Event Date: 9-10th November 2020 (CET)

This virtual conference is organised in the framework of the European Policy Network INTEGRATE and was jointly organised by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape research (WSL), the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), the European Forest Institute (EFI), and the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL).     
The aim is to showcase and discuss the sustainability of the forest sector by balancing biodiversity conservation and wood production in European Forests. 

Various project initiatives over the past years have dealt with the topic of integrative forest management. The question on how to improve the situation for endangered species in multifunctional managed forest (see e.g. INTEGRATE, INTEGRATE+, INFORMAR and oFOREST) is key and these initiatives have thus provided a good overview of the state of biodiversity in European forests. This topic is well established now both at the political level and across Europe, but it is also taken up in the other parts of the world, mainly in regions which are meeting resource demands of other countries that are/plan to set aside large forest areas. It is thus essential that existing knowledge, experiences and good practices on integrative forest management are made available to all actors in forestry and nature conservation at the implementation level in order to promote biodiversity within the framework of multifunctional forest management. This should not only include information provision but also allow for field visits and training opportunities. 

Sustainable forest management not only means preserving the biological but also, in the best case scenario, increasing it. At the same time, we have to guarantee both resilience as well as the adaptive capacities of our forests to natural disturbances and human impact. But how can we achieve this necessary exchange across borders and cultures?

On the first day of the conference, we will focus mainly on the case studies presented in the book “How to balance forestry and biodiversity conservation? A view across Europe”, while the second day is dedicated to representatives of government, academia, nature conservation organisations, forest owners, and forest industry addressing the challenges related to the integration of nature conservation into forest management. Thus, we will discuss first-hand innovative and practical concepts for a European forest policy towards more forest sustainability. 

(This article is adapted from How to balance forestry and biodiversity conservation? A view across Europe and Conference: “Balancing forestry and biodiversity” by Magdalena Jovanovic, Head of EFI Sub-Commission.)