Volume 10
February 2003
3
news
EFI
Number 2
Incentives to Sustainable Forest Management
– a Key Issue in Russian Forestry
8
Economic Accessibility of Forest Resources in Russia
11
6th Framework Programme Launched:
Challenges and Opportunities for Forest Research
Timo Villanen
Chairman's Column
Full steam ahead
EFI is facing challenging times. There are
many changes taking place today, both in
European forestry as well as in the funding
of forestry research. Also EFI itself is developing, on its way to internationalisation
and through its network of members and
project centres. With the international policy processes that are currently developing,
we can be confident that there are still
more changes to come. All this provides
challenges and new opportunities for EFI
members, as well as for the staff at the
RPC’s and at EFI headquarters in Joensuu.
Today, in Europe some of the major issues include impacts of global change,
stakeholder involvement in forest management decisions and in certification processes, and international developments in trade
flows associated with the extension of the
EU and further globalisation. Also, the role
of forests and forestry in rural development, the role of forests in biodiversity
conservation, and international policy
processes such as the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe, are increasing in importance. In
many ways, forestry is high on the international agenda, and forest research has to be
on the forefront now.
The challenging 6th Framework
Programme
When it comes to forest research funding,
we have seen the launching of the 6 th
Framework Programme of the European
Union last November, with its emphasis on
large integrated projects and networks of
excellence. It will be a major challenge to
acquire funding for forestry research under
FP6, and there is some risk that large national research institutions will dominate
the programs, marginalizing more modest
initiatives. Unfortunately, big science is not
2 • EFI News
always good value for money, and I think
that there is an important role for EFI in
facilitating the participation of those
groups that may not have the opportunity
to invest in new networks or large consortia. In FP6 there will be strong emphasis
on cross-sector issues, and this puts a sector
institution such as EFI into a somewhat
troublesome position. But, to quote the alltime famous Dutch football player and
coach Johan Cruijf: “every disadvantage
has its advantage too”, and EFI will have to
prove that its joint forestry expertise is a
valuable asset for input to cross-sector analyses. So EFI has to develop strategic alliances with other sectors to put its expertise
to work.
Apart from the large activities under the
thematic areas of FP6, the EFI network is
also in a good position to benefit from
crosscutting activities under FP6, and from
those funding lines that aim to strengthen
the foundations of the European Research
Area. An example of this is the INTAS program for collaboration with new independent states of the former Soviet Union. EFI
is currently participating in several INTAS
projects (see further on in this issue), and
this will continue with more opportunities
for collaboration with Russia, amongst others, under the FP6 call on International
Collaboration INCO, with deadlines in
March and September 2003.
Can EFI live up to all this? Together
with COST, in which many EFI members
collaborate on specific topics, EFI is the
largest and most effective forest research
network in Europe. Europe has a long and
rich tradition in forest research, and EFI is
contributing substantially to keep this
alive, enabling us to use it and to build
onto it. EFI is a network of excellence
avant la lettre, continuously increasing its
activity e.g. through the development of its
regional nodes. It is important to keep this
momentum now, and really use the opportunities that a networking organization
such as EFI provides. The evaluation of the
first group of Regional Project Centres,
which will be completed in 2003, comes at
a crucial time in this respect. In conclusion, EFI appears to be in an excellent position to act upon the challenges ahead.
SAB – a friendly watchdog
What is the role of the scientific advisory
board in all this? In my view, SAB has a
very important role as a more or less (depending on the issues) friendly watchdog,
maintaining high quality standards for research and for dissemination of research results. By providing independent quality assurance as well as feedback on current research issues, SAB can contribute to further development of the network, and to
improvement of output and use of research
results. Also, SAB has a role as a sparring
partner for the secretariat and for EFI researchers in setting research priorities and
implementing research plans.
In the first 10 years of its existence, the
EFI network has established itself. We now
should expand and exploit EFI’s possibilities, and really put the EFI web to work.
Quality control and assurance by SAB is
vital for this. EFI has succeeded in generating a sizeable volume of European-wide research projects in recent years, and with
this experience, we will be able to continue
to provide input to the 6th Framework programme, as we are already doing within the
IMACFORD project.
Finally, a more personal note: I am enthusiastic and proud to be part of these developments. Having been involved in a
range of EFI activities since the beginning of
the Institute, it is a pleasure and an honour
to be now chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board. SAB has a clear and valuable
role to play, and its members are ready for it.
