Policy discussions focus on forest soil health and sustainable management practices
HoliSoils organised a policy event in Brussels on 19 March where researchers, forest and soil experts, stakeholders and policy makers gathered to discuss the pressing issues related to forest soil health and forest management practices in Europe.
Experts from the HoliSoils consortium presented the latest scientific findings on sustainable forest soil management, European regulations related to soil, quantification of soil carbon stocks, soil biodiversity, fire management challenges, and management of organic soils. They presented a new policy brief, “Forest Soil Challenges in Europe: Solutions through Sustainable Forest Management and Monitoring“, which addresses these topical issues.
The event was well attended, with over 30 participants from the European Commission, EU Member States’ Permanent Representations and other organisations interested in soil challenges. Participants had the opportunity to ask questions and address pressing issues related to soil challenges.
“Discussions during the event raised a topical issue on limited soil data availability, which is critical to policy makers as well as to business. All users need trustworthy information on soil health and the proposed soil monitoring law can respond to this need. Scientific knowledge on soil processes is accumulating rapidly and that knowledge, and the soil models developed, have to be included in decision support tools”, says Raisa Mäkipää, Research Professor from the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke).
The event was opened by Johanna Buchert, CEO of Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke). In her presentation, she highlighted that soil degradation threatens sustainable provisioning of ecosystem services that are essential for human wellbeing and that science provides solutions to enhance soil health, to get harmonised scientific methods for soil characterisation and to develop more sustainable forest soil managements practices.
Hans Verkerk, European Forest Institute (EFI), continued saying that European forests can provide a significant contribution to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. However, as forests differ across countries, regions and sites, so do implementation strategies.
Nicole Wellbrock, Thuenen-Institute of Forest Ecosystems, shared that many countries do not report on soils, or report ‘no changes’ for forest soils, in their GHG inventory reporting. European-wide forest soil monitoring with a harmonised manual exists, which could help in consistent monitoring across countries.
Petr Baldrian, Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, stated that harmonised and tested state-of-art methods for monitoring soil biodiversity are currently available and can support the implementation of the proposed EU Soil Monitoring Law.
Pere Casals, Forest Sciences and Technology Center of Catalonia, talked about fire management challenges and how prescribed burnings increase the resistance to possible wildfires and to severe droughts, but with neutral or negative impacts on soil C stocks, depending on the intensity.
And finally, Aleksi Lehtonen, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) concluded that forest management practices matter. For example, on drained peatlands, forest management affects soil GHG fluxes, and GHG emissions can be mitigated by avoiding clear-cuts. He emphasised that small-scale forest owners would need guidance and / or regulation and subsidies to support this change.
Panel discussion highlighted the need for consistent data and the role of businesses
Following these detailed presentations, the event included a panel discussion featuring representatives from science, policy, and industry.
“I really enjoyed the panel session. We had lively discussion based on questions that were timely, challenging and topical in relation to regulation development by the EU COM and in relation to overall change of the operational environment and sustainability. And I have to say that Harald Mauser from EFI did excellent job as a moderator”, says Aleksi Lehtonen, Research Professor from the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke).
The first round of the panel focused on policies and measures affecting forest soils to mitigate climate change. Panellists highlighted that the current use of soil data in forest management decisions is inadequate and limited. They emphasised the need for consistent data based on harmonised sampling designs and methodologies, which would benefit many stakeholders. However, achieving this will require resources from individual countries.
Then it is important to remember the crucial role played by businesses in promoting sustainability. For this, they need reliable data to make informed decisions, such as when and where sourcing wood for their products. Access to accurate and comprehensive data enables businesses to implement more sustainable practices and contribute positively by minimising the environmental impact of their operations.
The second round of discussions focused on the steps needed to ensure that policies and measures reach forest owners and managers in Europe. Many EU-funded projects, such as HoliSoils, and the European Environment Agency (EEA) provide recommendations, scientific results, and models. However, this information needs to be contextualist to meet the needs of local stakeholders. National and local organisations, as well as extension services, play a crucial role in distributing this information to forest owners and managers in their countries. In addition, companies drive sustainability by implementing these practices.
“More sustainable forest management benefits everyone, so there should be incentives to promote it. We need biomass, new incentive models, and bioeconomy frameworks that consider the entire value chain — potentially extending beyond it to include various industries”, says Christian Holzleitner, DG Clima.
Presentations by HoliSoils partners:
- Forest Soil Challenges in Europe: Solutions through Sustainable Forest Soil Management, Hans Verkerk (EFI)
- LULUCF regulation and quantification of soil GHG budgets in national inventories, Nicole Wellbrock (Thuenen)
- Soil monitoring law and quantifying soil biodiversity and functions with state-of art methods, Petr Baldrian (IMIC)
- Fire management challenges for soil health, Pere Casals, Forest Science & Technology Centre of Catalonia
- Management of organic soils in Europe as a measure to mitigate climate change, Aleksi Lehtonen (Luke)
View and download all the presentations from the event at this link.
Panellists:
The panel was moderated by Harald Mauser (European Forest Institute, EFI) who works for the European Forest Institute as liaison officer in Brussels and is an expert in European forest policy. He was the director of the Austrian Research Centre for Forests. In previous positions, he was dealing with aerial photo interpretation and remote sensing as CEO of a private company and as scientist at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research.
Raisa Mäkipää (Natural Resources Institute Finland, Luke), Research Professor on sustainable management of natural resources, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke). She also serves as a vice chair of the Finnish Climate Change Panel and vice president of the IBFRA (International Boreal Forest Research Association).
Christian Holzleitner (DG Clima), Head of Unit for Land Economy and Carbon Removals, CLIMA.C.3, European Commission. He is leading expert in international climate policy and has PhD in economics.
Mikhail Tarasov (IKEA). Global Head of Forestry in IKEA. He is expert in sustainable forest management & supply chain. Mikhail has PhD in forestry with focus on carbon cycle and climate impact in forest ecosystems.
Nicolas Robert (European Environment Agency, EEA). Expert on Bioeconomy and Forest, European Environment Agency (EEA). He has PhD in environmental economics.
