Forest Habitat monitoring in the context of Natura 2000

In the face of a triple planetary crises the conservation of biodiversity and sustainable management of natural resources, like forests are indispensable components for a flourishing society and its bioeconomy. Consequently, monitoring the status of forest habitats is important for both the forests and society. Article 17 of the EU Habitats Directive obliges member states to report every 6 years the conservation status of habitats. A recent publication finds striking discrepancies between the assessment of the area condition of forest habitats and their conservation status categorisation at member state and EU levels. This can potentially lead to confusing representations of the forest habitat status in the EU. 

While the recent data collection for the reporting period 2019-2024 for Article 17 has been finalised, for the upcoming reporting period and in support of the implementation of the EU Nature Restoration law an analysis and review of methodological choices can foster the increase of conservation of forest habitats keeping in mind that those ecosystems are slow to change. For instance complementing current habitat-count-based results with area-based information and communicating methodological limitations transparently offer additional avenues for improved evidenced-based decision-making and effective restoration planning. 

This ThinkForest event:  

• provided updates on how the current assessment of the conservation status of forest habitats can lead to wrong conclusions, and share learnings,  
• encouraged the discussion on ways forward in improving forest habitats monitoring 
• encouraged dialogue and exchange of experiences among representatives from the Commission, and EU and non-EU countries and experts.