Our Community
Alliance Forêts Bois is the largest forestry cooperative group in France, created and managed by private forest owners. Established through the merger of several forestry cooperatives, the organisation supports more than 40,000 forest owners and plays a major role in sustainable forest management and wood mobilisation across the country.
They ensure that EU agriculture and forestry are sustainable, innovative and competitive, while guaranteeing food security for 500 million people throughout Europe.
Copa represents over 22 million farmers and their family members whilst Cogeca represents the interests of 22,000 agri-cooperatives.
They work to promote sustainable forest management and the multifunctional role of forests. Together with their members, they also work on enhancing the production and use of renewable energy on farms by exploring new opportunities and overcoming barriers.
CLIMB-FOREST is a Horizon Europe project dedicated to strengthening the resilience of European forests in the face of climate change. Bringing together researchers, forest managers, policymakers, and stakeholders from across Europe, the project aims to develop innovative approaches and practical solutions to help forests adapt to increasing environmental pressures such as droughts, pests, wildfires, and extreme weather events.
The CoCo Project is a Horizon Europe initiative that aims to improve coexistence between pastoralism, livestock farming and wildlife across European landscapes. Bringing together researchers, policymakers, landowners and practitioners from 12 countries, the project works to better understand conflicts related to wildlife—such as livestock predation—and develop practical solutions that support both biodiversity and rural livelihoods.
The Centre de la Propietat Forestal (CPF) is a public forestry body in Catalonia dedicated to promoting and supporting the sustainable management of privately-owned forests. It operates with its own legal personality within the Catalan forestry administration and works alongside private forest stakeholders to foster good governance and active participation in forest policy.
De Bosgroepen are a network of non-profit forest owner associations in Flanders, Belgium, with over 25 years of expertise helping private and public woodland owners manage and expand forests sustainably.
EU-FarmBook is the answer to real needs of farmers, foresters and advisors. It is a Horizon Europe project that is working at regional, national, and European (EU) levels to build an Online Platform for gathering and sharing valuable knowledge.
European State Forest Association is the European association representing state forest management organisations across Europe. Founded in 2006 and based in Brussels, the organisation currently brings together 40 members from 29 European countries, managing around 64 million hectares of land and forests.
ForestPaths is a Horizon Europe project dedicated to supporting the transition towards more sustainable, resilient and climate-smart forests across Europe. Bringing together researchers, policymakers and forestry stakeholders, the project develops innovative knowledge, tools and policy pathways to help balance biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation and the sustainable provision of forest ecosystem services.
Filière Bois Wallonie is the reference organisation supporting private forest owners and the wider wood sector in Wallonia, Belgium. Established in April 2023 following the merger of Ressources Naturelles Développement and the Walloon Economic Office for Wood, it acts as the single point of contact for the Walloon Government on forest- and wood-related matters.
Forest extension covers state administrative activities aimed at supporting private forestry that go beyond mere advising. The network of forest extension organisations in Europe (FOREXT) ensures international cooperation in the field.
The Representation of German Forest Owners at the EU is the voice of approximately 2 million German forest owners in Brussels. Established to represent their interests at the European level, the organisation works to promote practical, sustainable forestry policies while ensuring that the perspectives of private forest owners are reflected in EU legislation and decision-making processes. |
The INTERCEDE project is reviewing and assessing market-based instruments (MBIs) across Europe to foster the provision of forest ecosystem services (FES).
Through its stakeholder platform – the Transdisciplinary Forum – the project is engaging end-users to identify MBIs that are scalable, adaptable, and effective in supporting forest and land owners as well as SMEs.
The aim: to create financially viable and socially valuable solutions that benefit both forest owners and society at large.
Know a successful support system: The Small-Scale Forestry Unit (3.08.00) is a group of researchers working world-wide in the explotation of the social, economic and technical dimensions of farm, family, non-industrial and community forestry. The oldest support system working for Small Forest Holdings at the international level.
It’s part of IUFRO, the International Union of Forest Research Organizations, that is a non-profit, non-governmental international network of forest scientists that aim to comprise knowledge generation, knowledge sharing and capacity building.
The Unit was founded in 1986, as a co-operative effort of IUFRO Divisions 3, 4 and 6. The main topics of the contributions presented at the meetings have dealt with economic and policy issues and also technical aspects of small-scale forestry.
Les Coopératives Forestières is the national network representing forest cooperatives across France. Bringing together thousands of private forest owners, the organisation plays a key role in promoting sustainable forest management, supporting timber mobilisation, and strengthening the economic and environmental value of French forests.
Metsäliitto Cooperative, the parent company of Metsä Group, is owned by forest owners in Finland. After paying their statutory shares, members can increase their ownership by investing in additional Metsä1 shares.
The cooperative pays annual interest on these shares, and its profit-sharing model rewards members who actively trade wood with the group. This allows forests to keep generating value long after harvesting.
Since 2022, part of Metsäliitto’s profits has been distributed as additional Metsä1 shares, based on each member’s wood deliveries over the previous four years.
The Finnish Forest Center (Metsäkeskus) is a government-linked organization under Finland’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. As a pioneer in sustainable forestry, Metsäkeskus plays an important role in advising forest owners and promoting sustainable practices. Its mission is rooted in providing expert guidance on forest management, facilitating the responsible use of natural resources, and ensuring compliance with forest legislation.
OptFORESTS is a Horizon Europe project working to strengthen the conservation and sustainable use of forest genetic resources (FGR) across Europe. The project brings together research, forest management, nursery production and stakeholder knowledge to support forests that are better adapted to future climate conditions while maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.
OptiForValue is a Horizon Europe research project funded under the Circular Bio‑based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU) that aims to optimise forest operations, strengthen sustainability and increase the value of forest‑based value chains across Europe. The project addresses major challenges such as increasing global wood demand, climate change impacts, biodiversity loss and economic pressures on forests by developing advanced tools, innovative management methods and data‑driven solutions to make forest management more resilient, competitive and environmentally sound.
Södra (Skogsägarna) is a forestry cooperative based in Växjö, Sweden, and the largest in the country. Over 52,000 forest owners in southern Sweden are members, owning more than half of all privately owned forest in the area.
The group employs around 3,150 people in forestry management, environmental conservation, accounting, sales, and product development. Its three main business areas produce sawn and planed timber goods, paper pulp, and biofuel. In recent years, Södra has become such a large producer of electricity that it now generates more than it consumes. Founded in 1938 through the merger of five southern Swedish cooperatives, one of its founders, Gösta Edström, became Södra’s first CEO.
The Union of European Foresters (UEF) is a European network bringing together professional foresters and forestry organisations from across Europe. The organisation works to promote sustainable forest management and strengthen cooperation among forestry professionals, while ensuring that the expertise and perspectives of the forestry community are represented at the European level.
The Union of Foresters of Southern Europe (USSE) is an European Economic Interest Grouping (EEIG) uniting forester organizations of Southern Europe.
Its headquarters are located in Zamudio, Vizcaya, in the Basque Country, while it has another office in Maison de la Forêt, located at 6 Parvis des Chartrons, 33075 Bordeaux Cedex.
The USSE was founded in 1989, as the initiative of forest owner organisations of Euskadi, Galicia, Aquitaine, Castilla y León and Catalonia; today, the USSE accommodates regional or national associations from Portugal, Spain, the Basque Country, Aquitaine and Greece.
