3 June 2014, IISD News - The Council of the Europe  Union has endorsed the 2013 'A new EU Forest Strategy: For forests and the  forest-based sector,' and has released its 'Conclusions adopted by the  Council.' The conclusions refer to the Oslo Ministerial Declaration on European  Forests 2020 and to criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management  (SFM) developed by FOREST EUROPE.

The conclusions take particular note of the 2020 Forest  Objectives within the EU Forest Strategy. The main objectives of the Strategy  are to ensure and demonstrate SFM within EU member States and to strengthen the  contribution of the EU to SFM and to the reduction of deforestation at the  global level.

The conclusions also emphasize the eight linked  priority areas for European Forests as laid out in the Strategy. These refer to:  supporting rural and urban communities; fostering the  competitiveness of forest-based industries; enhancing the resilience of forests  to climate change; enhancing ecosystem services; strengthening the forest  knowledge base; stimulating innovation across the forest sector;  improving coordination, communication and coherence on forests; and  ensuring consistency between EU and member State policies,  objectives and commitments on forest-related issues at the international  level.

The Council's conclusions underscore the importance of valuing forest  ecosystem services, optimizing the contributions of forests to the green  economy, and adopting a holistic approach that addresses forests and their value  chains. The Council also calls for better coordination and communication,  especially between and among the Working Party on Forestry, the Standing  Forestry Committee, the Advisory Committee on Forestry and Cork and the Advisory  Committee on Community Policy regarding Forestry and Forest-based  Industries.

Finally, the conclusions call for enhanced research on forests,  further innovation in forestry and the forest-based sector, and the promotion of  wood fuel, including through market development, impact analysis and an  assessment of policy implications.

Source: http://forests-l.iisd.org/news/eu-forest-strategy-endorsed/