European Parliament adopts report on the Commission Green Paper on Forest Protection and Information
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The European Parliament (EP) adopted (at its sitting on 11 May 2011) the Report on the Commission Green Paper on forest protection and information in the EU - preparing forests for climate change . The report was drafted by Kriton Arsenis (Greece, Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats).
The report calls for full implementation of active sustainable forest management (SFM) in the context of long-term national forest programmes (NFPs) incorporating national and regional priorities, measurable targets and evaluation criteria and taking account of the increased threats to forests from climate change. The report also calls upon the Commission to: (1) carefully study, and to report to Parliament and the Council on, options for payment for ecosystem services that acknowledge their economic value and reward forest biodiversity conservation and the restoration of forest ecosystems; (2) present a legislative proposal for forest fire prevention, incorporating funding for prevention plans and risk assessment, the European Forest Fires Information System (EFFIS), fire detection, infrastructure, training and education, and forest recovery after fires, including consideration of a 30-year ban on building on land where there has been a forest fire; (3) submit a legislative proposal prohibiting building on land cleared by fires proven to have resulted from arson; (4) present a legislative proposal on forest information, taking into account climate threats and the need for collection and dissemination of relevant, harmonised and comparable data on forest cover, biodiversity, biotic and abiotic threats and land use in the context of the UNFCCC, CBD and environmental accounts; (5) compile and monitor indicators relating to the protective functions of forests such as soil retention and water capacity; (6) support research into the influence of forests on regional weather patterns in the EU; (7) develop and disseminate best-practice guidelines based on the principles of sustainable management to fit the needs of private and state owners as well as local communities, in order to ensure resilience to climate change; (8) devise appropriate strategies for their protection, including the consideration of ‘Forest Heritage Observatories’.
The Green Paper, issued by the Commission in March 2010 and the subject of a public consultation (open until 31 July 2010), set out options for a European Union approach to the protection of forests and to information about forest resources and their condition.
Public consultation on Green Paper DG Environment
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