Federforeste e Coldiretti: agreement to protect and promote forests.

On 9 July, at the Coldiretti offices in Rome, Coldiretti and Federforeste, the Italian Federation of forestry communities, signed an agreement to protect and enhance Italian forests. The agreement, signed by Sergio Marini – President of Coldiretti – and Pier Luigi Ferrari – President of Federforeste -, is based on the promotion and marketing of forestry products with the creation of real forest supply chains. In particular, the associations aim at ensuring the transparency of production processes and the certification of the quality and origin of agricultural- forestry products, so that the consumer can choose freely, involving all the actors of the forestry chain and of the multi-functional forestry services.
Another topic of the agreement is the promotion of associations, such as the Forest Consortiums which support the involvement of public and private stakeholders to stimulate local authorities to grant specific financial aids for this kind of activity. The agreement also includes the arrangement of joint actions to protect and promote sustainable economic activities within protected areas, the participation to special integrated projects, and the creation of a permanent Forum of forestry associations. Federforeste (www.federforeste.org) is a founding member of Pefc Italia.