European Forests

The report Illegal Logging and Related Trade: Indicators of the Global Response by Chatham House examines and analyses efforts in the past decade to control illegal logging in nations that consume, produce and process wood and wood products, thereby revealing the significant impacts that tackling illegal logging and improving forest governance can have on the development of poor countries, as well as on climate change. The report assesses the response and progress in 12 countries – five producer countries (Brazil, Cameroon, Ghana, Indonesia and Malaysia), two processing countries (China and Vietnam) and five consumer countries (Japan, the USA, the UK,...

The European Parliament has voted in favour of legislation banning illegally logged timber imports into the European Union. The new legislation bans illegally-harvested timber or timber products from being placed on the EU market. This will prevent such wood from effectively being laundered once it reaches the EU. Currently, at least 20% of timber and timber products reaching the EU market is estimated to come from illegal sources.Member States will be responsible for applying sanctions to operators who break the rules. The legislation sets out guidelines for imposing fines: the environmental damage caused, the value of the timber and lost...

Two new independent scientific studies commissioned by BirdLife International, the European Environmental Bureau, and Transport Environment cast further doubt on the EU policy of promoting biomass as fuel for heat and power generation, and biofuels for transport.The first study, carried out by Joanneum Research, identifies a major flaw in the way carbon savings from forest-derived biomass are calculated in EU law as well as under UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol mechanisms. It concludes that harvesting trees for energy creates a carbon debt: the carbon contained in the trees is emitted upfront while trees grow back over many years. The...

A new synthesis published in the journal Global Change Biology. The synthesis is based on a suite of complementary approaches, of the primary production and carbon sink in forests of the 25 member states of the European Union (EU-25) during 1990–2005. Upscaled terrestrial observations and model-based approaches agree within 25% on the mean net primary production (NPP) of forests, i.e. 520±75 g C m-2 yr-1 over a forest area of 1.32 × 106 km2 to 1.55 × 106 km2 (EU-25). New estimates of the mean long-term carbon forest sink (net biome production, NBP) of EU-25 forests amounts 75±20...

The United Nations is setting up a body to monitor global ecology modelled on its influential climate panel. Last week, representatives from 85 countries gathered in Busan, South Korea, to approve the formation of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), which will operate much like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. According to the document hammered out on 11 June 2010, the IPBES will conduct periodic assessments of Earth biodiversity and ecosystem services — ecosystems outputs, such as fresh water, fish, game, timber and a stable climate, that benefit humankind. These assessments, based on reviews of...

FOREST EUROPE made a press release the FOREST EUROPE Ministerial Conference in 2011. In exactly 365 days, ministers and high level representatives responsible for the forests of all 46 European countries and the EU will meet in Oslo for the 6th FOREST EUROPE Ministerial Conference to take decisions that affect the well-being of people and the environment both within and beyond their borders. The conference is being held in the Norwegian capital from 14-16 June 2011. The health and sustainability of European forests play an important role in solving challenges like climate change, biodiversity protection and fresh water. Their vitality...

Experts at the UK Forestry Commission are working to contain the spread of Phytophthora ramorum infection to Japanese larch (Larix kaempferi) trees in South Wales. P. ramorum is a fungus-like pathogen that kills many of the trees and plants that it infects. Japanese larch trees infected by P. ramorum were first found in South-West England in 2009, the only place in the world where it has attacked large numbers of a commercially grown species of conifer tree. This development was a step change in the behaviour of the pathogen. Since first being identified in Britain in 2002, on a viburnum...

The third edition of Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-3), produced by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was published on 10 May 2010. The report confirms that the world has failed to meet its target to achieve a significant reduction in the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010. The report is based on scientific assessments, national reports submitted by governments and a study on future scenarios for biodiversity. Subject to an extensive independent scientific review process, publication of GBO-3 is one of the principal milestones of the UN International Year of Biodiversity. The Outlook warns that massive further loss of biodiversity...

Between 20-40% of the world wood production comes from illegally logged tropical forests. In April 2009 the European Parliament voted to ban trade in illegally logged timber following the example of the US. Now the text is back at Parliament and Environment Committee MEPs are not satisfied with what the EU governments in the Council have made of it - EU Council rejects ban on illegal timber imports (content/view/171/15/). On 4 May 2010 the Environment Committee of the European Parliament voted again.The Council position officially adopted in March was considerably weaker than the 1st reading position of the EU Parliament....

The 3014th Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting of European ministers took place in Brussels on 17th May 2010. The presidency informed the Council about the follow-up to the conference which took place on 6 and 7 April 2010 in Valsaín (Spain) and on the draft Council conclusions (9305/10). In a declaration, the Austrian, German, Latvia and Swedish delegations referred to the fact that forest protection is an integral part of sustainable forest management lying and which must remain within the competence of the member states (9785/10). Several other ministers took the floor and supported this declaration. Others, however, asked for...

MEPs are expected to give the green light to plans for a possible ban on the illegal timber trade in the EU. A draft recommendation on legislative proposals to prohibit the import of illegally sourced timber and curb deforestation was being debated by the environment committee on Tuesday 13 April 2010. The proposals, drafted by UK Green MEP Caroline Lucas, could lead to a full ban on illegal timber throughout the EU. The draft recommendation from parliament – including tabled amendments – will be voted on by the environment committee at the beginning of May.TheParliament.com (http://www.theparliament.com/no_cache/latestnews/news-article/newsarticle/eu-parliament-set-to-approve-ban-on-illegal-timber-trade/) European Parliament Legislative Observatory...

Fifth in the series of 10 messages for 2010, the assessment by the EEA on forest ecosystems provides an overview of their state and their main threats. The assessment finds that while their overall area remains stable, woodlands face a variety of threats. Besides unsustainable management practices, air borne pollution and climate change, forests are also threatened by fragmentation due to rapidly spreading urban areas and transport networks. Both the healthy functioning of forest ecosystems and the biodiversity they foster are at risk.EEA press release (http://www.eea.europa.eu/highlights/biodiversity-and-forest-ecosystems-in-europe-1) 10 messages for 2010 - Message 5 Forest Ecosystems (http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/10-messages-for-2010/resolveuid/024cbe89d6be7e1cd0154734af334436) The assessment highlights...

The Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010 (FRA 2010) is the most comprehensive assessment of forests and forestry to date - not only in terms of the number of countries and people involved - but also in terms of scope. It examines the current status and recent trends for about 90 variables covering the extent, condition, uses and values of forests and other wooded land, with the aim of assessing all benefits from forest resources. Information has been collated from 233 countries and territories for four points in time: 1990, 2000, 2005 and 2010. The results are presented according to the...

Eurostat has published (24 March 2010) the 2009 edition of the Forestry Statistics Pocketbook. The European Union of 27 Member states (EU-27) has a total area of forests and other wooded land of 177 million hectares, covering 42% of its land area. Contrary to what is happening in other parts of the world, forest cover in the EU is slowly but steadily increasing at the rate of approximately 0.4% per year. Forests provide many benefits to society and the economy and play an important role in the preservation of natural biodiversity and in climate change mitigation. This Pocketbook presents forestry...