JOIN THE CAMPAIGN

Protect and restore the world’s forests

A WORLD FULL OF FORESTS

Forests are indispensable. They cover 30 percent of the earth’s land area and host 80 percent of the world’s land-based species. Forests provide us with fresh water and oxygen, and are essential for regulating the global climate. We want a world with forests, where we can all breathe and enjoy nature as it should be - unspoiled.

BUT DEFORESTATION IS STILL HAPPENING

Forests are being devastated at an alarming rate. Every year, we lose an area of forest about the size of Greece. The main reason is the expansion of agriculture. The EU is responsible for around 10 percent of global deforestation through its consumption of products like soya, beef, palm oil and cocoa.

Help us to stop EU-driven deforestation

Send an email to Commission Vice-President Timmermans and Commissioner Sinkevičius!

HOW TO SAVE OUR FORESTS: KEY DEMANDS

  • We need healthy forests for our planet’s health and for our own survival. To achieve this, we must stop deforestation now and restore already degraded forests, in the EU and globally.
  • The EU must introduce new legislation that stops products linked to the destruction of forests and other ecosystems from ending up on our supermarket shelves.
  • Under this legislation, companies must not be able to sell commodities on the EU market if these come from land where natural forests or other ecosystems have been destroyed or degraded, and where their production impacts the rights of indigenous communities.
  • To comply with this legislation, operators must be obliged to follow so-called due diligence procedures, meaning they must identify, prevent and mitigate harm across the entire value chain.
  • Besides this new law, more measures are needed to protect and restore forests and to tackle the drivers of forest destruction, such as illegal logging and the excessive consumption of meat and dairy products and bioenergy.

OUR CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES

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Tenerife blue chaffinch Fringilla teydea / Paul Asman and Jill Lenoble / Flickr CC BY 2.0
Tenerife blue chaffinch Fringilla teydea / Paul Asman and Jill Lenoble / Flickr CC BY 2.0
Policy Paper |

Greens/EFA demands for COP15 of the Convention for Biological Diversity (CBD)

The COP15 in Montreal from 7 to 19 December must deliver a New Deal For Nature. Read our demands for the UN's Convention for Biological Diversity here.
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European Pine Marten / Unsplash
European Pine Marten / Unsplash
Opinion |

COP15 - A Paris Moment for Biodiversity?

Ville Niinistö Jutta Paulus Caroline Roose
Opinion by Ville Niinistö & Jutta Paulus & Caroline Roose
COP15: Why the UN's biodiversity conference is a once-in-a-decade opportunity to advance the protection and restoration of nature worldwide.
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@Knut Sturm
Forest near Lübeck/Germany
Event |

Ecological forestry in Europe

Most European forests are in bad shape, making them easy prey for pests, diseases and fires. To restore the health of our timber producing forests, we need to manage them in a way that works with nature, not against it. Join us to hear practitioners’ experiences and discuss what it will take to mainstream ecological forestry in Europe.
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Amazon Forest in Danger - Thumbnail
Amazon Forest in Danger - Thumbnail
Video |

The Amazon Forest is in Danger

Deforestation rates are skyrocketing in Brazil under current President Bolsonaro. Indigenous people's livelihoods are being destroyed, their land invaded. This is not only fuelled by Bolsonaro’s devastating policies but the EU also needs to take responsibility for what is happening.
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European Parliament Building Strasbourg © European Union 2022 - Source : EP
European Parliament Building Strasbourg © European Union 2022 - Source : EP
News |

Debriefing of the September plenary session

Greens/EFA priorities for the plenary week included the State of the European Union, the Renewable Energy Directive, the Directive on adequate Minimum Wages, Rule of law in Hungary, the Deforestation Regulation and Ska Keller stepping down as Greens/EFA President.
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Credit picture ESA
Satellite picture of Amazon rainforest
Study |

Tracking down products linked to deforestation

In this report, Kayrros, a geospatial analytics company from France, argues that satellite-based remote sensing technologies can support both operators and competent authorities in the implementation of the upcoming EU legislation on deforestation-free products. The operating costs of remote sensing technologies are expected to be managea…
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Deforestation illegal-logging-amazon-brazil
Deforestation illegal-logging-amazon-brazil
Event |

Imported deforestation - webinar

Watch our webinar on how to end imported deforestation. The rate of global deforestation remains alarmingly high. The EU must put in place robust regulations to eliminate its outsized deforestation footprint!
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Picture credit : Victor Moriyama
Aerial view of burnt Cerrado
Study |

Proposed EU regulation on deforestation and forest degradation

Our case study on EU soy and beef imports from South America shows that this narrow focus on protecting FAO “forests” could increase pressure on other precious ecosystems. As proposed, the legislation would leave three quarters of the Cerrado (79 million hectares) and a third of the Gran Chaco (32 million hectares) unprotected.
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Press release |

European Parliament strengthens Commission's proposal on LULUCF

Members of the European Parliament have adopted the Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF). The way we use land must be sustainable for both the climate and nature. Climate resilience in land use is key to building a carbon-neutral economy and achieving carbon negativity, to manage the climate crisis.
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CC0 Maksym Diachenko
Sunset over the Carpathian Mountains, Ukraine
Opinion |

A law to heal our forests: why we need to restore nature now

Ville Niinistö Jutta Paulus
Opinion by Ville Niinistö & Jutta Paulus
The European Commission proposed a new EU Nature Restoration Law to protect nature and ecosystems. But the new law is under attack. Read why here.