foresteurope.org – 24-08-2023
POLICY BRIEF Tomáš Hlásny | Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Science

Julia Haas | FOREST EUROPE Liaison Unit Bonn

Bark beetles and other biotic agents have devastated European forests with unexpected severity.

The worst is likely still ahead of us. It is crucial to devise strategies to mitigate disturbance impacts across the entire forest value chain and increase the preparedness of all actors and institutions. However, every crisis presents an opportunity. Let’s seize this one and use it to create resilient forestry sectors and forests fit for the future
Context
Huge forest areas have been affected by bark beetles across Europe during the past few years, with damages exceeding pre-2000 levels by nearly tenfold1 . The unprecedented scale of the damage turned the outbreaks into a pressing socio-economic issue. It concerns not only the forest-based sector and international timber markets but also the overall life quality of people, and raises questions about our ability to achieve climatic targets. These developments have prompted us to question the suitability of current management planning, silviculture, and forest protection practices, which were not designed to be implemented in such high-risk conditions. Accelerating climate change will intensify the outbreaks, cause their synchronous occurrence over large areas, and force them to expand to northern regions. These developments cannot only be addressed at the forest management level but require cross-sectoral and international cooperation with strong and clear policy support.
Management and policy principles
Replace isolated response actions with a comprehensive risk management strategy Salvage and sanitary operations have been a cornerstone of bark beetle management in Europe; however, they represent only one element of a risk management strategy that can mitigate future outbreaks. Efficient management requires integrating silviculture and monitoring; developing storage and transportation capacities; workforce development and training; spatial planning and zonation; and post-disturbance restoration that mitigates future risks. The emergency management cycle consisting of the Preparedness, Prevention, Response, and Recovery phases can provide a practical framework for integrating these actions into consistent national risk management plans.
The report ‘Living with Bark Beetles: Impacts, Outlook and Management Options2 ’ under the EFI Science to Policy series and the follow-up review study3 provide useful guidance for revising current outbreak management practices and related policies.
Foster cross-sectoral policy harmonization and international cooperation
Managing large-scale disturbances, such as bark beetle outbreaks, requires coordinated actions of multiple sectors and actors, including inter alia forestry, environment, transportation, finance, insurance, public safety, and the public. Contrary to singular fire and windthrow events, outbreaks typically last several years and can thus gradually deplete forest owners’ resources, jeopardizing their ability to intervene. Well-prepared insurance, compensation, and subsidy programs can be instrumental in mitigating the impacts. Outbreaks and their environmental and market impacts do not respect the borders. Establishing communication and coordination platforms for states sharing outbreak-prone areas can increase management efficiency and help mitigate potential frictions.
The Czech experience with a country-wide outbreak of spruce bark beetle (2018-2023) can provide unique lessons for other countries, including adapting legislation, mitigating social impacts, and facing volatile timber prices and COVID restrictions. Platforms, such as the Forest Risk Facility (FoRISK) under FOREST EUROPE, can play a crucial role in sharing this knowledge with decision and policy makers across Europe.
Adopt ‘resilience thinking’ in risk management
Bark beetle outbreaks and other disturbances are inevitable, and their frequency and severity will increase in the following decades in many countries. Resilient forests can absorb and recover from such impacts; resilient forestry sectors can absorb large amounts of salvaged wood and operate under fluctuating timber prices and labour availability; and resilient societies can learn to live with large-scale environmental transformations and changing provisioning of ecosystem services. Resilience must not be seen as an elusive scientific concept but as a major policy and management framework for dealing with increasing risks and limited knowledge of future environmental, market, and societal trends4,5. Adopting resilience thinking enables us to see natural disturbances as opportunities for creating new, resilient forests and implementing reforms that enhance the forestry sector’s capacity to adapt and recover from future shocks more efficiently.