More than 350 bioeconomy experts from all over Europe gather today in Helsinki, Finland, at the European Bioeconomy Scene 2019 conference organised by the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the European Commission. The aim of the conference is to raise public awareness and promote dialogue on the progress towards a bioeconomy. The meeting in Helsinki is one of the major events to be held under Finland’s Presidency of the Council of the EU.

During Finland’s Presidency of the Council of the EU, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry will be responsible for around 120 working party meetings and five Agriculture and Fisheries Council meetings in Brussels and Luxembourg. In practice, this means chairing the meetings and being in charge of the arrangements before and after them.

A draft of the updated Management Plan for the Wolf Population has been sent out for comments. The management plan is intended as a tool for managing the Finnish wolf population and wolf-related conflicts and an important means for implementing wolf policy. The plan also fulfils Finland’s international obligations concerning the protection of species. Comments on the draft will be accepted until 30 August 2019.

The EU Member States made a joint decision last week to add more species to the list of invasive alien species of Union concern. With the decision, the list, which previously consisted of 49 species, now contains 66 species whose import, sale, breeding, use and release into the environment is prohibited throughout the EU.