Frits Mohren
SAB Chairman
Edited by Irina Prokofieva and Marc Palahí
In the era of the globalisation of markets but also of ecological concerns, Russia is
searching its role as a forest superpower realising its responsibility for the ecological health of the planet. Sustainable forestry in Russia demands radical changes in
the management system inherited from the centrally planned economy.
Incentives to
Sustainable Forest Management
– a Key Issue in Russian Forestry
Russian forests – a vast resource
Information of Forest, Pulp and Paper and
Woodworking Industries, over 95% of
Russian forest industrial enterprises are
now privatised. Altogether there are over
30 000 enterprises in the forest industry
sector, including timber, woodworking,
pulp and paper and wood-chemical industry. Forest industry produces 2.6% of the
GDP and comprises 4.3% of total industrial production. It accounts for 5.9% of
total exports and employs 8.3% of total industrial employees.
Dean Conger/CORBIS/SKOY
Nearly one quarter of the world’s forest resources are located in the Russian Federation. According to Mr. Roshchupkin, first
Vice-Minister of Natural Resources and
Head of the State Forest Service of the
Russian Federation, the forest sector plays a
significant role in around half of the administrative regions of the Russian Federation. The domestic market may increase its
demand for wood products up to 1.7–7
times in different industries, and there are
good prospects for the demand of wood
products in the international markets as
well, says Roshchupkin. Based on the increment and low felling level today, it can
be concluded that fellings in the Russian
Federation could be increased without endangering the sustainability of forest production – especially if thinnings are introduced in larger areas.
It is estimated that by 2010 the international demand for sawn wood, roundwood
and paper and paperboard will increase by
8%, 10% and 45%, respectively. The Russian Federation should recognise the opportunities in the global markets – without
forgetting its responsibility for the ecological well-being of the entire world, says Roshchupkin.
According to Dr. Burdin, Director of
the Research Institute of Economics and
EFI News • 3
Simo Hannelius / Metsäkuva-arkisto
Strategic changes in forest economics
In Russia, loggings (final cuts) have traditionally not been considered as a part of
forestry and are therefore also separated
from silviculture. Instead, they have been
included in forest industry operations
along with wood processing. Loggings are
mostly carried out by private companies
and are based on the principle of self-financing, whereas silviculture is financed
from state budget funds according to esti-
mated costs of forestry operations. The
whole process of forest management and
forest maintenance is financed from the
state budget, while cuttings is a type of
commercial activity. This system was
adopted from Germany at the end of the
18th century, was restored after the revolution of 1917 and has remained unchanged
during the Soviet and post-Soviet times.
The structure does not meet the current
demands, and, according to Prof. Dr. Anatoly Petrov, Director of the All-Russian In-
Forest Facts and Figures –
The Russian Federation
• 22% of the world forests;
17% east of Ural mountains and
5% on the European side
• Major exporter of industrial roundwood
• 24% (by volume) and 14% (by value) of the
world log trade
• forest fund (i.e. land allocated to forestry
purposes) 1.2 billion ha
• forest area 0.9 bill ha (52% of the territory of
the country).
• growing stock 89 billion m3, of which more
than half in mature and overmature forests.
• A fifth of the forest area and a quarter of the
growing stock is in the European Part of
Russia
4 • EFI News
stitute of Continuous Education in Forestry, is a major drawback in Russian forestry
today, as it does not motivate the operators
to maintain a high quality of forest ecosystems at minimum costs. In the current system, the costs of silvicultural operations are
financed from the state budget, the funding source for this being mainly from selling standing wood. Due to the low
stumpage prices and a taxation system,
which has failed to adequately define forest
income and to extract forest rents, an es-
The volumes of industrial output in Russian Federation in 1990–2001
Source: Burdin, N.A., Forest Industrial sector of Russian Federation, manuscript 2002
After the Soviet era, forest-related industry production has decreased by three quarters. During the past
years, however, the trend has been slightly increasing.
Markku Tano
sential part of potential forest income is
lost.
Petrov and Roshchupkin agree that strategic changes are needed in the current economic management of forestry in order to
realise the development potential of the
forest sector, and to create equal market incentives for producing both market and environmental values. A highly important
task ahead is to rationalise the financial system of forest management and to introduce
efficient economic cost-control mecha-
nisms. This could be achieved e.g. by introducing a concession system, in which
large forest areas are assigned for long-term
use, mostly in less developed regions of difficult accessibility. The system would require from users’ side considerable investments, including development of the infrastructure and implementation of environmental and social programs.
