The goal of the workshop, organised by the Joint Management Committee of the World Heritage beech forest site, was to discuss the added value and possible contents of a multi-annual strategy for the serial property.  In the future, the group aims to better streamline the activities of the 18 member states for a shared vision and gain clarity over the priorities for the next 5-10 years. The UNESCO guidance document “Enhancing our Heritage Toolkit 2.0” formed the basis of the discussions between the 19 workshop participants from 12 member states. 

The workshop focussed on the following aspects: the values and attributes contributing to the outstanding universal value of the property, the factors affecting the property, boundaries and buffer zones, governance arrangements, the legal framework and the management planning framework. Especially the impacting factors, management approaches and legal frameworks differ significantly at national and regional levels in the member states. Therefore, a multi-annual strategy is critical to bring together these different aspects at the strategic level to secure the outstanding universal value of all component parts. 

The workshop builds on a long history on the Isle of Vilm, where the initial steps for a World Heritage beech forest site originated. In 2005 a workshop series focussing on “Central European World Heritage and future cultural landscapes” at the International Academy for Nature Conservation, initiated the first step towards a joint nomination of European countries with ancient and primeval beech forest areas.

After recognising the Slovakian-Ukrainian beech forest World Heritage site in 2007, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee confirmed an extension by the German beech forest cluster ‘Ancient Beech Forests of Germany’ in 2011. This cluster comprises selected areas of the Kellerwald-Edersee National Park in Hesse, the Hainich National Park in Thuringia and the Jasmund and Müritz National Parks in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, as well as the Grumsin Total Reserve in the Schorfheide-Chorin Biosphere Reserve in Brandenburg. Following further expansions, the transnational site ‘Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe’ now comprises 18 countries and 94 component parts covering an area of 100,000 hectares. The activities of the World Heritage site focus on eliminating threats, implementing joint projects, e.g. in research and education, and thus fulfilling the global responsibility to permanently secure all primary and primeval forests. Cooperation and support across borders are extremely important for this World Heritage property with so many countries and component parts involved.

The BfN, specifically the International Nature Conservation division, represents the Federal Republic of Germany together with representatives of the German Environment Ministry - (Division N III 3 Forest protection and sustainable forestry, wilderness, nature restoration) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Climate Protection of the State of Brandenburg (Division 43 Nature Conservation Promotion, National Natural Landscapes) in the Joint Management Committee of the UNESCO World Heritage beech forest site and will support the development of the multi-annual strategy.

These ongoing activities serve to fulfil obligations under the UNESCO World Heritage Convention with regard to natural heritage sites ratified by the Federal Republic of Germany in 1972. Currently 3 German sites have been inscribed on the list of natural World Heritage: Messel pit fossil site, beech forests and Wadden Sea.