Forests
Reservoirs of life on earth
Forests cover about a third of the European Union land area and roughly 30% of the world's land area. Forests – and especially rainforests - are the reservoirs of life on earth. We rely on them for clean air, water, food, medicines and many other raw materials that are vital to our health and quality of life. For the past 20 years the rate of deforestation has increased.
While Europe has experienced intensive deforestation at different times in its history, the opposite trend is occurring in many EU Member States. Reforestation is the direct result of tree planting programmes and of natural tree growth on formerly cultivated land. Deforestation in Europe is marginal and limited to only a few regions. However, elsewhere in the world an area of tropical forest the size of Greece, or about 13 million hectares, is being destroyed every year. As a result precious resources are disappearing and numerous plants and animal species are on the edge of extinction.
Climate regulators
Forests play a vital role in regulating the climate. They store roughly half of the world's terrestrial carbon and when uprooted these forests release large quantities of CO2. It is estimated that deforestation is responsible for some 20% of the world's CO2 emissions, more than the total amount of greenhouse gas emitted by the EU. This makes deforestation a major contributor to climate change. Without substantial action to combat deforestation the EU will not meet its objective of limiting global temperature increases to a maximum 2 degrees.
Deforestation also contributes to poverty. Sixty million people in the world depend directly on forests for their livelihoods and another 1.6 billion are indirectly affected.
Illegal logging is probably one of the most destructive activities contributing to deforestation. It has damaging consequences on biodiversity and on climate change. It is estimated that a significant proportion – or around 19% – of timber imported into the EU comes from illegal sources and costs timber-producing countries about €10 to 15 billion per year in lost revenues.
Unless action is taken, countries like Indonesia – where illegal logging account for more than 70% of log production – will lose all its forests within the next 50 years. We cannot allow this to happen. Deforestation must be curbed and if possible reversed.
Protecting forests
In the EU, the responsibility for forest policy falls on individual Member States. There is nevertheless a long tradition by the EU of supporting forest-related activities such as sustainable forest management in cooperation with Member States. An example of this is the Commission's work in monitoring forest health and preventing forest fires (the "Forest Focus" Regulation). Internationally, it takes part in the United Nations Forum on Forests and works on a range of forest-related issues to develop and promote the Union's environmental objectives.
In October 2008 the Commission presented a set of proposals on illegal logging and a Communication on deforestation to help protect forests around the world.
Forest policies in the EU
International forest issues on:
Forest-related Bodies at Community level
Council Working Party on Forests
Standing
Forestry Committee (SFC)
Advisory
Group on Forestry and Cork (AGFC)
Advisory
Committee on Forest-based Industries
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