Publications
FTF’s e-newsletter presents thrice yearly the work of BirdLife Partners in Europe on forest issues.
How much, how to? - Practical tool for forest conservation (PDF, 1.9 MB)
How Much, How To is an FTF publication written for forest sector decision-makers, conservation NGO activists and as a university course book. It details how much forest protection is enough and why, as well as outlining practical tools for realising forest conservation in practice.
Paper copies of How much, How to? Practical tools for forest conservation can be ordered from BirdLife Finland, forest@birdlife.fi The price is 15€ + postage costs. All profits will be donated to BirdLife's forest work. A PDF download of this is available by clicking on the link below.
A Comprehensive Conservation Programme for Finland’s Forests in the 21st Century by S Harkki, K Savola, M Walsh (eds.)
The publication (in Finnish with extensive English summaries and figure texts) is also available from forest@birdlife.fi (price 20 € + postal costs).
Position papers
BirdLife's position on the EU Forest Action Plan (English PDF 1.5 MB, Russian PDF 1 MB)
In the summer of 2004 the European Commission conducted wide consultation with stakeholders throughout the EU Member States aiming to revise the EU Forestry Strategy adopted in 1998. In early spring of 2005 the EU Commission came out with a communication, reporting on the implementation of the Forestry Strategy. It was recognized that in order to strengthen the coherence between EU policies and enhance the co-ordination between the Commission and the Member States, the Forestry Strategy implementation needs to be integrated better with other EU Policies.
According to the Commission, development of an EU Forest Action Plan could provide the necessary impetus to transform the EU Forestry Strategy into a dynamic process. The Council of the European Union therefore invited the Commission, in consultation with stakeholders, to develop a Forest Action Plan proposal.
The EU has neither specifi c legislation nor funds oriented solely to forest management or protection, but there are numerous statutes concerning forests dispersed in various directives and
communications. The EU’s Forest Action Plan (FAP) of 2006 is a strategy document aimed at drawing together EU forest issues for greater cohesion and focus in forest issues.
The BirdLife European Forest Task Force has been active in the stakeholder consultation process, and after meetings with forest units of DG Agriculture and DG Environment in June 2005 has published a set of proposed guidelines to be prioritized during the elaboration of the FAP. BirdLife's proposals are based on recent advances in forest ecological studies as well as experiences gained during implementation of EU Policies hitherto. These proposals reflect BirdLife’s concerns that forest biodiversity in the EU continues to decline despite NATURA 2000 and other conservation measures. The proposals extend into practical proposals for the current revision of the Rural Development Regulation as well as strategic suggestions for the FAP.
Briefings
Briefing on the Commission's Draft EU Forest Action Plan (PDF, 120 KB)