ABOUT THE ORDER OF FORESTRY EXPERTS (O.F.E.)

O.F.E. is a professional organization of forest experts that was established by the Council of European Foresters in March 1, 2024 (C.E.F. Board Resolution of March 1, 2024) by transforming the Advisory Group of Forestry Experts in Europe (A.G.F.E.E.) into O.F.E.
C.E.F. established A.G.F.E.E. on August 2, 2012 , by the C.E.F. Board Resolution , and functioned until March 1, 2024 when it was transformed by C.E.F. into O.F.E. O.F.E., unlike A.G.F.E.E., is an organization with full autonomy and includes foresters from all over the world.

O.F.E. has its own Rules of the Organization and Functioning (R.O.F. of O.F.E.), and has as members outstanding forestry personalities with exceptional professional performance and expertise.

O.F.E. has as Governing Bodies: O.F.E. President, O.F.E. Vice-President and O.F.E. Board. The O.F.E. President and O.F.E. Vice-President are also part of the O.F.E. Board.

The process of nomination, certification, awarding the titles of Forestry Expert Member of O.F.E., Advisory Forestry Expert Member of O.F.E., Master Forester Expert of O.F.E., awarding Certificates, O.F.E. Gold Medals and O.F.E. Gold Badges are done according to the R.O.F. of O.F.E.

The current President of O.F.E. is Marian Stoicescu, România, and the Vice- President of O.F.E. is Jeffrey Miller, United States of America.

The Rules of the Organization and Functioning of the Order of Forestry Experts (R.O.F. of O.F.E.) of December 12, 2025

1. The Order of Forestry Experts (O.F.E.) is an Institution created by the Council of European Foresters (C.E.F.) in order to identify and appreciate the professional elites of the forestry sector in the countries of Europe and the countries of the world, to recognize the exceptional professional merits of these foresters and to strengthen their professional prestige at the European and world level by awarding the Certificates of Forestry Expert Member of the Order of Forestry Experts, Certificates of Advisor Forestry Expert Member of the Order of Forestry Experts, Certificates of Master Forestry Expert Member of the Order of Forestry Experts and Golden Medals and Badges of the Order of Forestry Experts.

The O.F.E. Gold Medals and the O.F.E. Gold Badges are distinctions that will have the O.F.E. logo inscribed and the text on the edge of the distinction: MEMBER OF THE ORDER OF FORESTRY EXPERTS. The O.F.E. Gold Medal with ribbon will be worn by O.F.E. Members at all O.F.E. meetings and other official or festive meetings to which O.F.E. Members are invited to participate, and the O.F.E. Badges can be worn by O.F.E. Members anywhere.

O.F.E. Members (Forestry Expert Member of O.F.E., Forestry Adviser Member of O.F.E., Forestry Master Member of O.F.E.) can participate and contribute in the elaboration of forestry strategies and policies initiated by the European and world institutions; can support proposals and recommendations for solving the global and European forestry problems; can participated in the elaboration and verification of studies and forestry managerial projects, including Forest Inventories, can use their professional expertise to promote sustainable forest management in all forests and forest development measures, forest functions in the interest of life on Earth and to combat climate changes, other forestry actions and activities. O.F.E. is the successor of the Advisory Group of the Forestry European Experts (A.G.F.E.E.). A.G.F.E.E. certified members can receive Certificates of members of O.F.E.

2. O.F.E. is an institution created by C.E.F. When the O.F.E. is established, the C.E.F. Board first elects the O.F.E. President. Then, for obtaining the first O.F.E. Board, the O.F.E. President will send nominations for O.F.E. Board members to C.E.F. President and the C.E.F. President will present these nominations to C.E.F. Board members for obtaining the C.E.F. Board Resolution. Also, the C.E.F. Board can decide to modify and complete the Rules of Organization and Functioning of O.F.E.

