International Forest Day - Pro Silva Hungariae Award Ceremony

The International Day of Forests and Water

The 61st General Assembly of the United Nations decided that from the spring solstice of 2013 onwards the 21st of March shall be the International Day of Forests, which this year aimed at raising awareness on the relationship between Forests and Water.

Az ENSZ Közgyűlés 67/200 számú határozatával az erdők nemzetközi napjává nyilvánította március 21-ét abból a célból, hogy 2013-tól kezdődően minden évben világszerte megemlékezzünk az erdők és fák jelentőségéről. Az ENSZ közgyűlés által elfogadott és a UN-FAO által koordinált, évenként megrendezett nemzetközi világnap – International Day of Forest (IDF)

With the Resolution Nr. 67/200 by the UN General Assembly the 21st of March has been declared to be the international day of forests with the goal of annually honoring the significance of forests and trees. The underlying idea isn’t innovative. Although the necessity of such a day has been acknowledged many times during the past six decades, the first actual suggestion on founding an international day of forestry has been put forward in 1971 by the European Committee of Agriculture. For the lack of an agreement, the idea could unfortunately not be implemented within the framework of the UN and got removed from the agenda. Celebrating forests and trees remained a matter of individual initiatives being organized in more than 40 countries, usually on the 21st of March.

In Hungary, on the occasion of the International Day of Forests, mainly forestries, forest schools and wildlife reserves join in on organizing educational forest hikes, forest cleaning, nature trail inaugurations and their exploration.

The international day marked also the opportunity of granting the Pro Silva Hungariae expert honors by Sándor Fazekas minister and Márton Bitay secretary of state at the Ministry of Agriculture.

Sándor Fazekas highlighted in course of his festive speech that the present international day is exceptional due to the 150st anniversary of the National Association of Forestry. He pointed out that such a long existence is unique in this sector and thus constitutes a fact the Hungarian silvicultural society can be proud of in light of the European standards.

Due to the complete rearrangement of the sector, it has been deemed necessary to revisit and restructure the forestry laws of 2009. A public debate on the new silvicultural law has been launched this February within the framework of the Weapons, Fishing, Hunting International Exhibition. While creating the new legislation, it is advised to draw inspiration from great ancestors such as Albert Bedő, who played a pivotal role in passing a modern, high standard civil forestry law in 1879.

Forests hold not only due to the International Day, but generally a high value to Hungarian families throughout the year. The public and private silvicultures realized development and tourism investments to an extent never seen before. In the past years, forests prove to attract an increasing number of visitors thanks to the environmental, welfare and touristic projects by forestry associations. Among the touristic programmes, hikings especially enjoy an increasing popularity. The total number of visitors’ day spent in our forests adds up to 40 million. Compared to the population of 10 million, this number is highly significant.

The forests represent key factors of providing the Earth with fresh water, which is one of the basic elements of life. Climate change is strongly compromising the availability of water sources. We can only ensure better life conditions and a healthy environment to the upcoming generations, if we manage forests the way forestry specialists do: professionally and environmentally friendly – concluded the minister at the end of his festive speech.

Gergely Lomniczi and Sándor Szentpéteri, two prominent representatives of the LIFEinFORESTS project have been granted the Pro Silva Hungaria award and an Honorary Ministerial Certificate, respectively. We congratulate you and are proud to have been working together with you on distributing knowledge via the LIFE communication project on the sustainable development of Natura 2000 forests in order to preserve their biodiversity.

Dr. Sándor Fazekas minister granted on the occasion of the International Day of Forests the PRO SILVA HUNGARIAE award to Gergely Lomniczi, spokesperson of the Pilis Park Forest Ltd. and Secretary-General of the National Association of Forestry for his work on forestry communication and environmental education, as well as for the representative and influential role he played in the forestry sector.

The minister granted an Honorary Ministerial Certificate to Sándor Szentpéteri, the main lecturer of the Pilis Park Forest Ltd. Project proposal and forest planning section, for his work on the preparation of the new forestry law.

A miniszter Miniszteri Elismerő Oklevélet adományozott Szentpéteri Sándornak, a Pilisi Parkerdő Zrt. pályázati és erdőtervezési főelőadójának, az erdőtörvény módosításának előkészítése során végzett munkája elismeréseként.

 

PRO SILVA HUNGARIAE LAUREATES in 2016:

Dr. Csóka György
Csonka Tibor
Dr. Folcz Tóbiás
Lomniczi Gergely
Nagy Imre
Dr. Somogyvári Vilmos

 

PRO SILVA HUNGARIAE TESTIMONIALS have been given in 2016 to:

DALERD Dél-alföldi Erdészeti Zrt.
Tanulmányi Erdőgazdaság Zrt.
Barkóczi István
Keszi László

 

A MINISTERIAL HONORARY CERTIFICATE went in 2016 to:

Biró Ferenc
Dalvári Vince Gábor
Dr. Fodor Márton
Gordán Gábor
Jagicza Attila
Lénártné Orliczki Judit
Molnár Gábor
Olmosi Marianna
Szentpéteri Sándor
Támba Miklós
Dr. Tornyos-László Petra
Urbán Pál

 

In the name of the LIFEinFORESTS consortium, we sincerely congratulate every laureate and thank them for their hard work!

 

Source: OEE, FM, http://napok.4t.hu
Photos: Nagy László - Erdészeti Lapok, Pelsőczy Csaba - FM, Dr. Gálhidy László - WWF
News editors: Nagy László, Kozák Balázs