STATE OF EUROPE S FOREST 2011 Dominique Reeb, ECE/FAO Forestry and Timber Section. Oslo, Norway, 15 May 2012

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1 EUROSAI WGEA SEMINAR: SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES AND FOREST MANAGEMENT STATE OF EUROPE S FOREST 2011 Dominique Reeb, ECE/FAO Forestry and Timber Section Oslo, Norway, 15 May 2012

2 SoEF 2011 provides a comprehensive and balanced, fact-based, picture of sustainable forest management in Europe Two years of work, led by UNECE/FAO and FOREST EUROPE Liaison Unit Oslo, with input from 400 correspondents and experts, 60 authors and 27 national and international organisations Addresses policy challenges The best ever information on Europe s forests

3 Some basics: Forest area: 1,000,000,000 ha (25% of world total)

4 Forest cover: 45% of total land area (32% without Russia), EU 37.6% EU

5 Change of forest area: +0.8 million ha/year

6 A few headlines from SoEF 2011 Criteria 1-3: resource, health, production 870 million tons of CO2 are removed from the atmosphere each year by European forests Sulphur deposition has decreased, but nitrogen deposition is often over critical loads Forests are damaged by insects, disease, storm, game and fire Marketed roundwood is worth over 20 billion Most forests have a management plan

7 Ratio of felling to net annual increment, 2010

8 Protected Forests

9 Criteria 4-6: biodiversity, protection, socio-economic aspects Area of protected forests is expanding: in Europe (without Russia), forests protected for biodiversity or landscape are 19% of the total Forest management practices increasingly promote the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity 26% undisturbed, mostly in Russia About 1% of GDP and 4 million jobs in the forest sector

10 Share of public and private forest, 2005 ~30 million private holdings

11 Wood energy consumption per capita rural population, 2010

12 Policies and institutions National forest programmes in most countries Increasing influence of international processes and other sectors Changed objectives for biodiversity, wood production,carbon balance and land use

13 Sustainability of forest management in Europe (a new and experimental approach, by country group only) Overall assessment on a «five-tree» scale Russian Federation C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 Part A Part B Forest resources and global carbon stock Health and vitality Productive functions Biodiversity Protective functions Socioeconomic functions Overall policies, institutions and instruments for sustainable forest management Policies, institutions and instruments by policy area North Europe Central-West Europe Central-East Europe South West Europe South East Europe

14 Threats to sustainable forest management (1) Excessive nitrogen deposition putting forest soils at risk Area burnt by forest fires not falling Workforce is shrinking, old, accident prone Fragmentation of the forest landscape is increasing

15 Threats to sustainable forest management (2) In a few countries, net revenue of forest enterprises is negative In a very small number of countries, forest area itself is falling due to external pressures and fellings are higher than increment Information problems, especially in South-West and South-East Europe

16 Four complex policy challenges Climate change mitigation and adaptation: find the right path, and maintain sustainable forest management Mobilise enough wood energy Reconcile biodiversity goals with more intensive management Use the potential of the forest sector to foster a green economy

17 The European Forest Sector Outlook Study II EFSOS II EFSOS II allows policymakers to see the possible consequences of their choices, thus helping them make better, more informed decisions

18 Scenarios Reference Scenario What if we continue business as usual? Maximizing Biomass Carbon How much carbon could be stored? Priority to Biodiversity What if we focus on preserving /enhancing biodiversity? Promoting Wood Energy How to achieve the renewable energy targets? Fostering innovation/competitiveness What would a successful innovation strategy lead to?

19 Thank You! Dominique Reeb +41(0) UNECE/FAO Forestry & Timber Section Palais des Nations CH-1211 Genève