Sustainable forestry must also work economically

“I’m happy to see that a clear majority of the Parliament respects the many functions and multiple uses of forests, including the jobs and many economic benefits they bring to rural areas all over Europe”, said Parliament Rapporteur Petri Sarvamaa MEP, as the European Parliament voted down the Greens’ alternative to the European Forest Strategy.

“We cannot afford to be one-sided”, said Sarvamaa. “Forest management is only sustainable when it takes on broad multiple elements. This EPP Group approach gained wide political support in the Parliament’s plenary as it did previously in the Agricultural Committee.”

“We are now about to adopt an ambitious approach that binds together natural values, climate change, recreational and social values and minds the economic aspects which bring income to millions and millions of Europeans”, underlined Sarvamaa.

European forests and other wooded land cover nearly 43% of the Union’s surface. Almost two thirds of it is privately owned by 16 million forest owners. The forest-based sector and the bio-economy sector employ at least 500,000 European citizens directly and 2.6 million indirectly.

“Forests are a source of biodiversity and an economic, touristic and social resource, so it is essential that they are well managed. Through this sustainable management we have seen that the forest area in Europe has grown significantly since the 1980s”, Sarvamaa said. The final vote on his Report takes place today.

The Parliament’s Report sets guidelines for the new EU Forest Strategy that the Commission will publish during the first quarter of 2021. “The new EU Forest Strategy should act as an effective coordination tool between the various EU forest-related policies, taking into account the whole forest-based value chain”, concluded Sarvamaa.