The O.F.E. Board, elected by C.E.F. Board, will have autonomy in O.F.E. activity, in election of O.F.E. members and O.F.E. Board members, to modify and complete the Rules of Organization and Functioning of O.F.E. Since in O.F.E. there is not a fee from O.F.E. members to O.F.E. are very important the contribution and the support of the organization or institutions those representatives are O.F.E. Board members. These organizations and institutions are recognized by O.F.E. as O.F.E. Supporting Organizations and will receive an O.F.E. Special Certificate signed by C.E.F. President and O.F.E. President.

3. The Order of Forestry Experts can have as members: Forestry Expert Members of the Order, Advisor Forestry Expert Members of the Order and Master Forestry Expert Members of the Order. Forestry Expert Members of the Order and Advisory Forestry Expert Members of the Order are forestry professional personalities who have proven their important professional, scientific and forestry research performance. Their Curriculum Vitae (C.V.) is the document which will be presented their professional achievements in forestry management, inventions or innovations in the forestry sector, achievements in forestry research and forestry scientific works.

These personalities are nominated by each member organization of the Council of European Foresters, by O.F.E. Board members, by O.F.E. Vice-President and by O.F.E. President. The list of nominations, accompanied by C.V. of those nominated, is presented to the O.F.E. Board for approval. After obtaining the approval of the O.F.E. Board, the nominees will be certified as O.F.E. members through a Certificate in which they will also be established the title of O.F.E. member, O.F.E. Advisor member or O.F.E. Master member. Through the same Certificate, they will be awarded the O.F.E. Gold Medal, which will be worn compulsorily at all O.F.E. meetings, and the O.F.E. Gold Badge. At all O.F.E. meetings, O.F.E. members will wear a black bow tie (black tie outfit) and the O.F.E. Medal, out of respect for this elite organization of which they are part and out of respect for their fellow O.F.E. members.

The difference between Forestry Expert Members of the Order and Advisory Forestry Expert Members of the Order is that the Advisor proves an experience of at least 15 years in a part of the forestry activity for which he has expertise. Master Forestry Expert Members of the Order, one, or in exceptional situations up to three from each country, are nominated by one or more members of the O.F.E. Board. The title that will be granted to each O.F.E. Member will be in accordance with the provisions of the R.O.F. of O.F.E. Any dispute in this regard can be resolved by the O.F.E. Board.

The title of Master Forestry Expert Member of the Order of Forestry Experts, or Advisor Forestry Expert Member of the Order of Forestry Experts, or Forestry Expert Member of the Order of Forestry Experts will be certified for each O.F.E. Member in an O.F.E. Certificate which will also mention the award of the O.F.E. Gold Medal and the O.F.E. Gold Badge. Certificate will be signed by the O.F.E. President or, at the request of the O.F.E. President, by the O.F.E. President and the C.E.F. President. Certificate for O.F.E. President, for O.F.E. Vice-President and for O.F.E. Board Members will mention their position in O.F.E.

The O.F.E. President will nominate the O.F.E. Vice-President to the O.F.E. Board, following that the O.F.E. Board decides in this regard. The O.F.E. President, or another Member of the Order nominated by the O.F.E. President, will organize the awarding ceremonies of C.E.F. and O.F.E. Certificates, O.F.E. golden medals and O.F.E. golden badges to those nominated to become O.F.E. members. Since in O.F.E. there is no fee from O.F.E. members to O.F.E., the cost of making golden medals and golden badges is paid by their beneficiaries or by sponsorships. Ceremonies for the awarding of Certificates, medals and badges require a festive setting and a protocol outfit, protocol black tie, of the participants in these ceremonies.

According to this R.O.F., first of all, O.F.E. is a prestigious international institution for foresters in the world, and O.F.E members, called members of the Order, are elite personalities from the European and global forestry sector. R.O.F. of O.F.E. allows the nomination to become members of O.F.E. and of the foresters from other continents, the nomination conditions are to know and respect the provisions of R.O.F. of O.F.E. and to present their own C.V. in European format.

