Finland and Mexico continue bilateral forestry cooperation
On 25 April 2024, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sari Essayah signed an updated Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Forestry between the National Forestry Commission of the United Mexican States and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland.
“I am very happy to see that the long tradition of forestry cooperation between Finland and Mexico will continue and grow even stronger, thanks to this new Memorandum of Understanding,” Minister Essayah says.
The updated Memorandum of Understanding identifies several areas for cooperation. Topical themes of particular interest to both countries are forest inventories and forest planning. From a global perspective, Finland has a long history of forest inventories. In addition to the actual inventories, the use of satellite images in surveying, management of forest resource data and dissemination of data to users are topics where Finland has a lot to offer. The Natural Resources Institute Finland is closely involved in this work.
Climate change adaptation and mitigation are highly topical issues all over the world. One of the areas of cooperation is exchange of information on assessing the carbon sequestration of forests. Mexico is also very interested in Finland's expertise in forest fire prevention.
“Even if there are considerable differences in the conditions with respect to forests, climate change poses similar challenges to both countries,” Minister Essayah says.
The areas of cooperation also include national forest programmes and the processes related to these. Mexico's first long-term forest programme was drawn up at the turn of the millennium. There is also interest in increasing cooperation in forest-related education and exchange of students between the countries.
On the occasion of the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Ambassador of Mexico to Finland Mr Enrique Rojo-Stein stressed the strong and extensive cooperation on forestry matters between Mexico and Finland.
“The many key areas of this cooperation include the exchange of knowledge and experiences on conservation and sustainability, efforts to combat and mitigate climate change, promotion of forest resilience and development of ecosystem services. Both countries share a commitment and responsibility to protect forest resources for the benefit of the present and future generations,” the Ambassador said.
To conclude, he expressed his confidence that this longstanding cooperation on forestry matters will continue to be a cornerstone of the bilateral relationships between Mexico and Finland.
“Both countries share a commitment and responsibility to protect forest resources for the benefit of current and future generations”, said the Ambassador. Finally, the diplomat expressed confidence that this longstanding cooperation on forestry matters will continue to be a cornerstone of the bilateral relationship between Mexico and Finland.
In Mexico the forest cooperation with Finland is highly valued. The first contacts between Mexican and Finnish forest professionals were established as early as in the 1960s. Official cooperation started more than 60 years ago, and since then it has been extended to concern a large number of both public and private sector organisations related to forest affairs. Both countries benefit a great deal from the international networking of professionals and personal contacts between representatives of different organisations.
“Obviously, it is most useful for Finnish forest professionals to know the conditions in other countries and engage in international cooperation,” Minister Essayah says.
Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sari Essayah and Ambassador of Mexico to Finland Enrique Rojo-Stein celebrate the renewed Memorandum of Understanding on forestry cooperation on Thursday 25 April 2024.
More information:
Special adviser Tapio Luoma-Aho
forename.lastname@gov.fi
+358 295 162 340
Ministerial adviser Kaisa Pirkola
forename.lastname@gov.fi
+358 295 162 350
