A New EU Forest Strategy for 2030 report adopted by the Agriculture Committee

Sustainable management based on bottom-up approach is key for preserving EU forests and services they provide.

In the draft resolution on “A New EU Forest Strategy for 2030 – Sustainable Forest Management in Europe”, adopted by the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development on Tuesday by 30 votes to 2 and 10 abstentions, MEPs, led by the rapporteur Ulrike Müller (Renew, DE), stress the importance and diversity of EU forests and call for their sustainable management developed with forest owners.

Multi-functional role of forests

Acknowledging the multiple ecosystem services and socioeconomic functions that forests provide, including mitigating climate change and creating more than 2 million jobs in the EU, MEPs call for a balanced implementation of the strategy in terms of providing of all these services.

Wood is the only natural renewable resource that can replace energy-intensive materials. The report therefore proposes that the EU supports a broader use of different options for wood-based substitutes. Wood-based products should be used as efficiently as possible and in line with national specificities, say the MEPs.

Sustainable forests management

The report urges for sustainable active management of forests to strengthen forests’ ecosystem adaptation and resilience. However, given the EU’s diverse forests and climate conditions, this management should be developed nationally, regionally and locally.

Agriculture MEPs further call for a common definition as well as mapping of primary and old-growth forests, which have a key role for biodiversity protection, carbon sequestration and fresh water provision. As multi-species forests have higher resilience to climate impacts, the adopted report proposes to not to support mono-cultures by EU funds.

Role of forest owners and managers

The text stresses diverse ownership patterns and forms of governance of forests in the Member States. For that reason, the cornerstones of the strategy’s implementation must be close cooperation especially with forest owners, says the Agriculture Committee.

Not even half of the available EU funds have been used for forestry measures. MEPs thus call on member states to remove administrative burdens to the use of the current funds. In this regard, a special attention should be paid to small-holders of forests, who create a significant share of private forest owners. Support programmes, voluntary payment for ecosystem services schemes and research funding must be understandable and easily accessible to them.

Next steps

The resolution on A New EU Forest Strategy for 2030 now needs to be voted by the Parliament Plenary, possibly during the September session.

Background

The own initiative report reacts to the Commission New EU Forest Strategy for 2030 from 16 July 2021 that sets actions for increasing the quantity and quality of forests in the EU and strengthening their protection, restoration and resilience.

O artigo foi publicado originalmente em European Parliament.