website (eustafor.eu) to access forestry-related statistics, news and documents from a variety of European countries.
Additional information:
Aigar Kallas
Chairman of the Management Board, RMK
E-mail: aigar.kallas@rmk.ee
Mobile: +372 52 81 299
Sille Ader
Head of Communications Department, RMK
E-mail: sille.ader@rmk.ee
Mobile: +372 5666 5896
