As forest ecosystems provide shelter for the greater part of the national biodiversity and are the location of the majority of the nation’s protected areas, their role in the sustainable development of the country warrants priority at a national level. This would require not only further increasing forest cover in the country but also strengthening forest management, reducing corruption and illegal cutting, improving forest productivity and resilience to climate changes. The recent study conducted by the World Bank with the participation of international and local consultants1 offers an outside view of the Moldovan forest sector, provides some strategic advice to help define sector goals, and identifies opportunities for consideration in the continued development of the sector and in the implementation of the Moldova/World Bank Country Partnership Strategy. As the first step in strengthening forest management, the WB report proposes the implementation of the national Strategy for institutional reforms which focuses on the separation of the management from the regulatory and control functions and modernizing and strengthening the regulatory and monitoring capacity of forestry and environmental authorities which would in turn help address the root causes of illegal forest activities and corruption. Furthermore, the need to develop a more market-based economy within the sector is recognized. This can be started by more actively engaging the private sector and creating enabling environment for Small and Medium Enterprises which could provide services in areas such as harvesting, afforestation and other forest activities (e.g. NTFPs production and processing), thereby reducing the dominance of the state sector.  A number of medium priority actions are also recommended including combating corruption in the sector, preventing unsustainable levels of wood removals from forests, and introducing sustainable forest management plans for Local Public Authorities forests. The report also recognizes the importance of improving the public perception of the forestry sector and Moldsilva and the need for the continued development of consensus among the main stakeholders on the sector’s development. The study highlights the urgent issue of preventing degradation and ensuring sustainable management of forest managed by the Local Public Authorities (LPAs). Currently the LPA forests are under significant anthropic pressure from illegal harvesting and will continue to degrade unless remedial measures are introduced. The future of sustainable management of the LPA’s forests will depend on a combination of the institutional reform and the introduction and implementation of forest management plans (FMPs) together with initiatives to secure professional management of these areas for the benefit of local communities. The report recommends expanding country’s forest cover through a long term national Program of afforestation. The total forest cover currently is 11.1%, which is much below the European average (45% - EU average). Although in the past 15 years there is an increasing tendency in the percentage of forestation, the path of forest cover is slow, and the share of native species – reduced. Expansion of forest areas to 15% (proposed by the country’s Environmental Strategy)2 is to be achieved by planting 150,000 ha of forest and forest plantations with promoting higher proportion of native species as well as by rehabilitating and establishing of new shelterbelts in the wider landscape to help protect agricultural soils, to reduce erosion and to prevent further soil degradation. One of important activity while conducting afforestation in Moldova is proposed increasing Moldova’s energy security through implementing a national wood energy program with a target afforestation area using short rotation, high yielding forest energy crops (suited to the projected climate change impacts) and thus ensuring a sustainable wood supply. This would improve rural population livelihoods and reduce country’s Greenhouse Gases Emissions. At the same time, the report proposes building and maintaining stable and diversified forests adapted to climate change. All these activities would help support Moldova’s national and international commitments towards low-carbon development by reducing greenhouse gas emissions through increased carbon sequestration. Another major problem faced by the forestry sector is the unsustainable level of wood consumption. The action to reduce the considerable losses caused by illegal logging are still insufficient. The problem of illegal logging persists, mainly due to poverty in rural areas and to weak institutional capacity. The officially recorded timber/firewood harvest is around 400,000 m3/per year which equates to 32 percent of the annual increment (the EU on average harvests 58 percent of the annual increment). The total consumption of fuelwood however, is estimated at 1.1 million m3 per year3 (nearly three times the official harvest). This represents 80 percent of the total increment. The difference between the officially recorded removals and the estimated consumption is most likely due to unregulated and uncontrolled harvesting. These levels of illegal removals are unsustainable, and will result in significant degradation of Moldovan forests. The gross value of this unofficial harvest is estimated at between US$15 million and US$17 million m3 per year. These levels of unofficial removals are unsustainable as these harvests will be concentrated in areas of easy access and where there is limited control and monitoring, resulting in some areas becoming significantly degraded. Climate change will have a significant impact on Moldovan forests. Even small changes in temperature and precipitation could severely impact forest growth and survival. During 2010-2039, forest health is projected to worsen in the north of the country where areas susceptible to die-back will expand by around 15-25 percent. By 2040-2069, conditions will deteriorate further, extending southwards. Adaptation to climate change will require research on species selection, adaptive provenances and genotypes. In this regard building and maintaining stable diversified forests adapted to climate change presents a significant challenge and will require on-going measures including research on species selection including adaptive provenances and genotypes. Expanding forest cover in the country as well as the new challenges related to climate change require targeted scientific studies. In this regard the report proposes a strategic research agenda (SRA) for the forestry sector that would provide direction and prioritize research. The immediate need is to address the potential impact of climate change. Other important areas include scientific substantiation for the afforestation of degraded lands, biological disease control agents and the most appropriate species and cultivation methods for fast-growing energy crops. Inventory and mapping of biodiversity in PAs is also an important area for research. Applied GIS research would facilitate a cross sectoral landscape approach to the research. Improving and promoting the holistic management of landscapes can help reduce the incidence and scale of damage from catastrophic events such as landslides, flooding and forest fires.  Agency “Moldsilva” should initiate and conduct the necessary studies that would allow the completion of ta national forest inventory as a basis for the development of forest policy and strategic forest sector decision making. A combination of such inventory and the implementation of current legislative provisions regarding land registration would afford policy makers and other relevant stakeholders a better and more informed view of the resource and would also facilitate the required international reporting.