Mission
USSE is a European Economic Interest Group (AEIE), founded in 1989, which integrates different associations of forests owners working in southern European regions, communities or countries belonging to the European Union
It has four core areas of action:
1. Contribute to formulation of European and international forestry policy, providing the view points and demands of southern European forests through representation of its members in decision making fora – UE, MCPFE, ONU, COFO-FAO – and through communication and cooperation with other agencies such as COPA-COGECA, ELO, CEPF…
2. Generation and dissemination of knowledge to help establish a better diagnosis of the forestry sector, further sustainable forest management and to facilitate strategic decision making.
3. Strengthening of partnerships between southern Europe forest owners associations through the development of international and trans-regional cooperation projects, information flow, and the organization of congress, seminars and other events.
4. Promotion and dissemination of forest management and of products, goods and services generated by Southern Europe forest stands.
In order to develop those core areas, USSE is working on five priority areas:
1. Organizational strengthening: USSE is facing the challenge of remaining visible and maintaining its influence in Europe 27 and in an increasingly globalized world. Therefore it is open to new partnerships, works to strengthen its presence in Brussels and to convey clear and profound messages and positions. It seeks the economic resources needed and works on strengthening internal communication and capacity of its partner organizations.
2. Positioning, representation and intersectoral dialogue in relevant international for a: the work carried out since its foundation has enabled USSE to become integrated in the most relevant international forestry fora. USSE is currently contributing to the formulation of European and international forestry policy, providing the perspective and experience of its partners. It does this through participation in decision making fora – UE (AGFC), MCPFE, ONFF, COFO-FAO- , and through dialogue and cooperation with other international organizations in the primary sector, such as COPA-COGECA, ELO, CEPF, etc.
3. Trans-frontier cooperation through strategic projects for the organization. They help to strengthen the partners and provide necessary ideas and information to develop communication and representation tasks.
4. Communication, organizing congresses, seminars, publications, etc.
5. Promoting the use of wood. In recent years there have been various initiatives to promote wood in different countries and regions. Within this context, ARBOREA SUR arises as a tool for Sustainable Forest Management and to support forest goods and services in Southern Europe. The aim is to contribute to improving the image and competitiveness of the forestry sector as a whole.
For all these action areas work is being done on a priority basis on a series of themes that guide the direction of international forest policy. They are:
- Strengthening European Forest Policy Instruments, in particular the possibility of creating a legally binding agreement for European forests.
- Biomass and bioenergy, with special reference to sustainability rules and traceability of biomass for biofuels, as well as mobilization.
- Adaptation and Mitigation of climate change, with special emphasis on negotiations within the UNCCC framework on carbon accounting in forests and forest products.
- Valuation of environmental good and services
- Promoting the use of Southern European forest products and specially wood and cork, monitoring green procurement and sustainable construction proposals through ARBOREA SUR platform.
- Forest and Biodiversity Management in private forests, with special attention to Natura 2000, PES and the development of specific actions in this regard.
- Prevention of forest fires, with the aim of showcasing bottom-up models and highlighting the need of financing prevention.
- Research and Innovation, within the framework of EFI’s Atlantic Regional Office.
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