French hosts pledge renewed commitment to EUFORGEN at 24th Steering Committee Meeting
At the 24th Steering Committee in Avignon, France reaffirmed its backing of EUFORGEN, highlighting its importance for forest genetic resource conservation and urging greater EU-level recognition.
France reaffirmed its longstanding commitment to EUFORGEN as it hosted the Programme’s 24th Steering Committee Meeting in Avignon on 21 – 23 April.
In his opening address to representatives from 24 EUFORGEN Member Countries, the French Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty praised the role of EUFORGEN as a catalyst for action in pan-European coordination for the conservation of forest genetic resources (FGR).
France is one of the founding EUFORGEN Member Countries, and in his speech, the French Ministry recognised the evolution of EUFORGEN over time to offer strategy, tools, and policy support to its broad network. Indeed, based on EUFORGEN’s FGR Strategy for Europe, released in 2021, France published a its own national strategy for FGR conservation in 2025.
The French Ministry observed that by working together at the European level, Member Countries offer diverse expertise that can be united for stronger coordination and innovation to support resilient forests for future generations. As such, the Ministry advocated for greater recognition of EUFORGEN at the European Union level and financial support to ensure long-term forestry activities, encouraging other countries to join forces to take this message to European authorities.
The 24th EUFORGEN Steering Committee meeting was organised by a team from the French National Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (INRAE), led by the National Coordinator for France, François Lefèvre. After 20 years of service as National Coordinator, Dr Lefèvre announced his decision to step down from the role following this meeting. His successor is Dr Ivan Scotti, also of INRAE, who attended the meeting as observer. Dr Scotti is Research Director at the Institute and has recently coordinated the pan-European FORGENIUS project, which produced a wide range of outputs for improved access to forest genetic resources information and services for end-users.
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