EUSTAFOR participates in Euractiv panel on Forest Monitoring Framework

On 8 May, Euractiv organized the panel A roadmap to EU forest resilience -Tackling climate change and forest disturbances, moderated by Anna Gumbau. Six panelists were invited to discuss resilience in the European and the role of the proposed forest monitoring framework.

The participants were Elena Višnar Malinovská (DG CLIMA), Florian Marin (EESC), Marcus Lindner (EFI), Sydney Vennin (FERN) and Roberto Stelstra from EUSTAFOR.  After their introductions and opening statements, the panelists went on to discuss varying questions, like which indicators in the proposal should be improved and what the role of the EU should be in this new framework. EUSTAFOR’s answers were generally based on its position paper on the FML. The main point of agreement was the appropriateness and the functionality of reporting geographically explicit data. EUSTAFOR deems it unnecessary and even a risk to consistent data sets if this becomes obligatory. Disclosing the exact coordinates of plots could lead to 3rd parties (unintentionally) altering the sites, and it would infringe on the privacy of forest owners. Rather would we report trends on European level, as has been proven to be effective for decades and would still provide a scientific foundation for policy makers to adjust their course as needed.

You can rewatch the whole event here.