The Nordic Council of Ministers for the fisheries, aquaculture, agriculture, food and forestry sectors (MR-FJLS) convenes once a year. In this context it has become customary to hold meetings between the ministers and officials as well as stakeholders in the forest sector to allow varied dialogue among the Nordic countries and different interest groups.
The Committee of Senior Officials for Forestry (ÄK-Skog) under the Council of Ministers meets two to three times a year. The Committee of Senior Officials prepares the matters for the Council of Ministers, makes decisions on project funding within the budget allocated to the sector, prepares strategies and action programmes and steers the cooperation bodies under it, including the Nordic Forest Research Co-operation Committee (SNS).
The Nordic Forest Research Co-operation Committee (SNS) is funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers. Usually this means part-funding to get the work started. The presidency in the SNS is rotating. In 2006-2009 it is held by Finland and the Secretary operates in connection with the Finnish Forest Research Institute.
SNS - SamNordisk Skogsforskning
The Nordic Council for Forest Reproductive Material (NSFP) is a cooperation body set up in 1970 and funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers. From the beginning of 2008 the NSFP has been part of the Nordic Genetic Resource Centre NordGen. The task of the NSFP is to promote the exchange of information, experiences and views in matters relating to the whole forest regeneration chain in the north. The NSFP organises an annual conference and various kinds of national theme seminars.
Forest cooperation among the Baltic countries - Baltic 21
Baltic 21 is a regional process for sustainable development launched by the Baltic states in 1996. It is founded on the principles laid down in the Agenda 21 programme adopted at the UN Conference on Environment and Development. In addition to the Nordic and Baltic states, also Poland and Russia, the European Commission and a large number of associations, financial institutions and NGOs have participated in the work. The activities cover nine sectors, with the forest sector as one of these.
In 1998-2003 Finland and Lithuania were the lead countries of the Baltic 21 Forest Sector and since 2003 the lead countries have been Sweden and Latvia. Baltic 21 Forest Sector meetings are held once a year. The first action programme for the forest sector was drafted in 1999 and now the implementation of the second programme adopted in 2005 is in progress.
The priorities in the activity are the promotion of the sustainable use and management of forests and the flow of information among actors in the forest sector in different countries.