A concession system instead of the current leasing system would control forestry
costs, increase stumpage price and forest
revenues, and improve the quality of forest
ecosystems. Market competition between
flexible contractors is the best guarantee
against the monopoly and corruption developed and promoted under the leasing
system, Petrov notes. Roshchupkin adds
that the main goal of introducing a new
economic mechanism would be to increase
the forest income of the State in order to
achieve a situation where forest operations
are self-financed. Petrov remarks that the
economic incentives for preserving and
Fellings and Increment in the European Part of Russia
(stocked forests in Federal lands, 137 mill ha)
Source: Pisarenko et al. Development of Forest Resources in the European Part of the Russian Federation.
EFI Research Report 11. Brill, Leiden. 2000
Compared to the increment concept generally used in Russian statistics (TAI),
net and gross annual increment show higher values.
EFI would like to
thank Dr. Petrov for
providing the ample
materials that were
used as the basis of
this article. In addition, EFI would like
to acknowledge Mr.
Roshchupkin, first
Vice-Minister of Natural Resources and
Head of the State Forest Service of Russian
Federation and Mr. Burdin Director of NIPIEIlesprom Ltd. (Research Institute of Economics and Information of Forest, Pulp and
Paper and Woodworking Industries) and
Ass. Prof. Dr. Elena G. Kulikova, WWF Russia.
EFI News • 5
From centrally planned towards
privately owned
To-date, forest enterprises are almost entirely
privatised, but the same does not apply to
forest lands. Virtually all forests in Russia are
currently in state ownership, but discussion
is currently ongoing both at the official level
and among stakeholders on possibilities to
restructure the existing system.
Markku Meriluoto
Lehtikuva/ Pasi Autio
producing environmental values should be
as clear and effective as the ones for logging, wood processing and timber trade.
The new Federal Act currently under
discussion will define how the various types
of fees will be collected. It is also expected
that the concession system will help in
combating illegal loggings, which according to Petrov are partly caused by the complicated and time consuming process of
obtaining logging licenses.
Mr. Roshchupkin proposes a two-step
reform for restructuring the property rights
system. In the first period of 5–10 years,
the monopoly of public forest ownership
would be maintained, but a redistribution
of responsibilities in forest management
would take place. Most functions of control and resources allocation will be shifted
from federal to regional and local levels
and authorities. Federal state forest ownership would remain during a transition period with a gradual delegation of various
functions to local bodies and authorities.
In the second phase, private as well as regional forest ownership would be introduced.
The multiple benefits of Russian
forests
Mr. Roshchupkin considers the framework
of the Kyoto protocol as an opportunity for
Russia to obtain additional revenues from
the sales of quotas for greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, he remarks that the
non-wood forest resources should be used
more rationally and efficiently, as in some
regions of the country the income from
non-wood resources significantly exceeds
that obtained from wood resources. The
most important potentials of non-wood resources are wild berries with estimated harvestable annual yield of 4.7 million tons,
mushrooms (2.1 mill tons) and birch sap
(7.8 mill. tons)
Forest certification, according to Mr.
Roshchupkin, serves as an instrument for
creating equal and transparent conditions
for conducting forestry operations in the
domestic market but also as a certificate for
the free entry of forest products to the international markets.
Mr. Roshchupkin stresses the importance of improving the environmental, social and economic conditions in order to
achieve sustainability in the Russian forest
Development of national forest policy in Russia
National forest
policy elements
Soviet period: up to 1993,
Centrally planned economy
Transition: 1993–1997, Basic
Principles of Forest Legislation
Transition: 1997–present time,
Forest Code
Prospects
Forest ownership
National
Not declared
Public federal
Diverse
Forest management
decision-making levels
All-Union, and later –
federal centre
Districts – municipal entities
Regions (Sub-national entities)
All federal forest management
institutions
Forest use arrangements
Allocation of forest areas
by decree
Incipient element of contract
arrangements
Forest lease, timber sales
Various contract arrangements
Financial system
Financing from the budget
Budget financing +
internal earnings
Enhanced role of forest revenue
(rentals) + budget funds
Forest revenue is the major
source of financing
Source: Prof. Dr. Anatoly Petrov’s lecture at University of Joensuu, 2002
6 • EFI News
Forest legislation
Russia has become actively involved in the
different fora on ecological sustainability
and has renewed its national forest legislation accordingly. The principles of sustainable forest management can be found in
three basic documents:
• Concept of Transition of Russian
Federation to Sustainable Development
(Ukaz Prezidenta N440 1996),
• Forest Code of Russian Federation
(1997)
• Criteria and Indicators of Sustainable
Forestry (Prikaz Rosleskhoza N21
1998).
