The Secretariat operates across three countries — Belgium, Slovakia, and Austria — with Austria leading the research and monitoring activities. The Austrian component of the secretariat is shared by the E.C.O. Institute of Ecology and the Carinthia University of Applied Sciences, UNESCO Chair on Sustainable Management of Protected Areas.

The UNESCO World Heritage Site, first listed in 2007, now spans across 18 states, 51 protected areas, and 93 component sites. They represent an outstanding example of relatively undisturbed, complex temperate forests and exhibit a wide spectrum of comprehensive ecological patterns and processes of pure and mixed stands of European beech (Fagus sylvatica) across a variety of environmental conditions. Since the end of the last ice age, European beech has spread from a few isolated refuge areas in the Alps, Carpathians, Dinarides, Mediterranean, and Pyrenees over a short period of a few thousand years in a process that is still ongoing. The successful expansion across a whole continent is related to the tree’s adaptability and tolerance of different climatic, geographical and physical conditions.

Project Duration: September 2024 – December 2029

Financed by: Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology

External links: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1133/