The Future of Pan-European Forests in a Changing Climate – How to Balance Wood, Carbon, Biodiversity and Energy?

1st IUFRO-Mondi Stakeholder Dialogue, Vienna, 9-10 June 2022, summary by moderator Gerald Steindlegger

As part of the IUFRO-Mondi Partnership the first Stakeholder Dialogue Meeting was held from 9-10 June 2022 in Vienna, Austria, with 24 participants. The meeting was comprised of a half-day workshop followed by a half-day field trip to the forest.

Here are the key messages from the event:

  • Demands on forests have never been higher and more diverse. The discussion on how forest management can be adapted to meet these requirements in the future at times of climate change is essential.
  • There is „no-one-size-fits-all“ management strategy. There seems to be agreement that forest management should follow the principle of multifunctionality, to be achieved through site-specific forest stand management taking into account local circumstances and management objectives.
  • Policies, incentives and regulations, particularly at the national and European levels, are major drivers of future forest management and significantly influence the provision of services from forests and trade-offs among them (wood production, carbon, biodiversity, energy).
  • Reconciling the different perspectives and jointly defining future forest policy and management strategies are major challenges. Formats such as the IUFRO-Mondi Stakeholder Dialogue are valuable for sharing diverse perspectives, identifying common ground and making this information clearly visible. Science plays an important role in supporting a more rational dialogue by providing scientific evidence and presenting options for action.

This article has been shortened by the editor. Read the full summary here.

Find out more about the IUFRO-Mondi Partnership

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