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Balancing biodiversity and wood-based bioeconomy in the EU

The European Union's Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 aims to halt biodiversity loss and restore ecosystems, but what does this mean for Europe's wood supply? In a new study, researchers examine how different modes of implementing the strategy's conservation targets could influence forestry and the wood-based bioeconomy in the EU.

Forests are crucial for climate change mitigation. Not only do they enable sequestration and storage of carbon, but they also produce biobased materials and bioenergy to replace fossil fuel-based products and energy sources.

However, recent research highlights a knowledge gap with regard to the juxtaposition of biodiversity conservation and the use of forests for the wood-based bioeconomy, which involves the use of wood as a raw material across various sectors.

In the study, in Global Environmental Change and led by IIASA researcher Fulvio Di Fulvio, scientists examine how different approaches to the implementation of EU Biodiversity Strategy conservation targets could influence the EU wood-based bioeconomy.

Key findings:

• Future harvestable biomass is projected to increase in all protection scenarios;
• The most balanced scenario—allocating the same percentage of protected area in each member state—allows for growth in wood harvest up to 24% and wood products net export increase;
• Under the strictest protection scenarios, EU wood harvest could still increase by 20%, but wood products net export could decline;
• Reduced logging in the EU could lead to increased harvests in other global regions, particularly in boreal forests.

"It is crucial that forest management policies can balance the role of forests, both for biodiversity and for the bioeconomy," says Di Fulvio.

"Seeking to lay the groundwork for such policies, in our study we used the state-of-the-art GLOBIOM model to simulate forest management and the resulting impacts on wood harvest and trade under seven different forest protection scenarios until the year 2100. Our research suggests that well-planned policy implementation has the potential to balance biodiversity conservation and sustainable resource use."

The study emphasizes that as the EU moves forward with its Green Deal and decarbonization efforts, policymakers need to exploit synergies to ensure that environmental policies contribute to a resilient and sustainable future for both nature and society.

This study is the result of a cooperation between scientists from IIASA and several reputable research organizations, including the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences; the University of Jyväskylä; the Finnish Environment Institute; the Natural Resource Institute, Finland; the Norwegian Institute for Bioeconomy Research; the Norwegian University of Life Sciences; and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research.