ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION

I.  Aims and Membership  of the  Association

Article 1

The International Association for Mediterranean Forests, founded in 1996, has the following aims :

- to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and information related to forest and other natural environments in countries with a Mediterranean climate; as well as knowledge and information concerning the management, protection and development of such environments;
- to foster interdisciplinary cooperation as extensive and direct as possible at an international level concerning the environmental, technical, socio-economic and developmental aspects of those areas where the natural conditions referred to above prevail.

The existence of the Association shall continue with no specified time limit.
Headquarters are at 14 rue Louis Astouin, 13002 - Marseille, France.
The association known as "The International Association for Mediterranean Forests" is independant, impartial and objective in its relations with governments, political parties and all other organisations or individuals.

Article 2

The forms of action undertaken by the Association are :

-the organisation of national and international meetings : working parties, conferences, trips, study visits, exhibitions;
- the organisation of exchange and training courses and the reception of people coming from the countries involved;
- the publication of newsletters, journals and other documentation;
- the promotion of any action facilitating the realisation of cooperative projects;
- the promotion of any other undertaking favourable to acheiving the Association's aims.

Article 3

Association membership is comprised of :

1. Individual members :

a). active members : those who are up to date in payment of their membership fee;
b). active benefactors : those who, besides paying their membership fee, have made a donation to the Association in money or in kind;
c). honorary members : designated by the Administrative Council, they do not have the right to vote;
d). associate members : designated by the General Meeting on the nomination of the Administrative Council; they are not obliged to pay a memebership fee but, if they do not, they forfeit the right to vote.

2. Organisations and Legal Entities

Such bodies, having a national or international status, pay a special membership fee but do not have the right to vote.
They may appoint a delegate of their choice to take part in Association meetings; the delegate will speak on behalf of the organisation that has appointed him.
In the context of jointly agreed reciprocal membership, a request for to join the IAMF may come from another association or equivalent organisation. In such cases, both the other organisation and the IAMF will be exempted from paying membership fees.
The Administrative Council considers all applications for membership and decides as it sees fit. Annual membership fees are decided by the Annual General Meeting at its ordinary sitting.

Article 4

A member ceases to belong to the Association in the event of his or her :

1. Resignation.
2. Death.
3. Summary exclusion for non-payment of the membership fee or exclusion decided by the Administrative Council on serious grounds, appeal against which may be made to the Annual General Meeting. Before a final decision is taken, the member will be called upon for an explanation.

II.  Administration and Operations

Article 5

The Association is run by an Administrative Council. It will have a minimum of 9 and a maximum of 15 members, as decided by the the Annual General Meeting. There must be an odd number of Council members.
Members of the Council must be drawn from at least four different countries, two of which must belong to the European Union and two of which must not.
Council members, elected for 6 years by secret ballot at the Annual General Meeting, will be chosen amongst the active members and benefactors of the Association.
In the event of vacancies on the Council, the Council will provisionally coopt replacement Council members who must be approved by the next Annual General Meeting. Any such new member remains on the Council only for the duration of his predecessor's term.
One third of the members of the Council will come up for reelection every two years. In the first years of the Association's existence, each renewable third of Council members will be decided by drawing lots. When the total number of councillors is not divisible by three, the third election for renewal of Council members will involve the unequal group.
Council members may stand for reelection.
The Council will elect by secret ballot an Executive Committee composed of a president, one or two vice-presidents, a secretary and a treasurer.
The Executive Committee is elected for a two-year term.

Article 6

The Council will meet at least once a year as well as each time it is convened by the president or at the request of a quarter of its members. A quorum of a third of Council members must be present for the proceedings of the meeting to be officially valid.
Council meetings may be held in any country and according to any legal procedure.
Minutes will be kept of Council meetings and must be signed by both the president and the secretary.
Any Council member absent from three consecutive Council meetings without justification will be deemed to have resigned.

Article  7

No member of the Administrative Council may receive any payment for carrying out his functions or duties.
Legitimate expenses only may be refunded, provided proof is supplied.

