The new EU Forest Strategy is open

As announced in its Communication on the European Green Deal, the Commission is developing a new EU Forest Strategy, which will be launched after 2021. This strategy will build on the EU’s 2030 Biodiversity Strategy, cover the whole forest cycle and promote the many services that forests provide.

This strategy will also be aimed at ensuring healthy and resilient forests that contribute significantly to biodiversity and climate goals, reduce and control natural disasters, secure livelihoods and support a circular bioeconomy and rural communities.

Further, the strategy will help the EU to meet its international commitments and will form the basis of a clearly established, coherent and holistic approach on forests, allowing stronger EU leadership internationally (in the context of the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainability Agenda, the Paris Agreement, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention to Combat Desertification).

Who can participate?

All citizens and organizations are welcome to contribute to this consultation. The Commission is looking for input from a broad range of stakeholders, from national, regional and local authorities to forest owners and managers, forest-based industries and businesses (in particular, SMEs), trade unions, individual citizens in the EU and elsewhere (including women, men and young people), consumers of wood-based products, non-governmental organizations, universities, academic and/or research centres, other countries and international organizations, and financial institutions.

The purpose of this consultation, which will remain open until April 19, is to gather views from citizens and stakeholders. Then, the Commission will use all the opinions to prepare the future European Forest Strategy.