A new EU Forest Strategy
Policy Document
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A new EU Forest Strategy: for forests and the forest-based sector.
Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions ‘A new EU Forest Strategy: for forests and the forest-based sector’, COM(2013) 659 final.
The EU needs a policy framework that coordinates and ensures coherence of forest-related
policies and allows synergies with other sectors that influence forest management. The new forest strategy is a key reference in forest-related policy development. EU forests
and forest sector need to be positioned in a way that ensures their contribution to the EU’s
objectives and targets. This implies to:
• Ensure that the multifunctional potential of EU forests is managed in a sustainable and
balanced way, enabling our forests’ vital ecosystem services to function correctly.
• Satisfy the growing demand for raw material for existing and new products (e.g. green
chemicals or textile fibres) and for renewable energy. This demand is an opportunity
to diversify markets, but poses a significant challenge for sustainable management and
for balancing demands. Demand for new uses in the bioeconomy and in bioenergy
should be coordinated with traditional demands, and respect sustainable boundaries.
• Respond to the challenges and opportunities that forest-based industries face in
resource and energy efficiency, raw materials, logistics, structural adaptation,
innovation, education, training and skills, international competition, climate policy
beyond 2020 and information and communication, to stimulate growth.
• Protect forests and biodiversity from the significant effects of storms and fires, increasingly scarce water resources, and pests. These threats do not respect national borders and are exacerbated by climate change.
• Acknowledge that the EU does not only rely on its own production, and that its
consumption has implications for forests worldwide.
• Develop an adequate information system to follow-up on all of the above.
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For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/policy-documents/the-eu-forest-strategy-com or scan the QR code.
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