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Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
How will Europe's ancient forests fare in the future? This question was posed by scientists, conservationists and politicians at the 7th European Congress on Conservation Biology (ECCB, 17-21 June 2024, Bologna, Italy). At their panel discussion "The fate of primary and old-growth forests in Europe: 2018 - 2024 - 2030?" on 18 June, MEP Thomas Waitz and four forest experts from Sweden, Poland, Romania and Austria took a look back at the past few years. From past successes and failures, they derived new ideas on what effective protection of old-growth forests in Europe could look like by 2030.
Downfalls and successes for forest protection
Thomas Waitz, Member of the European Parliament for the Austrian Green Party, emphasises the importance of primary and old-growth forests for maintaining a high level of biodiversity. Waitz refers to the European Forest Strategy 2030 and is very clear in his demand: "All remaining old-growth and primary forests must be strictly protected in line with the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030! Because almost all primary forests have already been lost. Illegal logging in some EU member states is worrying."
Augustyn Mikos, forest policy expert from Poland, reported that decades of efforts have actually led to better protection of the Białowieża forest in Poland. However, the largest primeval forest in the European lowlands is still not sufficiently protected. The reason for this problem is that decisions on nature conservation are not based on scientific evidence. "We need strong institutions and regulations that make decisions on the protection of the most valuable forests independently of political changes. These institutions should be in the hands of experts and be subject to social and judicial control."
Gabriel Păun, president of the conservation NGO Agent Green in Romania, addresses his concerns about ignoring science in policy-making: “Climate change is a matter of life and death and we cannot afford to wait for the politics and society to catch up with science. We need a science revolution to reverse the ecstasy of destruction that leads the timber market and politics right now. The wood industry shall measure its results in number of species and not in number of cubic meters.”
Swedish forestry practitioner Martin Jentzen makes it clear what we need for the sustainable protection of forests in Europe: "The average ecological quality of forests must be raised. To achieve this, we need an overall strategy with a sufficient economic basis to protect what is left of the forests with high nature conservation value. More ecologically educated foresters and forest owners could act more independently from the wood processing industry and thus reduce its strong influence forest management."
Communication strategist Matthias Schickhofer underlines: „In view of the spread of disinformation campaigns by the industry and its political allies, scientists, activists and politicians need to step up their co-operation to push back manipulation and get the facts right. It is of central importance to strengthen co-operation and public activities with honest partners outside the scientific community“.
Consensus on priorities in the protection of old-growth forests
All panelists agreed that the European Natura 2000 network of protected areas is of central importance for the effective conservation of the last remaining old-growth forests in Europe. However, the Natura 2000 network must be given substantially more funds for compensation of land owners and the comprehensive enforcement of both Habitats and Birds Directives in particular to ensure strict conservation of primary and old-growth forests within Natura 2000 sites.
Panelists consider it a matter of urgency to rapidly improve the scientific basis for the protection of old-growth forests. The European Union can demonstrate its strength in international cooperation, especially in the comprehensive recording of the remaining natural forest remnants.
Finally, this includes monitoring forestry and illegal activities in old-growth forests to be able to react quickly to acute threats to the forest. Many old-growth forests are hidden from public attention due to their location far from urban centres.
On the panel
The discussion was organised by Nuria Selva (Polish Academy of Sciences) and Stefan Kreft (Naturwald Akademie) and chaired by Stefan Kreft. These were the panelists:
Martin Jentzen is a Swedish forest engineer and forest consultant. Following his practical experience in conventional Swedish forestry, he has been dedicated to the introduction of close-to-nature forestry in Scandinavia for 15 years.
Augustyn Mikos is a forest policy expert at Workshop for All Beings, a Polish NGO that successfully campaigns for the protection of the Białowieża Forest.
Gabriel Păun is an ecologist and works with his NGO Agent Green for the strict protection of the last remaining primary and old-growth forests in Romania and promoting forestry close to nature in the rest of the country.
Matthias Schickhofer from Austria is a strategy consultant, conservationist, photographer and author. He worked for Greenpeace for 17 years and supports various NGOs in campaigns and projects.
Thomas Waitz from Austria is a Member of the European Parliament and co-chair of the European Green Party. In his political work, he focusses on sustainable agriculture, healthy nutrition, climate protection and the preservation of Europe's last primeval forests.
f.l.t.r.: Stefan Kreft (moderator), G. Paun, A. Mikos, M. Schickhofer, M. Jentzen. Joined online in ...
Stefan Kreft
Stefan Kreft
f.l.t.r.: top: MEP T. Waitz, A. Mikos, bottom: M. Jentzen, M. Schickhofer, G. Paun
Diverse
Naturwald Akademie
Criteria of this press release:
Business and commerce, Journalists, Scientists and scholars
Biology, Environment / ecology, Zoology / agricultural and forest sciences
transregional, national
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English
f.l.t.r.: Stefan Kreft (moderator), G. Paun, A. Mikos, M. Schickhofer, M. Jentzen. Joined online in ...
Stefan Kreft
Stefan Kreft
f.l.t.r.: top: MEP T. Waitz, A. Mikos, bottom: M. Jentzen, M. Schickhofer, G. Paun
Diverse
Naturwald Akademie
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