At the meeting of NPAC held in Chisinau on December 21, 2015, the participants presented new FLEG II reports, and discussed participation in regional activities, changes in the workplan, and sustainability of FLEG beyond the Program timeframe.

FLEG experts presented five new reports to the National Program Advisory Committee members - representatives of key stakeholders, including governmental institutions (Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Finance, and Agency Moldsilva, central administrative authority in forestry and hunting), non-governmental organizations (Ecological Movement of Moldova), forestry enterprises and the media. The outputs were handed over to NPAC, steered by Moldsilva, and discussed among NPAC members and FLEG experts:

• Forest dependence based on surveys conducted in three villages of Moldova
• Evaluation of Forest Ecosystem Services (FES) in the Republic of Moldova
• Strengthening the capacity of journalists in developing forestry topics
• Comparative analysis of the national forest legislation with the international legal framework for ensuring an efficient management of forest resources
• Assessing revenue loss from unsustainable forest practices in Moldova

Moldsilva’s management, Mr. Mihai Pașcovschi (deputy general director) and Mr. Alexei Palancean (chief forest engineer), who chaired the meeting, highlighted the importance of the data and information provided as well as the multiple goods and services the forest ecosystems are offering to us. They reiterated that NPAC and Moldsilva will continue to disseminate the results to a wider audience, from ordinary people (mainly communities) to governmental institutions.

Representatives of key ministries in the NPAC, Mr. Valeriu Balan (senior specialist at the Ministry of Environment) and Mr. Iurie Năstase (senior specialist at the Ministry of Finance) proposed that all reports need to be endorsed by Moldsilva and, based on the outstanding results, put in action through an improved legal and regulatory framework.

Mr. Petru Rotaru, FLEG Focal Point (also head of division at Moldsilva), provided an update on regional activities. NPAC decided to be involved in all the proposed regional activities for the remaining of time, till the end of 2016. Special attention was drawn to payments for ecosystem services, which seem to be of high interest to Moldova. Despite the fact that forest ecosystems cover only some 13% of country’s territory, their role in providing shelter to biodiversity (e.g. 80% of Moldova’s biodiversity is associated with forests) and indispensable goods for humans (e.g. Moldovan forests are main provider for energy biomass for local population) is huge.

At the end, the NPAC members have unanimously agreed that to ensure FLEG sustainability, after the Program finalization the National Advisory Committee will continue to function within Agency Moldsilva. It will continue to promote FLEG agenda in the forest policy and sustainable forest management activities.