Celebrate International Forest Day on 21 March

It's International Forest Day on 21 March. Read here how EIP-AGRI fosters a productive  and sustainable forestry through innovation.

Sustainable mobilisation of forest biomass

20 experts from all over Europe examined the potential to increase the sustainable mobilisation of forest biomass as a key renewable resource in the EIP-AGRI Focus Group Sustainable mobilisation of forest biomass.

At two face-to-face meetings, the 20 experts shared their experience and carried out group work, to identify the most relevant questions in relation to sustainable mobilisation of forest biomass.

The group identified and discussed relevant examples, best practices and tools and also barriers to their implementation in different regions. An important area identified was how to improve the cooperation of forest owners with small-scale forest areas. The Focus Group takes into account supply and demand factors and the potential to provide a link between the two, e.g. via electronic marketing tools.

The experts’ findings led to a set of ideas for research and innovation activities to stimulate the knowledge and use of management practices and strategies in mobilising forest biomass. These research and innovation needs are derived from practice.

Read the EIP-AGRI factsheet to find out more on the main findings, ideas for innovative projects, research needs from practice and inspirational ideas

Forest value chains

EU forests serve a wide range of economic, social and environmental purposes and provide around three million jobs. Wood remains the main source of financial revenue and forest biomass represents the biggest source of renewable energy in the EU.

However, forests also provide a large range of other products, such as cork, resins, mushrooms, nuts, game or berries as well as recreational services which are increasingly being valued on the market.

Promoting new value chains for such products can be a powerful economic incentive for integrated forest management schemes, increasing forest multifunctionality, contributing to sustainable forest management and fostering rural development.

The EIP-AGRI workshop “New Value Chains from Multifunctional Forests” was organized in 2016 to share examples of existing innovative value chains around Europe and explore opportunities for developing new value chains of forest products and services which are currently less-used.

In the workshop report, you'll find all the information and examples.

Forest practices & climate change

20 experts examined in an EIP-AGRI Focus Group new forest practices and tools to adapt and mitigate climate change. They are now preparing their final report, scheduled to be published june 2018.

The Focus Group page already includes links to related interesting articles.