Public forest lobbyists must stop attacking nature laws
EUSTAFOR has forgotten who they’re supposed to serve.
Public Forests
Public forests should be managed to benefit people and nature
About 40% of the forests in the EU are owned by the public. When it comes to management of these lands, EU citizens primarily value forests for the plants and animals they support, the carbon they sequester, the clean water they provide, and their ability to buffer natural disasters.
People don’t want their public forests to be ground-zero for intensive logging. Unfortunately, many state forest organisations, and the European State Forest Association (EUSTAFOR) which represents these organisations in Brussels, are still stuck in the past, managing public forests primarily for wood products and lobbying to undermine environmental laws designed to protect and restore nature. (An open letter from NGOs to EUSTAFOR can be viewed here).
Our position on public forests
The FDA’s new public forests position paper demands an urgent paradigm shift, focusing on the need to manage public forests so they help ensure a liveable future. If they're managed well, public forests can play an important role in delivering the EU’s vital nature and climate targets by providing habitat, storing carbon, regulating temperature, and mitigating flooding.
NGOs and scientists who wish to endorse the position paper can get in touch here.
Endorsing Organizations
- European Wilderness Society, Austria
- Birdlife EU, Belgium
- Hnuti Duha, Czechia
- Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development, Germany
- ECONICS INSTITUTE, Germany
- Robin Wood, Germany
- NOAH Friends of the Earth Denmark, Denmark
- Save Estonia's Forest, Estonia
- Ei polteta tulevaisuutta, Finland
- ReLife Earth, Greece
- Zöld Vidék Egyesület, Hungary
- Magyarországi Erdőkért Egyesület (Association for the Hungarian Forest), Hungary
- Erdőszeretet Szövetség, Hungary
- Magyar Madártani és Természetvédelmi Egyesület (Birdlife Hungary), Hungary
- Alba Natura Civil Alapítvány (ANCA), Hungary
- Fertő tó Barátai Egyesület, Hungary
- Nagy Tavak és Vizes Élőhelyek Szövetsége, Hungary
- Green Impact, Italy
- Birdlife Latvia, Latvia
- Latvian Fund for Nature, Latvia
- Leefmilieu, Netherlands
- Comité Schone Lucht, Netherlands
- Workshop for Allbeings, Poland
- Lasy i Obywatele (Forests and Citizens Foundation), Poland
- Geota, Portugal
- Liga para a Protecção da Natureza, Portugal
- Fundatia Conservation Carpathia, Romania
- Agent Green, Romania
- Birdlife Sweden, Sweden
- Skydda Skogen (Save the Forest), Sweden
- My sme les, Slovakia
- WOlf Protection Movement, Slovakia
- Wildland Research Institute, United Kingdom
- Climate Communications Coalition, United States
- Biomass Action Group, United States
- Wild Heritage, United States
- Partnership for Policy Integrity, United States
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EUSTAFOR has forgotten who they’re supposed to serve.
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EUSTAFOR’s message on their chronic mismanagement: “The beatings will continue until morale improves”
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It’s still possible to enact a science-based FML, but the window is closing.
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