Organized by Pro Silva Hungaria Team (2026): Peter Csepány, Margit Dénes, a.o.

Contact: peter.csepanyi(at)gmail.com

In 2026, Pro Silva Europe will hold its Annual Meeting in Hungary, in one of the country’s most important tourism regions: Visegrád, a historic town in the Danube Bend (Dunakanyar). The venue is the Hotel Silvanus, renowned for its outstanding panoramic views.

The meeting will introduce participants to Hungary’s forests and to the practical implementation of Pro Silva principles in Hungarian forest management. A key message of the event is the importance of a close, continuous link between practice and research.

Hungarian forestry has only modest traditions in continuous cover forestry. While a few small-scale, traditional selection forests once existed, this practice largely declined after the Second World War. Until the early 2000s, rotation forestry management dominated practice, education, and research. According to official data from 2024, forestry systems other than rotation forestry management are applied on around 10% of the country, and management explicitly ensuring continuous forest cover is present on only about 2% of Hungary’s forest area.

The field programme will highlight the most important achievements of the 27 years since the foundation of Pro Silva Hungaria in 1999.

• Day 1: Following the Annual General Meeting, the event opens with welcome addresses and a conference session. Presentations will cover the current status of continuous cover forestry in Hungary and related research results, complemented by experience from Germany.

• Field day 1: The excursion focuses on key topics, including how research and practice are connected through a transdisciplinary approach, and how Pilis Park Forestry Company (state forestry company managing some of the most heavily visited forests in Hungary) is introducing continuous cover forestry. Participants will visit the Pilis Forestry Systems Experiment and Pilis Gap Experiment, the Mexikó-puszta Pro Silva Exemplary Forest (selected in 1999), and ongoing works in surrounding stands of different phase within the Pilisszentkereszt and Visegrád Forestry Units.

• Field day 2: In the morning, the programme presents the challenges of managing private forests on poor sites that have faced multiple setbacks and explores opportunities for introducing continuous cover forestry. In the afternoon, the excursion returns to state forests at Pilis Park Forestry Company Valkó Forestry Unit in the Gödöllö Hills, where participants will compare the professional and economic outcomes of rotation forestry systems and continuous cover management under exceptionally dry conditions.

Here you find the draft program from February 2026