Boosting forest ecosystems

Forests are the largest terrestrial ecosystem in the EU. They host most biodiversity on land and contribute substantially to carbon storage and sequestration. Whilst forest ecosystems have shown improvements in the last decades, a deterioration of the condition of European forests can also be observed.

Climate change impacts aggravate other destructive pressures such as pollution or pests and affect the extent and intensity of forest fires. In light of these pressures, the New EU Forest Strategy for 2030 sets a vision and concrete actions for increasing the quantity and quality of forests in the EU and for strengthening their protection, restoration and resilience.

During this workshop, we will present strategies and policies facilitating the restoration and protection of forest ecosystems. You will learn about: 

• Strategies and activities that help European regions and municipalities improve their management of forests
• Good practices on water in forests and sustainable forest management

What you can expect

Session I: Sustainable forest management

• Keynote speech by Bernhard Wolfslehner from European Forest Institute/Forest Europe on guidelines for sustainable forest management and afforestation 
• Presentation by Marjana Westergren from the Slovenian Forestry Institute on forest management plans in Slovenia (BIOGOV)
• Presentation by Carlotta Bonvicini from the Municipality of Reggio Emilia on Urban Forestation Plan (PROSPERA)

Interactive discussion and Q&A 

Session II: Water in forest eco-systems

• Keynote speech by David Ellison from Natural Resources Policy Group, Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, Land Systems and Sustainable Land Management, Geography, University of Bern on Even Cooler Insights: On the Power of Forests (to water the Earth) and Cool the Planet

• Presentation by Teresa Baiges from the Centre de la Proprietat Forestal (Spain) on forests for water in Catalonia (PROGRESS) 

• Presentation by Matti Virkkunen from Metsäkeskus Keski (Finland) on ‘Regional forests program’ (NACAO) 

• Interactive discussion and Q&A 

Plenary session 

• Keynote speech by Marco Onida from the European Commission on the New EU forest strategy 2030 
• Q&A session and key lessons learned

Online policy helpdesk with our experts

From 16:30 to 17:00, the experts for a Greener Europe are available to discuss policy challenges during a 10-minute online policy helpdesk meeting. You can indicate your interest and topic of discussion in the registration form below. 

Register below