5% ofwoodsof the world is inEuropeand its treesabsorb a total of 0.5 gigatons (Gt) of CO2year, compared to the 5 Gt emitted by European industry, and directly employs 350,000 workers, according to theGreen Book on Forest Protection and Forest Informationpresented yesterday in Valsaín (Segovia) within the framework of theEuropean Conference on Forest Protection.
The document aims to open a debate on updating the European Union Forest Strategy, so that forests continue to carry out their productive, socio-economic and environmental functions. In addition, the debate opened by the Green Paper will also focus onhow climate change modifies the conditions for the management and protection of European forests.
Thus, the text states thatEuropean forest stands have been steadily expanding for more than 60 years, experiencing for the most part a growth in timber volume and carbon stocks. Specifically, they occupy155 million hectares, and together with other wooded land representing a further 21 million hectares, they account for 42 percent of the EU’s land area.
Regarding biodiversity, the Green Paper indicates thatforests are home to the largest number of vertebrates on the continent, and forest habitat types designated placesNatura 2000they occupy more than 14 million hectares, which is equivalent to 20 percent of all terrestrial spaces in the Natura 2000 Network.
This document considers that it is possible to increase thesustainable exploitation of wood in Europe, although it warns that it is a challenge and will require a greater effort in terms of information to find the balance between the competitiveness of forest-dependent industries, economic viability, the environment, fragmentation of ownership and motivation of owners of forests. Along these lines, he points out that if the target of 20% quota for renewable energies is reached in the EU’s energy and climate package, the total demand for biomass from agriculture and forests could be increased.
