FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION
OF THE UNITED NATIONS

Subregional Office
for Central and Eastern Europe (SEUR)

Bioenergy offers an important opportunity for South-East Europe countries to harness the potential of their indigenous sources of renewable energy, especially wood. There is a long tradition of using wood for heating, particularly in rural areas, but often the technology used is inefficient and out-of-date. As the market economy has developed, there has been a shift towards using fossil fuel to meet the countries' growing energy needs. In some countries, shortfalls in energy supplies in urban areas have increased the pressure on forests, leading to unsustainable logging. The use of fossil fuels (gas/oil) has increased. Even in rural areas natural gas has begun to replace wood, ignoring the serious environmental disadvantages of fossil fuel use.
Highly efficient modern renewable energy technologies open up exciting new potential for sustainable use of the region's own natural resources and integrated rural development. The need for sustainable development in the region, including the use of the domestic natural resources, suggests an urgent requirement to re-evaluate the environmental benefits of renewable sources of energy. Adequate policies for the promotion of wood energy need to reflect potentially adverse environmental, social and economic impacts.
In light of this, the Ministry or Regional Development, Forestry and Water Management of Croatia together with the UNECE/FAO Timber Section and FAO Sub-regional Office for Central and Eastern Europe are organizing a workshop that will explore market potentials and policy options for the promotion of wood energy in South-East Europe. The workshop will be held in Croatian and English, with simultaneous interpretation.

Meeting Documents	En	Cro
Agenda - Draft