Forest protection
It is estimated that areas damaged by
forest insects and diseases, as well as
the areas of weakened and dry forest
accounts for approximately 4% of all
forests in Russia. Forest fires are also a
devastating problem in Russian forests, 3.5 mill. ha per year were burned
between 1988 and 19921 , the estimate for 1990s being approximately
one million ha per year. In comparison, the average annual burnt area in
all Mediterranean countries together is
approx. 0.5 mill. ha annually.
Forest protection is therefore seen
by the state as a key priority for future
activities promoting the ecological security of the country. Another problem is the afforestation of areas of forest fund not covered by forest, including the reforestation of areas affected
by forest fires and clear cuts, especially
in the European part of Russia. “Adequate technology is needed in order to
make afforestation cheaper, more
manageable and less time-consuming”,
Mr. Roshchupkin emphasises.
Simo Hannelius / Metsäkuva-arkisto
sector. Rational use of forest resources, protection of the air and water resources, biodiversity conservation and the reduction of
desertification are key issues in maintaining
the environmental functions of forests.
Other important issues are improving the
quality of life of forest workers and their
families by improving the social, educational and cultural infrastructures in the
forestry-dominated municipalities, in order
to maintain a good level of employment
and to achieve long-lasting partnerships
within the forest sector between employees,
entrepreneurs and the State. This requires
above all reforms of forest economics based
on market principles, mainly through establishing adequate property rights, distributing responsibilities among all forest actors and by reorganising the main institutions involved, he concludes.
1 Nilsson, S. and Shvidenko, A. 1998. Is sustainable development of the Russian forest sector possible? IUFRO Occasional Paper No. 11, 77p
WWF Russia Forest Programme
The WWF Russia Forest Programme of sustainable forest management and conservation was launched in 1997 in response to the global importance of Russian forests
within the framework of the biosphere of our planet. The Forest Programme focuses
on two basic realms:
Forest inventory under development
• protection of high conservation value forests and establishing protected areas;
• sustainable forest management outside the protected areas.
The Russian forest inventory system is
based on a full survey of all forests, consisting of delineation of stands from aerial
photographs, and field assessment of the
stand attributes. In Eastern Siberia and
other remote locations, forest information
is obtained by on aero-visual survey utilising remote sensing images. Regional forest
inventory and planning enterprises carry
out the work once in 10–20 years. Employing inventory data and other information sources, such as felling statistics, the
State Forest Account (SFA), is updated every five years.
Economic changes, the increasing needs
of data users and technical progress in inventory techniques are all compelling us to
modify our forest information system. Forest inventory in Russia should be based on
the latest GIS technologies in order to address local, national and international
needs, reflecting current environmental
concerns, Mr. Roshchupkin says.
The Programme covers a wide range of activities, including efforts to establish protected areas, combating illegal logging, forest fire control, conservation of valuable pristine
forests, introduction of voluntary forest certification and developing of model forests
and environmentally responsible forest industry.
Dr. Vladimir Dmitriev, co-ordinator of forest certification programmes, considers
that a voluntary international certificate is a guarantee that products supplied to the
world markets are harvested in an environmentally sound manner. A draft of Russian
National Standards for sustainable forest management under the FSC system was completed in 2001. Around 250 000 hectares of Russian forests were certified in 2001,
and 1 million hectares are currently under the process of FSC certification.
Dr. Andrey Ptichnikov, forest programme co-ordinator, underlines that one of the
main goals in WWF Russia strategy is to achieve transparency in the forest sector and
responsible forest management with regard to both society and nature.
Among the means for improving the environmental functions of forests, the most
important will be establishing specially protected areas, which account for approximately 5% of the forest fund. The system of specially protected areas (SPA) includes
one hundred State natural protected areas (zapovednik) occupying an area of 33.5 million ha, 35 national parks with a total surface of 6.9 million ha, 65 state natural parks
and approximately 4000 natural protected areas of regional importance. The support
and development of specially protected areas is one of WWF’s main priorities. The area
of Russian state zapovedniks and national parks has increased by 20%, while in the
arctic zone it has doubled since 1994, when WWF started its Programme Office in
Russia.
