Other EU member states who are not yet ready but wish to join this pioneer group at a later stage will be able to do so.

23. Stresses the conclusions of the Commission's analysis of the competitiveness of forestry in the European Union, according to which it is desirable to promote the coordination of policy on forestry and the rest of the wood/paper production chain; welcomes the fact that incentives to encourage voluntary mergers between smaller forestry businesses have been provided at national and Community level; also points out that if private forestry organisations were strengthened, this would help private forest owners, in particular, in developing their own sustainable forest management;

The Skene family is a perfect example of pioneers who came and took the lumber from our forest to build the communities in northern Ontario.

* co-ordinate the Commission's support to ongoing international initiatives to build political commitment to address illegal logging, in particular the Africa, Asia and proposed Latin America initiatives for forest law enforcement and governance, and co-ordinate Commission positions in relation to dialogue with G8 countries and China;

(27) Whereas the international criteria for the preservation of tropical forests cannot for the time being be used to monitor logging operations; whereas at this stage it is preferable for the purposes of the environmental incentives to vet countries thoroughly in advance, without prejudice to subsequent use of ex post verification as soon as conditions permit; whereas the additional preferential margins available should be the same as those adopted in the social field;

We want to preserve all successional stages in the forest, and one part of the successional stage that we can preserve by using forest management or clear-cutting is the first successional stage.