The New EU Forest Strategy for 2030: A New Understanding of Sustainable Forest Management?

Abstract

Two decades after the pan-European set of indicators for sustainable forest management was adopted, the European Commission published the New EU Forest Strategy for 2030. We compared the documents on the basis of a content analysis to determine whether they share the same understanding of sustainable forest management. We looked at whether, and to what extent, the existing indicator set is fit for purpose to monitor progress towards the Strategy’s objectives, and the delivery of policy commitments. About two thirds of the identified objectives and commitments in the Strategy can be monitored at least partially by the pan-European set of indicators, whereas new indicators or approaches need to be developed for the remaining third. Several of the indicators are not linked to the Strategy, and some of them are only weakly linked to the policy issues addressed in the Strategy. Our comparison shows a few significant differences between the comprehensive vision of sustainable forest management formulated in the indicator set and the scope of the objectives and commitments in the Strategy. In particular, the forest policy concerns reflected in the Strategy address several issues which are not fully covered in the pan-European indicator set.

The increasing threat to European forests from the invasive foliar pine pathogen, Lecanosticta acicola

“…Uneven-aged and continuous-cover forestry management systems, promoted under the European Green Deal’s Forest Strategy for 2030 ( European Commission , Lier et al, 2022 ) have a different canopy structure to plantations, and a different microclimate. P. palustris grown under the mature tree canopy of shelterwood regeneration systems seems to incur lower levels of infection ( Boyer, 1975 , Phelps et al, 1978 , Cordell et al, 1990 ) and artificial inoculation trials also showed shade reduced fructification ( Siggers, 1944 ).…”

The Increasing Threat to European Forests from the Invasive Foliar Pine Pathogen, Lecanosticta Acicola

“…Uneven-aged and continuous-cover forestry management systems, promoted under the European Green Deal's Forest Strategy for 2030 (European Commission Forest strategy (europa.eu) accessed 19/04/ 2022; Lier et al, 2022) have a different canopy structure to plantations, and a different microclimate. P. palustris grown under the mature tree canopy of shelterwood regeneration systems seems to incur lower levels of infection (Boyer, 1975;Phelps et al 1978;Cordell et al, 1990) and artificial inoculation trials also showed shade reduced fructification (Siggers, 1944).…”

A Comparative Study of Stem Rot Severity in Mature Deciduous Trees in Latvia

“…Forests are expected to be crucial in making Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050 [1] while coping with biodiversity loss. The European Union (EU) has established ambitious targets to address climate change and promote sustainability, recognizing forests as a crucial component of these efforts.…”