On the 20 and 21 November, the National Institute for Agricultural Research and Veterinary in Portugal (based in Oeiras, very close to Lisbon) has hosted the third general assembly of the Interreg Sudoe SustForest Plus. During the assembly, some of the project’s key actions have been presented, as the implementation of the European Network of Resin Regions (ENRR).

In order to advance in the consolidation of the Network, this week's meeting held a working table to develop other necessary aspects of the structure and organisation of the ENRR, such as its statutes, the communication and promotion actions and the website.  

Within this project, which began 18 months ago, the Strategy for European Natural Resin has been promoted, and some of its main lines of action are still being outlined these days in Lisbon during a working table.

The structuring of the sector, the involvement of all the agents in the value chain of natural resins and the innovation in each of the links are open to active participation in this general assembly. Moreover, it has been proposed to resin workes a competition of innovative ideas in the field of the use of natural resin.

The expedition to Brazil, held a few weeks ago and organized by SustForest Plus, has also been presented to the attendees in order to share some of the impressions and experiences observed there, as well as aspects related to the competitiveness of the Brazilian sector compared to the European one.

Within this framework, other initiatives that promote and support the resin sector (groups of forest producers, characterisation of resin wood for structural use, support for the Network testing plots, and various manuals, among other actions) have been presented.

It is important to remember that all these actions correspond to the achievement of some objectives of the SustForest Plus project, which pursues, among other goals, the mobilization of the European resin resource to supply, in a stable way, local industries. Other goals are improving the working quality of resin workers, creating stable employments in the rural areas of Southwest Europe, and extending the derived products markets through the commercial and technological valorization of the resin as a sustainable resource.