Press Statement EURAF Elects New Board as Agroforestry Conference Closes Amid Record Heatwave
Brussels, 29 June 2026 — The European Agroforestry Federation (EURAF) has a new board. The announcement closed EURAF2026, the federation’s biennial conference, held in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, from 22–26 June. The conference was organised by Sonja Kay (Agroscope), Jérémie Forney (University of Neuchâtel), and Felix Herzog (Swiss Agroforestry Association).
The newly elected board brings together six nationalities and brings decades of experience as farmers, researchers, and advocates from across Europe. Bohdan Lojka (Czech Republic) was elected President, with Anders Lindén (Sweden) as Vice President. Sonja Kay (Switzerland), takes on the role of Treasurer, supported by Bert Reubens (Belgium) as Vice Treasurer. Anke Hahn (Germany) was elected Secretary, with Jacopo Goracci (Italy) as Vice Secretary. Their election comes at a pivotal moment. The conference took place during a record-breaking heatwave sweeping Europe, one that has claimed thousands of lives and disrupted daily life for millions, underscoring the urgency of the conference’s central message: agroforestry, like other nature-based solutions, can’t afford to wait. It works. It must be scaled up rapidly to deliver real climate resilience and mitigation.
Delegates left Neuchâtel with a clear set of priorities for the agroforestry community going forward. There was strong consensus on the need for more innovative and effective strategies to drive adoption on the ground, alongside a commitment to building a more inclusive movement, including continued dialogue on the role of women in agroforestry. Participants also called for stronger and more coordinated advocacy, in the times of political instability in Europe, to ensure agroforestry policy matches the scale of the challenge ahead, in particular, ensuring the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) meaningfully supports agroforestry adoption, and that the Nature Restoration Regulation fully recognises agroforestry as one of the most effective tools for ecosystem restoration.
EURAF’s new board takes office with a mandate to translate this momentum into concrete progress across European farms and forests in the years ahead.
ENDS
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Notes to editors:
For broadcast coverage of the conference, see the report by Canal Alpha (the regional television channel for the Neuchâtel) – link.
More about European Agroforestry Conference EURAF2026 – link.
More about the European Agroforestry Federation – link.
More about benefits of agroforestry – link.
Pictures of European agroforestry – link.
