If a tree falls in the woods… we need to know about it
By Healthy forests are essential for our health, our economy, and our well-being; yet they are under threat. To reduce and mitigate these threats in Europe, we need cooperation at the EU level to monitor forest health and guide coordinated action with better forest information. A strong Forest Monitoring Law can provide reliable, consistent data on the many cross-border risks to forests and help to support healthier forests and the benefits they provide.
The European Parliament is negotiating on the proposed EU Regulation on a monitoring framework for resilient European forests – often known as the Forest Monitoring Law. Forest monitoring is essential to improve forest health and track progress against EU-wide environmental objectives and climate targets. We need EU policymakers to approve a complete and coherent system of forest monitoring to support the health and resilience of forests and thereby enhance the multiple benefits that forests provide to us.
Why are forests so important?
For many of us, forests are a place of recreation that help us to connect with nature. They also host a great wealth of biodiversity – a source of materials and revenue that support many livelihoods and economies across the world. Forests also importantly help in the fight against climate change – these ‘ecosystem services’ are just a few of the many benefits that forests can provide for us.
Forest ecosystem functions improve the health and resilience of forests, and contribute ecosystem services to society | ECOS (2024)
A study estimated that benefits from ecosystem services in the EU provided over €230 billion of value in 2019. Nearly half of these benefits are derived from forests alone. The most economic value from forest ecosystem services comes from nature-based recreation and water purification, followed by timber provision, flood control, and carbon sequestration.
EU forests are in a poor state
Across the globe, forests are in danger. In the EU, years of over-logging have left them in a poor state – just 14% of the EU’s forests have a favourable conservation status. Forests now also face increasing climate-related hazards alongside human pressures.
EU forests are very often managed to produce timber. This can be clearly seen in the data – 70% of forests are ‘even-aged’ (where trees were planted at the same time), 33% have only one tree species, and 37% of European native tree species are at risk of extinction. Only 3% of the EU’s old-growth and primary forests remain.
These factors contribute to lower biodiversity and therefore limit forests’ abilities to face climate-related pressures and risks. In 2020, the JRC estimated that “two thirds of the total forest biomass in the EU and UK is potentially vulnerable to natural disturbances, including windstorms, forest fires and insect outbreaks”. Climate change is therefore putting foresters’ livelihoods at risk as timber stocks become increasingly vulnerable.
To turn this dire picture around we need ambition, legislation with clear targets, robust monitoring, and long-term planning. This is why the EU Forest Monitoring Law is so important to better support national and subnational forest management functions and help restore European forests.
Foresting Monitoring Law – better data, healthier forests
While EU Member States currently collect some data under the Forest Europe process, the available information shows uneven data reporting across countries, with significant gaps concerning the full scope of forest ecosystem services.
EU forest monitoring could support more productive and resilient forests – but only if it reflects the broad range of forest ecosystem services. To achieve an impactful Forest Monitoring Law, EU policymakers need to approve a comprehensive set of monitoring indicators, including those related to social aspects, water, and soil.
Forest monitoring indicators
Monitoring forest biodiversity creates knowledge to improve ecosystem functions and ecosystem services | ECOS (2024)
The proposed Forest Monitoring Law holds the promise of improving the quality of this information by unleashing the potential of aerial observation and harmonising on-the-ground measurements. We need the Forest Monitoring Law to provide a detailed picture of EU forests to help protect and restore their good health. This granularity is key for informed forest management decisions and to ensure that forests continue to provide the range of services that are so crucial to people and businesses.
Forest data can support cost-saving and unlock financing
Investment in forest monitoring will save costs. By collecting timely data on risks to forests, such as fires, pests, storms, or flooding, forest managers can take better-informed decisions to help prevent damage and foster recovery.
The data collected could also directly lead to financing opportunities and diversify foresters’ sources of income. Ecosystem services are increasingly recognised in EU law, particularly carbon sequestration and biodiversity. While the development of adequate mechanisms is still ongoing, discussions are deadlocked around the lack of harmonised ecosystem data to support financing actions. Setting up an EU forest monitoring framework would significantly help advance the development of financing tools.
The European Parliament and Council must approve the Forest Monitoring Law to support the health and resilience of forests – before we run out of time.
