Northern European Regional Meeting (NERM)

In mid-April 2019, 4 IFSA members of our LC travelled to North Wales for the Northern European Regional Meeting, where the IFSA Local Committees from Northern Europe and beyond meet annually and take this opportunity to network with each other. This year the NERM was hosted by BFSA, the Bangor Forestry Students' Association. The program focused on environmental, economic and social aspects of Welsh forestry.

On the first day of the program, the first sporting event was the ascent of the highest mountain in Wales – Mount Snowdon (height: 1,085 m).

We also spent the next day in the Snowdonia National Park and explored a part of the forest which is profit-oriented managed by Tilhill  Forestry. We looked at clear cutting areas, planted new trees and heard a lot about natural forest management methods in Wales. The  evening ended with a cosy campfire.

On the third day we got an insight into the social forest management of a community forest. Another item on the program was a country house  on whose forest land the community runs agroforestry. There we learned how to produce sustainable charcoal. Afterwards we had the opportunity to see the impressive university building of Bangor University with its wood library. In the evening a Welsh music group joined us who introduced us to Welsh culture with traditional standard dances and made us swing our legs.

The following day we spent in a forest section at Newborough Beach, which is used by the local population very gladly for recreational purposes. Furthermore, it serves as a measure against the erosion of the sand dunes, which are gradually eroded by the sea. Therefore maintaining the functionality of this forest is of great importance in many aspects. In the evening the International Evening awaited us, where the participants from the different nations present typical delicacies, cultural peculiarities and musical performances.

During the NERM we were accompanied again and again by the very engaged lecturers of the Bangor University – for instance in the Gwydr Forest, where a botany professor introduced us in the biological diversity of the beautiful close-to-nature forest.

The NERM also always serves "official" IFSA purposes such as the election of the next Regional Representative for Northern Europe and the host of the next NERM. This was one of the highlights of the event for our Local Committee. We applied for the NERM 2020 and got the unanimous approval of the other LCs for it. For our rather freshly founded committee this is a great opportunity to present us and the forest town Eberswalde internationally.