Past events – shared material

The workshop focused on the 2023 guidelines’ role in enhancing the resilience of forests in the Boreal region, a topic of particular importance in light of the challenges faced by forests from both increased climate stressors and the needs of the bioeconomy.
The workshop brought together forestry experts and practitioners all five of the EU Member States that encompass the Boreal region. Through a combination of plenary sessions and country-specific parallel discussions, the workshop aims to foster knowledge exchange, identify implementation barriers, and develop concrete strategies for further adoption of the guidelines at both regional and national levels.

• Agenda
• Guidelines on Defining, Mapping, Monitoring and Strictly Protecting EU Primary & Old-Growth Forests, Adrian Tistan, DG ENV, European Commission
• The devil in the details, Bengt Gunnar Jonsson, Mid Sweden University, Sundsvall, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå
• Breakout sessions
  • Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
    Primary and old-growth forest Current status of implementation in Estonia Merit Otsus and Taimo Aasma, Ministry of Climate – Estonia
    Use of the National mapping of forest habitats of Community interest in identification of primary and old-growth forests, Guntis Brūmelis and Sandra Ikauniece, University of Latvia
    Strictly protected areas in Lithuania –a case of Punia forest Žymantas Morkvėnas, Baltic Environmental Forum. Lithuania
    Defining, mapping and protecting primary and old-growth forests in Lithuania, Zbignev Glazko Forest Policy Group – Ministry of Environment
  • Finland and Sweden
    Mapping of primary and old-growth forests in Sámi homeland in Finland Jan Saijets and Jarmo Pyykkö Forest Mapping Team Sápmi, Sweden
    Criteria for primary and old-growth forests in Finland Mikko Kuusinen, Ministry of the Environment, Finland
    
• The crucial role of old-growth forest for sustainable forestry, Mikko Mönkkönen, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, School of Resource Wisdom
• Use of public incentives for voluntary forest protection – example of the Finnish METSO Programme, Terhi Koskela, Natural Resources Institute Finland, Luke
• Closer to Nature Forest management: challenges, opportunities, and knowledge gaps in the Boreal region, Stefanie Schmidt, DG ENV, European Commission
• Closer to nature forestry in the boreal region -options & obstacles, Pasi Rautio, Research professor (silviculture), Luonnonvarakeskus, Rovaniemi
• Combining biodiversity goals and multilayered stand structures with economic profitability – in the case of boreal forests, Nils Fagerberg, Senior lecturer in silviculture, Dept of forestry and wood technology, Linnaeus University (Växjö, Sweden)
  
• Moving from clear-cut based forest management to closer to nature in Estonia – mission possible? Silvia Lotman, Estonian Fund for Nature
• Biodiversity-friendly afforestation, reforestation, and tree planting: challenges and opportunities environment, Marco Onida, DG ENV, European Commission
• Choosing the tree species and provenance. What is feasible? Katri Himanen Senior Scientist, PhD (Agr. & For.)
• Biodiversity-friendly reforestation and tree planting: the role of tree species and genetic diversity to improve ecosystem services and resilience, Silvio Schüler  Department of Forest Growth, Silviculture and Genetics
• Tree species: resilience to future climate change and biodiversity conservation – Hemiboreal forest perspective, Gediminas Brazaitis, Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy Kaunas, Lithuania
• Natural regeneration in Boreal forestry, Current utilization and possibilities, Martin Jentzen, Forest engineer, Ekoskog
• Soil and Water Protection: Peatland Conservation and Degradation –Experience from Ireland, Raymond Flynn, School of the Natural and Built Environment, Queen’s University Belfast
• Not only forest: tree planting in agroforestry, Joshua Finch, Agroforestry in Nyland, Project Leader, Green Ecosystem Services, Team Leader, Novia University of Applied Sciences, Finland

The workshop focused on the critical theme of sustainable forest management, emphasising the preservation of biodiversity, through the presentation and discussion of the European Commission Guidelines published in 2023 and synergies with the activities of the Alpine Biodiversity Board of the Alpine Convention.
The event aimed to facilitate collaborative discussions among experts, policymakers, and practitioners focusing on biodiversity-friendly approaches to forest management. By sharing experiences, challenges, and best practices from various Alpine countries, the event sought to enhance our understanding of sustainable forest management and promote ongoing cooperation.

