"We are going to call on industry to take on the responsibility it has for supporting the forestry sector. Calling on industry means, above all, telling them that it is important for them to get increasingly close to production," said Freitas.

According to the Secretary of State for Forests, "one of the big problems of the forestry sector is that the industry has turned its back on production. We must insist with industry that it must contribute more to making forest management more professional and more capable."

Miguel Freitas spoke at the opening of a Conference entitled, "Reform of the Forest - Capacity Building of Institutional Agents and Dynamics" promoted by Portuguese forestry association Forestis.

"We will create forest savings plans that are also a key factor to help finance the forestry sector," he said.

The Secretary of State listed a set of measures that the Government has implemented and intends to implement for the forestry sector, in what he defined as "taking risks, breaking down barriers and frontiers, innovating models and restoring confidence in the forest sector."

"At the moment we are discussing [...] a new figure in Portugal: the young rural entrepreneur," he said, explaining it defines, "young people who want to focus on the forest receiving very specific benefits to do so and give them the same status as young farmers in Portugal."