On 1st and 2nd October, EOS attended the 9th FOREST EUROPE Ministerial Conference .

The aim of this event was  to make decisions to strengthen future cooperation on forests in Europe and share the latest findings and developments in Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) across the pan-European region. The event was organised in the framework of FORESTEUROPE and more than 150 participants from 33 signatory countries, 2 observer countries and 23 observer organisations are already registered to this meeting.

On this occasion EOS (jointly with CEI-Bois) gave the following message.

The woodworking industries play a significant role in contributing to sustainable forest management through various practices that promote the responsible use of forest resources while ensuring the health and productivity of forests for future generations. By providing jobs and supporting local communities, especially in rural and forested regions, the woodworking industry also promotes sustainable livelihoods.

The large majority of the woodworking industries participates in certification programs such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). These programs set high standards for responsible forest management, ensuring that timber is harvested in a way that preserves biodiversity, protects ecosystems, and maintains forest health, while aiming to ensure the long-term growth of forests.

Contrary to many misperceptions, harvesting a renewable resource like wood is good for forests. It ensures they are well looked after, help them to adapt to the climate of the future, and increases their value to society. Growing trees sequester much more CO2 than mature trees, which provide the optimal climate benefits when those mature trees are harvested and that stored carbon locked away for many years in wood products, such as those used in construction. Such sustainable forest management is vital particularly at a time when climate change leaves unmanaged forests at the mercy of increasingly unpredictable and disruptive weather events. These are the reasons why the wood industry calls for a management of forests that balances the benefits forests offer by providing economic value, habitats for wildlife to thrive and recreational spaces for people to enjoy. Well-managed forests are resilient and can therefore last forever.

In the face of increasing global warming, which requires urgent and realistic measures, the woodworking industries are adding to the climate change mitigation potential of forests by prolonging the storage of carbon in wooden products. This keeps CO2 out of the atmosphere at a time when this matters the most. Additionally, wood products replace fossil-intensive products, further benefiting the climate. Through their renewable wood-based products, the woodworking industries are also key players in the ever-growing circular bioeconomy, which is an economic approach covering multiple sectors and industries, and which will be essential for Europe’s decarbonisation and competitiveness necessities.

Sustainable forest management cannot ignore local realities. It is of paramount importance that decisions on forest management are made at local level in coordination with forest owners, local timber industry representatives, as well as forest managers.

Forest owners and woodworking industries share an interest in managing forests sustainably and providing wood to the woodworking industries. For forest owners, timber sales are the main source of income. At the same time, the woodworking industries cannot exist without wood. And those wood products are vital to enabling the EU’s green transition for both the carbon storage and emissions reduction reasons that I’ve mentioned.

For these key reasons, a reliable, predictable, and appropriate wood supply is essential for the wood industries as it forms the foundational raw material upon which the entire sector depends. A stable wood supply allows industries to optimise production, ensure employment, and make smart investments e.g. in new machinery and techniques to optimize the use of available wood, increasing logs yield, reducing waste and improving overall efficiency. A reliable supply chain also helps businesses compete in a global market characterised by an increasingly distorted competition. Delays or interruptions in wood availability can cause companies to lose contracts or miss market opportunities. An unstable and inappropriate supply of wood makes prices volatile with negative effects across the value chain.

In the framework of this meeting, while we reiterate the importance of sustainable forest management to have resilient and healthy forests, the European wood industry urges the FORESTEUROPE signatories to include an impact assessment on wood availability prior to taking any decisions on forest management and to involve the local industries in the decision-making process.