Last week the EUSALP Annual Forum took place in Milan (IT). It featured a series of events with the active involvement of the Alpine Convention and the Action Group 6.
During the EUSALP General Assembly, Secretary General Alenka Smerkolj stressed that more and not less cooperation is necessary: “Not only in an institutional logic but also in terms of addressing the substantial and real challenges the Alpine Region is currently facing, in particular climate change and sustainability, we need to work in a spirit of cooperation and mutual understanding”. In this sense, she expressed her gratitude to the incoming French EUSALP Presidency whose motto “Boosting the Alpine Region ecological transition to tackle climate change” combines both key themes.
During the AlpGov Final Conference on 28 November 2019, the Action Group 6 (AG 6) Leaders highlighted the results achieved by its three sub-groups since 2016. These results were also mentioned during the plenary round table discussion on nature protection in the Alpine region, where three members of AG 6, namely Agostina Lavagnino (Lombardy Region), Francesca Teston (EURAC) and Elisabeth Sötz (WWF Austria), were present and elaborated on projects which are thematically related or directly came out of the work of AG 6.
On the second day of the Annual Forum, a thematic workshop on “Climate crisis and its effects on Forest and Timber Value Chains”, organized by the Task Force Multifunctional Forests and Sustainable Use of Timber (composed by members of AG 2, 6, 7, 8, 9) took place. The workshop offered the participants the chance to actively discuss this broad topic from various points of views and with specific foci of the different Action Groups.
The Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention and the AG 6 each had a stand at the networking village during the EUSALP Annual Forum, where they presented new publications, general information and interesting outputs.