“Balancing forestry and biodiversity"

Published on23.10.2020

The virtual conference organized in the framework of the Swizz Chairmanship of the Integrate Network from 9-10 November 2020, will both serve as a platform to launch the book “How to balance forestry and biodiversity conservation? A view across Europe” and a related policy brief as well as presenting different approaches to integrated forest management. The aim is to showcase and discuss the sustainability of the forest sector by balancing biodiversity conservation and wood production in European forests. The event is jointly organised by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), the European Forest Institute (EFI), and the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) in the framework of Germany's Presidency of the Council of the European Union (July through December 2020).

Sustainable forest management not only means preserving the biological diversity but also, in the best-case scenario, increasing it. At the same time, we have to guarantee both the resilience as well as the adaptive capacities of our forests to natural disturbances and human impact. In times of climate change, when bark beetle attacks destroy thousands of hectares of forests throughout Europe, and forests burn not only in Southern Europe, but also in Scandinavia, we need more than ever an informed and effective dialogue between stakeholders from science, policy and practice, including forest owners as well as nature conservationists. But how can we achieve this necessary exchange across borders and cultures?

On the first day of the conference, we will focus mainly on the case studies presented in the book “How to balance forestry and biodiversity conservation? A view across Europe”, while the second day is dedicated to representatives of government, academia, nature conservation organisations, forest owners, and forest industry addressing the challenges related to the integration of nature conservation into forest management. Thus, we will discuss first-hand innovative and practical concepts for a European forest policy towards more forest sustainability, and engage with participants from the different Integrate Network member countries.