The 18th Commonwealth Forestry Conference will be held in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 2010. The conference will take place from the June 28 to July 2, 2010, and will be hosted by the British Forestry Commission on behalf of the United Kingdom. The event was last hosted in the UK in 1974. Preparations are under way to agree a theme, develop a website and appoint an organising committee.

Welcoming the announcement, Tim Rollinson, the Forestry Commission’s Director-General, said: “I’m particularly pleased that the 2010 Commonwealth Forestry Conference is coming to the UK, because these are important and exciting times for forestry right across the world. “The importance of the environment and the need for sustainable development are increasingly being positioned at the heart of government agendas and international processes across the world, and the crossover between forestry and other international policies is becoming closer. “Sustainable forest management can deliver many social, economic and environmental benefits on the ground, making a clear and positive difference to people’s lives, and it’s vital that we continue to get this message out and help nations and organisations to put it into practice. “The Commonwealth Forestry Conferences are a significant force for developing and promoting sustainable forest management across the world to maximise the potential benefits from forests of all kinds. “I therefore believe this conference will be a wonderful opportunity to help make a difference globally, and I strongly commend it to foresters, policymakers, scientists, academics, economists, NGOs and others with an interest and role in forestry.”