Sustainable Forest Management can ensure both biodiversity conservation and biomass production

The Conference “Integration of Biodiversity Enhancement in Sustainable Forest Management in the Framework of the EU Forestry Strategy” took place last Thursday and Friday in Prague.

The conference was organized by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic and the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture of Germany and was co-organized by the State Forest Enterprise of the Czech Republic “Lesy České Republiky” (member of EUSTAFOR), the European Forest Institute and the Czech Forestry Society.

On the field trip on Thursday, the integration of nature conservation and harvesting was showcased in forests managed by Lesy České Republiky (for further information please see the Integrate+ Project).

On the second day, participants listened to several interventions on the EU Forest Strategy presented by different stakeholders. Speakers included Mr. Marian Jurečka (Czech Minister of Agriculture) and Mr. Chistian Schmidt (German Minister of Food and Agriculture). State Forest Organizations’ views were represented by Mr. Ulrich Mergner (Bayerische Staatsforsten) and Mr. Václav Lidický (Lesy České Republiky).

The presence of representatives of EUSTAFOR and several of its member organizations confirms the leading role played by State Forest Organizations in advancing Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) while enhancing biodiversity conservation. SFM is practiced in European state forests, ensuring the provision of ecosystem services and biodiversity as well as the carbon sink function of forests. At the same time, the production of biomass for wood products and bioenergy contributes to climate change mitigation by substituting for non-renewable materials and fossils.