12/02/2026
Climate resilience must become a guiding principle across EU forest policy. Forests are already buffering Europe from the impacts of climate change, but their ability to continue doing so is at risk. With the right support, Europe’s forests can become even stronger allies in our collective adaptation effort, delivering benefits for people, biodiversity, and the climate alike. EUSTAFOR and its members stand ready to contribute expertise, experience, and capacity to ensure the future Climate Resilience Integrated Framework places forests at the heart of a resilient Europe.
01/02/2026
Forest fire prevention and preparedness must be a central element of Europe’s climate resilience and environmental strategies, as combined effects of climate change and land use change are increasing the frequency, intensity, and scale of wildfires across many regions, as well as its danger for people. The risk of catastrophic megafires is worryingly increasing. While emergency response remains important, effective fire prevention depends primarily on proactive forest management and strategic land-use planning that reduce vulnerability before fires occur. The risk of wildfires has been increasing during the last decades driven by landscape changes, mostly due to land abandonment and countryside depopulation. In addition, climate change is also a key factor contributing largely to the increased risk, leading to already experienced severe droughts, extended summer periods and more recurrent and extreme heat-wave episodes. Many countries have now to extend their forest fire protection measures beyond the summer periods and in areas previously not at risk, and other ones are just facing a problem that they did not have to invest in and prioritise until now.
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.
| 29/10/2025 | EUSTAFOR Statement on the European Commission’s Nature Credits Initiative |
| 28/10/2025 | EUSTAFOR Statement on the 2040 Climate Target – Reflections on LULUCF, Forest Sinks, and the Bioeconomy |
| 15/07/2025 | EUSTAFOR position paper: Sustainably managed Europe’s forests are best fit to boost the EU bioeconomy 2025 |
| 01/07/2025 | Joint Statement of the EU Forest-based Value Chain on the Upcoming EU 2040 Climate Target |
| 13/05/2025 | What are the EU’s needs for Forest Monitoring? A Statement by the European State Forest Association (EUSTAFOR) |
| 18/03/2025 | EUSTAFOR position paper: Preserving forests, jobs, and local economy: EUSTAFOR’s call for balanced and sound land protection approaches |