The CEPF Board convened on the 7th of May in Rimforsa (Sweden), followed by the CEPF General Assembly on the 8th of May. At the General Assembly, Mr. Stefan Schenker retired as President of CEPF and Mr. Christer Segerstéen was elected as the new President of CEPF. The GA unanimously approved and thereby elected the following persons to compose the CEPF Board from May 2008 to May 2010:
Anderson, Donald (UK)
Barton-Dobenin, Josef (Czech Republic/Cseh Köztársaság )
Crochet, Joseph (Luxembourg)
Evju, Helge (Norway)
Gaizutis, Algis (Lithuania/Litvánia)
Guttenberg, Philipp (Austria)
Molina, Fernando (Spain)
Plauche Gillon, Henri (France)
Salm-Salm, Michael (Germany)
Segerstéen, Christer (Sweden)
Growth must increase in Swedish forests. That is the core purpose of the Swedish Government's proposal for a new Swedish forest policy.
The main reasons of this new policy are that the forest plays an increasingly important role in preventing climate change and that there is a growing demand for wood for producing bioenergy and biofuel. The forest and forest products play an increasing role in solving the climate problems. Furthermore, the forest constitutes a cornerstone for maintaining a viable and sustainable society.
Mr Christer Segerstéen, President of the Swedish Federation of Forest Owners, says that forest owners warmly support the Government's plan to invest in forest growth for securing future raw material supply. Swedish forest owners started already in 2007 their own campaign, Kraftsamling skog, which aims to increase growth and profitability in family forestry.
Today forestry and forest industry in Sweden provide 90.000 jobs. Exports of wood and wood-based products amounted to 122 billion SEK (13 billion €) in 2006 and the demand for wood-based products is steadily increasing. Production of bio-fuel is a growth sector that increases the demand for wood as raw material.