{"id":7148,"date":"2021-06-10T08:09:41","date_gmt":"2021-06-10T08:09:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greens-efa.eu\/dossier\/?p=7148"},"modified":"2021-06-10T08:58:05","modified_gmt":"2021-06-10T08:58:05","slug":"the-eu-must-protect-its-forests-not-destroy-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greens-efa.eu\/dossier\/the-eu-must-protect-its-forests-not-destroy-them\/","title":{"rendered":"The EU must protect its forests, not destroy them"},"content":{"rendered":"
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10.06.2021<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Greens\/EFA MEPs, Ville Niinist\u00f6<\/a>, Anna Deparnay-Grunenberg<\/a>, Martin H\u00e4usling<\/a><\/strong> and Marie Toussaint<\/a>,<\/strong> argue that the EU must overhaul its policies, and in particular its renewable energy rules, to protect our forests for the future.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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\"Forest\/
Forest\/ CC0 timotheus-frobel<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
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As the European Union is\ngrappling to respond to the twin crises of climate and biodiversity breakdown,\none thing has become clear: we need healthy forests to protect and restore\nnature and the global climate.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Forests cover around 40 percent of the\nEU\u2019s land area<\/a>. They are home to the largest number of species on the continent\nand fulfil vital ecological functions such as purifying air and water, and\nabsorbing large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Less than 3 percent of the\nEU\u2019s forest area<\/a>\nqualifies as\n\u2018natural forest\u2019, meaning that ecological processes are\nundisturbed by human influence. These \u201cprimary and old-growth\u201d forests are particularly valuable for our\nclimate and for nature. With so few of them remaining, we must protect the\nexisting ones and allow other forests to grow older to increase the area of\nold-growth forests in the EU.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Almost all the EU\u2019s\nforests are managed forests, meaning they are used for extracting natural\nresources such as wood. Worryingly, most of these forests are in bad shape.\nBetween 2011 and 2020, more than 80 percent were assessed as having an unfavourable conservation\nstatus<\/a>. Over 50 percent were in poor condition, and almost a third were\nin a bad condition, under the criteria of the EU Habitats Directive<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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\"logging
logging \/ CC0 ales-krivec<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
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Why is too much logging so bad for nature and the climate?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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The\npoor state of our forests is due to many pressures, including pollution from industrial\nagriculture and transport<\/a>, and the impacts of climate change.\nBut the main reason is the relentless exploitation of\nour forests. Incessant logging weakens these sensitive ecosystems and doesn\u2019t\nallow them to recover.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Between 2000 and 2018,\nforest harvesting rates increased by about 20 percent, according to research\nby Naturwald Akademie<\/a>. Clearcutting<\/em> – where all trees in a given area are cut\ndown – and other invasive methods are common practice. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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As a result, most of our\nforests are made up of trees that are of the same age and from only one or two\nspecies. Forests must have trees of various species and ages, as well as dead\nwood, to be healthy and resilient. Close-to-nature harvesting methods would be\nfar less damaging to our forest ecosystems.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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This type of intensive\nforest management threatens wildlife, such as rare bird species,\nand diminishes the forest\u2019s ability to absorb carbon dioxide in soil\nand biomass, known by scientists as a \u2018carbon sink\u2019. The European Commission <\/a>has warned that \u201cfurther\nincreases in harvesting … could see the sink potentially further decline\u201d\neven though we need a growing sink for the EU to achieve climate neutrality by\n2050.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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\"logging
logging \/ CC0 ernesta-vala<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
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Wood as a renewable energy source: how EU policy promotes the\noverexploitation of forests<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Why would the EU so massively deplete its forests?\nAbsurdly, the biggest driver of the increase<\/a> in wood harvests in the EU is not that we\u2019re making many\nmore chairs and tables. Oh, no. Instead, we\u2019ve been burning more wood for energy.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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This isn\u2019t an accidental development. It is the result of\nEuropean policy: the EU\u2019s renewable energy rules count all types of wood as a\nrenewable energy source. Wood is one of the most important sources of renewable\nenergy, and wood energy consumption continues to increase.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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This flawed policy not\nonly drives forest degradation but effectively drives up carbon\nemissions. Scientists have warned<\/a> that the \u201cburning\nof wood will increase warming for decades to centuries … even when the wood\nreplaces coal, oil or natural gas.\u201d They\u2019ve said that \u201cgovernments should work\nto preserve and restore forests and not to burn them\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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\"logging
logging \/ CC0 jace-afsoon<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
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Forestry\u2019s fierce lobbying to maintain the status quo<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Unlike other industries,\nwhich recognise they need to change in the transition to a greener economy, the\nforest industry pretends it already does what it takes to contribute to the\nEU\u2019s green goals. It brands common, intensive forestry practices, such as\nclearcutting, as \u201csustainable forest management\u201d and fails to recognise their\ndestructive impact.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Big forestry lobbyists,\nlike the Confederation of European\nForest Owners (CEPF)<\/a> claim that we should have faith in their \u201capproach to forest\nmanagement\u201d purely because it \u201chas been implemented at EU level for decades\u201d.\nThey also ask that we \u201ctrust and support the idea that using wood to replace\nfossil-based material and energy is one of the most effective solutions for\nmitigating climate change\u201d, even though this clearly contradicts the science!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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COPA COGECA, the EU\u2019s\npowerful farm lobby<\/a>,\neven claims that using whole trees for the production\nof bioenergy is \u201cnecessary<\/em>\u201d because\nno other sector will purchase them.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Decisive EU action needed: what should be done to restore our\nforests?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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It is time for the\nEuropean Union to wake up to the fact that \u201csustainable forest management\u201d, as\ndefined by the forest industry, is not actually sustainable. The continuous\ndecline of our forest species speaks for itself.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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The EU and its member\nstates must regulate the forest sector, just like any other sector, to\nguarantee the protection of our nature and the global climate. As a start, we\nurgently need an EU definition of truly sustainable, close-to-nature forest\nmanagement, which safeguards our forest ecosystems and prevents the extinction\nof our forest species.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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In 2021, the EU has\nseveral opportunities to get it right:<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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