29/10/2025
Considering the Commission’s recently presented Roadmap towards Nature Credits EUSTAFOR welcomes the recognition of nature and forests as a vital asset to Europe's competitiveness and the intent to incentivise nature-positive actions through a market-based approach. EUSTAFOR represents state forest organisations managing more than 30% of Europe’s forests accounting for 55.5 million hectares; its members provide, with the combined expertise of 130.000 employees, the daily management of state forests in Europe based on high-quality forest management standards. Therefore, we underline that the primary producers and public land managers should have a central position in the development of such Scheme. EUSTAFOR wishes to positively contribute to the European Commission’s ambition to develop a credible and high-integrity nature credit system that mobilises private finance for biodiversity and nature restoration. However, to succeed, the system must be inclusive, equitable, and based on realistic forest management contexts, including the existing national legislation provisions.
28/10/2025
In light of the recent communication from President von der Leyen to EU national leaders, European State Forest Association (EUSTAFOR) shares its statement on the role of forests and the forest-based sector in the EU’s 2040 climate target. The statement explains the factors behind the challenges in achieving the EU’s current LULUCF objectives, such as natural disturbances and changing forest dynamics. It also outlines ways forward, including active forest management to maintain resilience, health, and vitality, enabling forests to sequester carbon and store it in harvested wood products to deliver long-term climate benefits. By combining these approaches, climate ambition can go hand in hand with forest resilience and sustainable rural development.
15/07/2025
The primary producers of the forest sector should have a central position in the new EU Bioeconomy Strategy, as they form the foundation of the European bioeconomy. Smart, science-based and innovation-oriented policy is required to effectively utilize Europe’s natural resources. Forests are not the key to all challenges that the EU faces, but with careful planning, they can significantly contribute to realizing its targets on competitiveness, autonomy and mitigating climate change. Active management of our forests is important to be able to deliver the biomass needed to transition to a biobased industry, as well as to keep our forests healthy and resilient. It is also the best option to fulfill many other important needs society has towards forestry like forest protection, facilitation of recreation and provision of ecosystem services.
01/07/2025
EUSTAFOR, along with several other organisations in the forest-based sector, has released a joint statement on the EU 2040 Climate Target which will define the trajectory of net greenhouse gas emission reductions, including carbon removals, where the land-based sectors - with special regard to forest - play a key role. This coordinated effort reflects a shared call for enabling EU climate policy framework which duly considers the uncertainty of climate change impacts on forests, does not set a short-term uncertain policy targets disconnected from long-term thinking of forest management decisions, and aims deploying the potential of the forest-based bioeconomy.
13/05/2025
Since the Commission’s communication on the initiative for a European forest monitoring framework, the Parliament and the Council have been working hard on shaping this legislation. Especially recent advancements in the negotiations by the Polish Presidency show a positive direction. As the dialogue on the Forest Monitoring initiative continues in the European Council and the European Parliament, EUSTAFOR considers it important to note this work and contribute with the expertise of its members.
18/03/2025
To fulfil the targets on land protection set by recent EU climate and nature legislation, state-owned forests are often considered to be the most obvious solution. European State Forest Management organizations (SFMOs), now and in the past, have proven to follow the highest sustainability standards in forest management, including the preservation of valuable habitats and species. Out of 55.5 million hectares of state forests managed by EUSTAFOR members, more than 17 million hectares are protected by national nature conservation laws, almost 11 million hectares are serving as protective forests, and another 11 million hectares have been designated as Natura 2000 sites. However, additional setting aside of public forests only to meet the ambitious land conservation targets cannot be the approach nor can reaching these targets be the primary role of state forests.
27/03/2024
EUSTAFOR underlines that high quality, precise and timely forest data is a prerequisite for accurate planning and management of forests. This is particularly important at a time of rapidly changing climatic conditions and growing societal demands that impose new and additional challenges to forest ecosystems. Therefore, it is of primary importance to ensure balanced approaches both to the forest management practice and to how the forest information will be used for setting policy objectives. EUSTAFOR, as a stakeholder which represents 39 State Forest Management Organizations (SFMOs) across 27 European countries, continuously supports sustainable and multi-purpose management approaches in daily forest operations and promotes research and innovation in the sector. Consequently, an EU-level action to promote application of innovative techniques, such as remote sensing, in forest monitoring, assessment and reporting as well as facilitating cooperation among the Member States in this field, is of great interest to our organization.