Dear Members of the IUFRO International Council, It is now just about eight months since we held our IUFRO World Congress in Salt Lake City. And what a stunning success that event turned out to be. At the outset, I would like to thank the many people, IUFRO officeholders, members and friends of IUFRO for the incredible efforts culminating in a World Congress of which we can be most proud. The IUFRO World Congress also marked the start of my term as IUFRO President. This is a position that I am most proud to hold and I thank you for the confidence that you have placed in me. My acceptance speech at the culmination of the Salt Lake City Conference captured most of my sentiments and focussed on my vision for my presidential term. That material has been widely publicised and I will not repeat it here. We have just recently completed the first IUFRO Enlarged Board Meeting; following tradition held in Vienna.