O.F.E. is a prestigious professional organization of foresters who prove professionalism in their activity through outstanding results and achievements. O.F.E. was created to recognize the merits and the professional expertise of foresters by granting the title of O.F.E. Member (Member of the Order). Members of the O.F.E. don’t pay a fee to O.F.E. The activity of the Members of the Order in O.F.E., including participation in O.F.E. activities, is financially supported by themselves, or by organizations – without O.F.E., or by sponsorships. The activity of the O.F.E. Board Members in O.F.E. is not paid, and the foresters who accept the honor of being nominated to be Members of the O.F.E. Board (Masters of the O.F.E.), including for the position of President or Vice-President of O.F.E., must know and respect the provisions of the R.O.F. of O.F.E.

The members of the Order have the obligation to respect the provisions of the R.O.F. of O.F.E. and to participate in the Program of O.F.E. actions approved by the O.F.E. Board. Non-compliance by O.F.E. members with their obligations stipulated in the R.O.F. of O.F.E. is sanctioned by the O.F.E. Board with a warning or the withdrawal of the title of Member of the Order.

After the election by the C.E.F. Board of the first O.F.E. President and the members of the first O.F.E. Board, the O.F.E. will have large autonomy. This autonomy of the O.F.E. consists in the fact that the O.F.E. can decide through the O.F.E. Board to modify the R.O.F. of O.F.E., to modify the O.F.E. Board component or the component of its members. If the President of the O.F.E., the O.F.E. Vice-President or one or more members of the O.F.E. Board notices the non-participation (lack of communication, lack of participation in the online meetings of the O.F.E. Board, etc.) in supporting the activity of the O.F.E. Board of a member of the O.F.E. Board, the O.F.E. President is obliged to inquire about the reason why he does not participate in the activity of the O.F.E. Board, and if there is no motivation in this regard, the O.F.E. President or the O.F.E. Vice-President will inform the O.F.E. Board about this situation.

The O.F.E. Board may decide that that member of the O.F.E. Board be warned that he will lose his position as a member of the O.F.E. Board within a certain deadline if he continues not to participate in the activity of the O.F.E. Board. After the expiration of the deadline, in place of the former member of the O.F.E. Board, someone else will be elected by the O.F.E. Board. Solving problems at the level of the O.F.E. member component is done through Resolutions of the O.F.E. Board. O.F.E. Board Decisions and O.F.E. Board Resolution are obtained by vote (with a majority of votes of the members of the O.F.E. Board) and by agreement (the agreement of the members of the O.F.E. Board is when there are no comments from them within an imposed term of which the members of the O.F.E. Board have been informed).

4. The O.F.E. logo can be used on O.F.E. documents, on the golden medals of the O.F.E., on the golden badges of the O.F.E., and others.

O.F.E. logo is: [Insert Logo Here]

5. The governing bodies of the O.F.E. are the O.F.E. Board and the O.F.E. President.

6. The O.F.E. Board has a number of Board members, called Masters. The number of O.F.E. Board members is decided by the first O.F.E. Board elected by C.E.F. Board. The O.F.E. President and the O.F.E. Vice-President are part of the O.F.E. Board and they represent on the Board of O.F.E. the country they are from. The O.F.E. Board has online meetings (or any kind of meeting is possible) whenever is necessary, and the convening of the meetings is done by the President of the O.F.E. The O.F.E. activity program and any O.F.E. Decision or O.F.E. Resolution is approved by a majority of O.F.E. Board Members. Decisions and Resolutions of the O.F.E. Board are taken according to the provisions of article 3 of the R.O.F. of O.F.E.

7. The O.F.E. President is elected for a period usually of three years. The O.F.E. President leads O.F.E. and represents the O.F.E. in relations with other Institutions or Organizations and in the activity of the O.F.E. O.F.E. has a Vice-President nominated by the O.F.E. President to the O.F.E. Board and elected by O.F.E. Board for a period usually of three years. The O.F.E. Vice-President supports the O.F.E. President in his O.F.E. activity. The O.F.E. President can delegate in writing the O.F.E. Vice-President in his place to participate or to attend in some events or to sign some O.F.E. documents. The O.F.E. President will make an annual O.F.E. activity report.

8. In the calendar of activities and events that take place annually in O.F.E., O.F.E. Day it is March 29, the foundation day of O.F.E.

OFE MEMBERS