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Woodlands and Rustic Improvement Techniques
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Timberlands and Country Advancement Systems Establishment for European Ecological Arrangement David Baldock Riga, Latvia October 2005 Ranger service and Rustic Improvement Shifting levels of forested area and acknowledgment of ranger service in the extent of provincial advancement measures
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Forests & Rural Development Strategies Institute for European Environmental Policy David Baldock Riga, Latvia October 2005
Forestry & Rural Development • Varying levels of forested land and recognition of forestry in the scope of rural development measures • Forestry often seen in the past as an entirely separate or second order land use • More integrated and balanced approach being adopted e.g. in new EU Policy on Rural Development • Integration becoming a more important theme in rural development and in agriculture, e.g. emphasis on multifunctionality • Drivers of integration include environmental priorities, employment, privatisation of state forests, debates over grazing and land abandonment, new focus on energy and biofuels
Woodlands and Forestry: Importance in EU Member States • Ownership of EU25 Forests • 40% public ownership • 92% in Estonia, 84% in Czech Republic, 66% in Ireland • 43% in UK • 60% private ownership • 92% in Portugal, 82% in Austria, 17% in Poland • 57% in UK
Woodlands and Forestry: Importance in EU Member States • Ownership of EU25 Forests (cont) • Approx 12m private forest owners in EU15 • Approx 3m private forest owners in 10 new Member States • Average size: • Public forested areas: >1000ha • Private forested areas: 13ha
EU Involvement in Forestry • Effectively an outgrowth of agricultural and cohesion policy: no independent legal foundation. • International Level • EU participates in Ministerial Conferences on the Protection of Forests in Europe (MCPFE) • Overall Planning and Strategy • EU Forestry Strategy (being revised) • Funding of Forestry • Via Structural Funds • Via RDR/EAFRD • Trade Policy • Includes tropical forest issues • e.g. Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and • Trade (FLEGT)
Forestry in the Agenda 2000 perspective . Non productive & amenity investments Extension of forest resource base • . • . Forestry budget 4 807 Million EUR (9.8%of RD budget ) Example: Afforestation Programmes Example: Prevention of forest fires Climate change Natura 2000, general biodiversity WFD Example: Carbon sequestration, GHG emissions, Energy from forest biomass & wood waste biomass Example: Forest management in Natura 2000 areas Ecological stability of forest Example: Protection of freshwater resources
Main components of the pre-reform CAPin the Pillar I & II expenditure Source: European Commission, DG Budget
Current Forestry measures • Afforestation has been the main forestry related measure in: Ireland, the UK, Denmark, Italy, Portugal • More emphasis on ‘other forestry measures’ in e.g: Luxembourg, Austria, Sweden, France • Italy and Spain - the largest afforestation expenditure in their RDPs 2000-2006, with significant support planned for other forestry measures. • Germany - significant forestry component, with more resources dedicated to ‘other forestry measures’ than to afforestation.
Breakdown by measures (1992-1999) :Forestry Regulation (EEC) N° 2080/92
The Toolbox for Axis II • Two blocks of measures targeting sustainable use of: • Agricultural land: • Less Favoured Areas; Natura 2000; Water • Framework Directive; Agri-Environment; animal • welfare; non- productive investments • Forestry Land: • Afforestation; agro-forestry; Natura 2000; forest • environment; restoring forestry potential / • prevention; non-productive investments
EAFRD Axis II measures: • Measures targeting the sustainable use of agricultural • land through: • i) natural handicap payments to farmers in mountain areas; • (ii) payments to farmers in areas with handicaps, other than mountain areas; • (iii) Natura 2000 payments and payments linked to Directive 2000/60/EC; • (iv) agri-environment payments (compulsory); • (v) animal welfare payments; • (vi) support for “non-productive” investments;
EAFRD Axis II measures cont: • Measures targeting the sustainable use of forestry land through: • (i) first afforestation of agricultural land; • (ii) first establishment of agroforestry systems on agricultural land; • (iii) first afforestation of non agricultural land; • (iv) Natura 2000 payments in wooded areas; • (v) forest-environment payments; • (vi) restoring forestry potential and introducing prevention actions; • (vii) support for “non-productive” investments.
Axis II measures can be used to: • Reduce problems such as soil erosion • Improve air quality • Reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help to combat climate change • Improve water quality of e.g. of lakes and rivers and help to reduce risk of flooding • Help maintain and enhance important habitats and species • Manage and maintain valuable landscapes and cultural features • Facilitate access to, and recreation opportunities in, the countryside • Contribute to social and economic objectives as well as environmental ones e.g. by sustaining or creating employment, preventing land abandonment etc.
Environmental benefits of forestry: • Appropriate forestry suited to site conditions is important for biodiversity and climate change mitigation; • It can also help to control erosion, assist water management in catchments, enrich the landscape, offer recreational opportunities and provide a source of income; • Less than 1% of EU forests are pristine habitat with >66% semi-natural; • Some 127 million ha (12%) of EU forests are protected and 29% of Natura 2000 designations are categorised as forest habitats; • Poor forest management can lead to a wide range of environmental problems e.g. erosion, biodiversity loss