| 13 December 2011
“Forestry week” in the EP highlights the importance of the sector for achieving a sustainable bio-economy
6-9 September 2011, European Parliament
In the beginning of September, in recognition of the International Year of Forests 2011, MEPs Riikka Manner, Luis Manuel Capoulas Santos and Gaston Franco hosted a week of events in the European Parliament that showcased the most remarkable values, goods and services that forests and related sectors deliver to society.
This “Forestry week” started with the opening of an exhibition with different forest products varied from responsible resource stewardship and supply of solid wood products and non-wood products, from packaging to ground-breaking materials, like food additives and hi-tech chemicals, via innovative wood and cork architecture construction, the European forest sector’s contribution to the bio-economy is far-reaching.
This event was complemented with the “2011 The International Year of Forests – European and Global Forests – Which way for the future?” that brought together speakers such as the Commissioner Janez Potočnik, H.S.H. Prince Albert II, Franz Fishler (Chairman of the RISE Foundation), among many others.
It was concluded that further efforts should be made to achieve and maintain a balance between the multiple benefits of forests, particularly the balance between conservation and the use of forests when facing of the unprecedented economic and food crises.
This balance assumes higher relevance when considering the challenges ahead. In his speech, commissioner Potočnik said that a switch to sustainability under a changing climate can only be made if forest owners receive enough funding for the services they provide. The EC is participating in initiatives to protect forests, such as the commission Green Paper on forest protection and information in the EU: preparing forests for climate change.
In fact, enhanced information and knowledge sharing is crucial for a common and shared understanding of the issues, for a coherent approach of the challenges at stake and in order to make efficient decisions. More than that, achieving sustainability requires strengthening cooperation, namely the cooperation of existing frameworks dedicated to forestry and forest-based industry, having in mind that the main goal of long-term forest planning is more than forest protection, is sustainable multifunctional management.
The ending of this event was marked with a workshop on the "The forest sector's contribution to the European bio-economy", highlighting the vital role that Europe’s forests and forest products industries play in contributing to the overall 2020 objective of the European Union of achieving a sustainable bio-economy.