Yesterday the Commission stepped up its efforts on forestry by proposing the preparation of an EU Action Plan for Sustainable Forest Management. The need for an Action Plan has emerged from a review of the activities implemented in the context of the EU Forestry Strategy since its adoption in December 1998. The review shows that forests can provide multiple benefits to modern society and that these benefits are increasingly appreciated by the public. There has been progress in the sustainable management of EU forests over the last years, but the policy context is changing and a more pro-active approach to governing the Union’s forests is needed in the future. The Commission believes that the development of an EU Action Plan for Sustainable Forest Management could provide the necessary impetus to transform the Strategy into a dynamic process capable of responding to the newly emerging expectations of society.

The proposal was put forward in a Commission Communication reporting on the implementation of the EU Forestry Strategy. The Communication was presented by Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel, in charge of agriculture and rural development, in association with Vice-President Günter Verheugen, responsible for enterprise and industry, and Commissioner for environment Stavros Dimas and Commissioner for energy Andris Piebalgs. It is accompanied by a detailed report, which was prepared in close consultation with the Member States and stakeholders.
“Sustainable forestry plays an important role in the development of our rural areas and this role is increasingly being recognized,” said Commissioner Fischer Boel. “At the same time, forests are crucial for the fulfilment of our commitments to halt the loss of biodiversity and to mitigate climate change. We ought to realise this potential with appropriate and coordinated actions.”
The Communication highlights that the competitiveness and the economic viability of the “EU forestry model” are increasingly being challenged in the global market place. There are about 15 million private forest owners in the EU who provide a wide range of environmental and social goods and services to society. These rely largely on wood sales for revenue. According to the Communication, these issues need to be addressed if multipurpose forest management – simultaneously serving economic, social and environmental objectives – is to be maintained in the EU in the future.
The report stresses the importance of good governance for the protection and sustainable management of forests, and the necessity to enhance cross-sectoral cooperation and coordination and coherence between forest policy and other policies that affect forestry. It also reiterates the EU’s support of international processes for the achievement of sustainable forest management world-wide.
The report underlines that forests have a potential to contribute both to the Lisbon objectives of sustainable economic growth and competitiveness, and to the Gothenburg objectives of safeguarding the natural resource base. An example is the successful integration of forestry into the EU’s rural development policy.
The Action Plan, which is proposed to be presented by the Commission in 2006, will be elaborated in close cooperation with the Member States and stakeholders.