The IEFC Annual General Meeting 2025, co-organised by IEFC, USSE, HAZI, NEIKER, Cesefor and Gipuzkoa, took place on 8^th and 9^th April in the city of San Sebastián (Donostia) in the Basque Country. The event was held in the prestigious Sala GUNEA of the Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa (The Gipuzkoa Provincial Council), which provided an excellent setting for the 60 attendees. The day was filled with meaningful exchanges and powerful presentations, with 22 distinguished speakers from various countries sharing their expertise and insights.

The meeting started with a welcome from the Basque authorities and partners. One of the main highlights of the morning was the seminar on Forest Health Monitoring Systems, where various international experts presented cutting-edge tools and research. Notable speakers included representatives from USSE, Forest Research UK, University of León, HAZI FUNDAZIOA and the University of Santiago de Compostela.

Then, a roundtable discussion led by Ander Arias from NEIKER, focussed on the challenges in ongoing initiatives to monitor forest health, from simple citizen science to report damage to high level experts training to identify tree biotic agents. This session began with a presentation led by Christophe Orazio of IEFC and focused on options to improve the exchange of information on forest health between the Atlantic regions taking advantage of the IEFC network. The actions gathering more support are i) the listing of existing damaging agent websites/resources in the network, ii) use the IEFC newsletter to provide updates on emerging risk and risk management in planted forests,, iii) build partnerships around Silvalert.

The second session led by Javier Calvo from CESEFOR reported the surveys done with IEFC network fund. The agenda included a series of presentations on forestry innovation, a success story of the Forest Productivity cooperative in Chile, and technology transfer challenges and funding models for the IEFC. A successful group activity encouraged participants to explore collaborative funding opportunities and identify sources of future support for IEFC projects. Following these presentations, the open session of flash talks for IEFC members began with 10 talks given by IEFC member organisations.

The meeting concluded with the opening of the General Assembly, where key reports on IEFC activities in 2023-2024 were presented (Board president report, Networking and capacity building activities, Communication activities, IEFC ongoing projects topics), followed by discussions on the 2024 accounts and the 2025 budget.

The day was rounded off with a social dinner in a typical Basque cider house, providing an excellent opportunity for informal networking and further discussion.

The following day, 9 April, participants had the opportunity to join a field trip to explore the Pagoeta Natural Park and the REINFFORCE AR22 Arboretum.

Suzanne Afanou (IEFC) & Christophe Orazio (IEFC)