UPM-Biofore-Magazine-2-2019

TEXT Janne Suokas   PHOTOGRAPHY UPM; Janne Lehtinen

FORESTS in focus

I n this era of many major global challenges, forests are more relevant today than ever. From renewable biomaterials to mitigating climate change, forests offer solutions to many wicked problems, and expectations of what they can deliver have increased considerably in the past few years. Forests are making global headlines too, as shown by the Amazon forest fires earlier this autumn. European forestry officials see the increased attention as a positive development, because it shows that people are now realising the important role that forests play for our overall wellbeing. “The experts know very well that forests have multiple functions and yield products offering solutions to many problems. However, more needs to be done to make people outside the sector aware of these opportunities and solutions,” says Aljoscha Requardt , Policy Advisor at the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture. Requardt and other senior forest officials fromEUmember countries visited Finland in September for an informal EU forest directors-general meeting. The EU does not have a common forest policy, but the meeting, held once every EU presidency, provides an opportunity to exchange views and information on national and European forest issues.

EU forest officials visited Finland to discuss the future of Europe’s forests and learn about the Nordic approach to sustainable forest management and the wood-based bioeconomy.

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