Article  8

The Annual General Meeting is open to all members of the Association.
It must meet at least once a year as well as each time it is convened by the Administrative Council or at the request of at least a quarter of Association members.
The Annual General Meeting may not be held in the same country two years consecutively. The order paper will be drawn up by the Executive Board.
The president's report, an annual report on the Executive Board's management and a statement of accounts will be read to the Meeting.
Members with a right to vote approve or reject the statement of accounts for the preceeding financial year as well as the budget estimates for the financial year to come; debate the questions on the order paper; and, as required by the present Articles, renew by election one third of the Council members.
The annual report and the statement of accounts and estimates will be made available to all members upon request.
The annual report and the statement of accounts and estimates will be sent each year to the main international organisations included on a list previously drawn up by the Administrative Council.

Article 9

The president will represent the Association in all civil matters. He schedules payments. He may delegate in accordance with the provisions laid down in the Rules of Procedure.
In the event of legal dealings, the president may be replaced only by a duly appointed representative authorised by special power of attorney.
All representatives of the Association must be in full possession of their civil rights.

Article  10

Approval by the Annual General Meeting is required for all decisions of the Administrative Council concerning the acquisition, exchange, sale or transfer of real estate required in pursuit of the Association's aims; the taking out of mortgages on such real estate; the signing of leases for more than nine years; the sale or transfer of capital or property forming part of the fixed assets; and loans.

Article  11

All proceedings of the Administrative Council concerning the acceptance of donations and bequests will be valid only after approval by the relevant authorities, as laid down in article 901 of the French Code Civil , in article 7 of the law of February 4, 1901 and decree n^o 66-388 of June 13, 1996, last amended by decree n^o 76-375 of April 28, 1976. All decisions of the Administrative Council concerning the sale or transfer of capital or property forming part of the fixed assets; the raising of mortgages; and loans, will be valid only after approval by the relevant authorities.

III. Fixed Assets and Annual Income

Article  12

Fixed assets include :

1. Real estate required in pursuit of the Association's aims;
2. Capital coming from gifts, unless its immediate spending has been authorised;
3. Sums paid for back payment of social security contributions;
4. One tenth at least of the Association's net income which shall be capitalised each year;
5. That part of any funds surplus to the projected running costs of the Association for the following financial year.

Article  13

The Association's annual income will be made up of :

1. Income from assets with the exception of the part stipulated in section ( 5 ) of article 12 hereabove;
2. Members' fees and contributions;
3. Grants from all levels of government as well as other bodies in the countries concerned; and from international organisations;
4. Donations, bequests and the income from gifts whose use has been authorised in the course of the current financial year;
5. Extraordinary funding raised exceptionally and, where necessary, with the approval of the relevant authorities;
6. Sums received in payment for services and work undertaken.

Article  14

Accounts will be kept in such a way that there can be a yearly presentation of an operating account, a statement of net income and a balance sheet.

The accounts must be approved each year by the relevant authorities.

IV . Amendment of the Articles and Dissolution of the  Association

Article  15

The Articles of Association may be amended by members with a right to vote at an Extraordinary General Meeeting as the result of a motion by the Administrative Council or by one tenth of the members constituting the General Meeting.
In both cases, motions to amend the Articles must be published on the order paper for the following General Meeting which should be sent to all members of the General Meeting at least twenty days in advance.
The quorum for the Extraordinary General Meeting will be one quarter of all members  with a right to vote and those present must come from at least four member countries.

If a quorum is not attained, another Extraordinary General Meeeting will be convened after a minimum of fifteen days. All decisions of this second meeting will be valid, whatever the number of members attending.
In all cases, amendment of the  Articles requires a two thirds majority of the members present and having the right to vote.

Article  16

In all circumstances, dissolution requires a two thirds majority of the members present and having the right to vote.
Should the Association find that its members come from fewer than four countries, it will be considered ipso facto dissolved.

Article  17

In the event of dissolution, the Extraordinary General Meeting will appoint one or several auditors responsible for the liquidation of the Association's assets. The Extraordinary General Meeting will transfer net assets to one or more similar public organisations, or those recognised as working in the public interest or those as defined in article 35 of the law of January 14, 1933.

V. Supervision and Rules of Procedure

Article  18

The president must at all times keep the Préfecture  of the Bouches-du-Rhône département  in France informed of any changes in the administration or the executive of the Association.

Article  19

Rules of Procedure may be drawn up by the Administrative Council and adopted at a General Meeting. The resulting document must then be sent to the Préfecture  of the Bouches-du-Rhône département  (France).