• Agenda
• Outline and key goals of the workshop, Marta Ballesteros (Senior Manager and Lawyer at Milieu Consulting SRL)
• Objectives of the Alpine Convention in relation with mountain forests, Alenka Smerkolj (Secretary General of the Alpine Convention)
• Alpine biodiversity in mountain forest management, Paolo Angelini (chair of the Alpine Biodiversity Board of the Alpine Convention (ABB) – Ministry of Environment and Energy Security)

 

• The EU guidelines: Closer-to-nature Forest Management, Biodiversity-friendly afforestation, reforestation and tree planting and on EU primary and old-growth forests + The 3 Billion Additional Trees Pledge, Marco Onida (Senior Expert at European Commission)
• Closer-to-nature guidelines and link with the Italian forest management, Renzo Motta (Professor at Universita’ di Torino)

 

• Legal Context in Italy, Practices in use and innovative management methods, Alessandra Stefani (Director General of the Directorate General for Forestry of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry)
• Legal Context in Piemonte, Practices in use and innovative management methods, Enrico Gallo (Manager of the Forestry Sector, Environment, Energy and Territory Directorate, Regione Piemonte)
• Practical implementation in Alpine Italy: the loss of biodiversity, the strategy towards Sustainable Forest Management to preserve it and key challenges, Giorgio Matteucci (Co-chair of the Mountain Agriculture and Mountain Forestry Working Group of the Alpine Convention – Director CNR-IBE)

 

• Legal framework and Practical implementation of SFM in France, Nicolas Gouix (“Forêt” Project Manager, CEN Occitanie)
• Legal framework and Practical implementation of SFM in Slovenia, Dušan Roženbergar (assistant professor at the Department of Forestry and Renewable Forest Resources, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia)
• Legal framework and Practical implementation of SFM in Austria, Georg Frank (Head of the Natural Forest Reserves, Department Forest Biodiversity and Nature Conservation, Austrian Research Centre for Forests)

 Download here the Event Summary

The workshop was dedicated to state-of-the-art scientific knowledge in forest ecology and silvicultural practices underpinning sustainable and closer-to-nature forest management as foreseen in the EU Forest Strategy 2030. Having in mind the objectives of EU policy on biodiversity, climate change and bioeconomy, the discussion focused on the spatial and temporal scale of applying the principles of sustainability in the context of a changing climate and its impacts; the criteria and indicators of sustainability and their thresholds at different scales; as well as options for their dissemination and uptake in forest management.

• Agenda
• Strengthening SFM under the EU Forest Strategy 2030 – Stefanie Schmidt, European Commission 
• Findings of the literature review: criteria and indicators of sustainability of forest management in Europe, thresholds – Matthew Geraci, Milieu Consulting SRL
• Topics for discussion based on the literature review and the scope of the strategy – Jernej Stritih, Stritih Consulting

The objective of the webinar was to get an overview of the process of developing and applying the Primary and Old-Growth Forest mapping methods, to understand the different approaches across the EU. Specific topics have been addressed, among others, how the guidelines have been valuable in the process, what the national specificities or challenges encountered so far have been, and how different stakeholders have been or will be involved.

• Agenda
• European Commission – Adrian Tistan
• SYKE – Finnish Environment Institute – Kimmo Syrjänen
• Natural forests of Sápmi working group – Jan Saijets
• State Forest Research Institute Silava, Latvia – Āris Jansons, Daiga Zute
• Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research – Tzvetan Zlatanov
• Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests – National Forest Guard, counsellor – Radu Sbîrnea

 Download here the Event Summary