Milieu is supporting the implementation of the EU Forest Strategy 2030

The new EU Forest Strategy 2030 establishes the overarching objective ‘to set a vision and concrete actions to improve the quantity and quality of EU forest and strengthening their protection, restoration and resilience’. It contributes to achieving the EU’s biodiversity objectives as well as a greenhouse gas emission reduction target of at least 55% by 2030 and climate neutrality by 2050. The commitments and actions proposed in the strategy aim ‘to deliver growing, healthy, diverse and resilient EU forests’. They safeguard the significant contribution of forests to the EU’s ambitions on climate, biodiversity, and a sustainable forest bioeconomy.

Milieu and its partners will support the Commission in meeting its commitments under the EU Forest Strategy through a number of different tasks on:

– the concept of Sustainable Forest Management from a closer-to-nature approach and the performance of existing criteria and indicators 

– the analysis of existing certification schemes and standards and assessment of their suitability for voluntary certification of closer-to-nature forest management

– the role of alternative forest management practices and their potential to replace clear-cutting in relevant value chains

– methodologies for identifying, mapping and protecting primary and old-growth forests in the EU

– the use of the Natura 2000 logo in Member States concerning non-wood products and services associated with forest stands or landscapes

– the analysis of the relevant Member States’s legal framework on Forest Management Plans (FMPs) requirements

– education and training for a sustainable forest-based bioeconomy in Europe

– the role of payments for ecosystem services (PES) as a tool for sustainable forest management

In addition to providing support through research and analysis, Milieu and its partners are also supporting the EU Forest Strategy 2030 with communications and stakeholder outreach, including:

– the organisation of events such as conferences, webinars and workshops to discuss key issues related to the new EU Forest Strategy and

– the dissemination and promotion of the Commission’s guidelines on:

• Closer-to-Nature Forest Management;
• Biodiversity-Friendly Afforestation, Reforestation and Tree Planting; and
• Defining, Mapping, Monitoring and Strictly Protecting EU Primary and Old-Growth Forests.