EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - UNESCO World Heritage

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for Nature Conservation, which started in Cold War times and was pursued over two decades
across the Iron Curtain.
Moreover, Germany has put forward the idea of launching a broad-based “European Beech
Forest Initiative”. This has been discussed at national and international level, and several
workshops and research projects have been carried out.
In the medium to long term, Germany considers the following steps to be vital for the protection
and preservation of the ecosystem of the European beech forests:
- identification and assessment of the specific potential of the individual remaining
natural beech forests and their protection status
- establishment of a multi-level European network (expert level, protected area level,
political decision-making level)
- cooperation between European areas with comparable potential.
As a major contribution to implementing the steps described above, Germany is currently
preparing another international meeting “Beech Forests of Europe – Joint Natural Heritage
II”, which is planned to be held at the International Academy for Nature Conservation Isle of
Vilm in July 2011 as a follow up to the October 2010 meeting. We will ask IUCN to cooperate
with us in organising this event.
I would also like to inform you that IUCN recently decided to grant the Kellerwald-Edersee
National Park, which includes the nominated component part “Kellerwald”, the status of a
“Category II Protected Area” (National Park) according to the IUCN guidelines. The certificate
will be awarded in March of this year.
The UNESCO World Heritage status, which is recognised throughout the world, can be an
effective driving force for the protection and preservation of the unique ecosystem of the
European beech forests. Ukraine and the Slovak Republic have taken on a pioneering role
with the inscription of the Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians in the World Heritage
List. The German extension nomination is another major step towards protecting this unique
ecosystem for the long term. In 2011, the UN International Year of Forests, this could be an
important signal for international forest conservation in general.
Please accept, Mr.Director, the assurances of my highest consideration
b.o.
Wolfgang Lahr
(Second Secretary)
cc: IUCN Headquarters Gland