EFI News • 7
Economic Accessibility
of Forest Resources in Russia
Anssi Niskanen, Bruce Michie and Kaija Saramäki
A new economic model for forest resources accessibility, developed jointly by EFI,
Forest Technical Academy, St. Petersburg (Dr. Galina Filioushkina) and the Institute for the Forest Specialists Education and Training, Moscow (Dr. Anatoly
Petrov) was introduced to the public in St. Petersburg in December 4–5, 2002.
For profitability reasons, forest harvesting
in many parts of Russia has concentrated
on the areas close to railways, main roads
and watercourses. As a result, young forests
and less valuable species dominate those areas while mature forests are dominant in
the more remote areas.
The low profitability of forestry is one
of the major consequences of the low competitiveness of the forest industries in Russia. The average stumpage price paid by
forest industries is only approximately
USD 1/m3. This, consequently, has resulted in decreasing investments in forest management, silviculture and forest protection.
In the recent discussions related to new
forest policy of Russian Federation, the
large differences between forest resources
and economically accessible forests have
been mentioned to be among the largest
problems in forest management planning.
In the past, under the centrally planned
economy, the State covered the transportation costs of timber – on average transported to a distance of 1800 km – and there
were no economically inaccessible forests.
From the forest sector’s development point
of view, it is not only important to increase
the competitiveness of forest industries, but
also identify economically accessible forests
that are capable of generating positive forest revenue.
The economically feasible
distribution of wood harvesting
The economically feasible distribution of
wood harvesting – in terms of geographical
location – can be simplified to an analysis
to minimise transportation costs.
In this case, the forest resources accessibility, or positive stumpage (forest rent) (r)
can be estimated with the formula1 :
where,
P0
= the price of processed wood
product,
R1
= normative profit of final product
manufacturing,
C1
= normative costs of production in
product manufacturing,
m
= consumption of wood per unit of
the final product,
T
= transportation costs for
roundwood estimated according to
actual tariffs,
C2(xi) = normative costs for harvesting,
and
R2(xi) = normative profit in harvesting.
The economical accessibility can then be
expressed by inequality:
where,
S = normative costs for reforestation.
If forest rent (r) is more or equal to normative costs for reforestation (S), the forest resources in question can be considered economically accessible.
The map of basic forest management units (kvartals) in Krestestsky Leskhoz, Novgorod Region
8 • EFI News
Introducing Russian EFI members
Russian members have had a significant role
to play in EFI since 1993. In fact, one of the
12 founding members of EFI was the St. Petersburg Forest Technical Academy, with
which EFI has had the pleasure to work
closely in various projects. Today EFI has 14
Russian members – the latest newcomer being the All-Russian Research Institute of Silviculture and Mechanization of Forestry of
the Ministry of Natural Resources.
1 Petrov A. P., Mamaev B. M., Tepliakov
V. K. and Shetinski E. A. 1997. Public
forest management. Moscow, VNIITSlesresurs. 304 p; Petrov A. P. 1989. Determination methods of stumpage price and
forest resources cost estimation. In: Lesnoe hoziastvo 8, pp. 13–16
Timo Villanen
The economic model to estimate
economic accessibility of forest resources has been tested in real life
situation in the Novgorod region,
North-West Russia. The first results
justify the use of the model: the economic accessibility can be estimated
with available forest resource and
cartographic information, and under current wood demand conditions.
The model is flexible by changing any parameter in the formula it
is possible to study the respective
changes in the economic accessibility of forest resources. For example,
it is possible to study how wood
harvesting would change if new
wood-processing mills were established in a study area. Also, with
given demand for wood, it is possible to estimate which forests are
economically inaccessible and thus
more rational to classify as ecological reserves.
It is expected that the economic
accessibility model would be fully
tested and in use by the end of
2003. After that, the possibilities to
apply the model for forest management and investment planning in
wider geographical areas and other
countries are wide.
Further information
www.efi.fi/members
The easternmost member in
Russia is the Mari State
University in Yoshkar-Ola.
Eldar Kurbanov has been
finalising his Doctoral thesis
‘Carbon budget of pine
forests in Volgo-Vyatski
region of Russian Federation’
at EFI and defended his
thesis in January 2003.
PROCES – an EFI RPC
The EFI Regional Project Centre
PROCES is a forest research and
training centre located in Saint-Petersburg, Russia. It was established in September 1999. It is an independent non-governmental organisation, carrying out research within the scope of EFI’s research
strategy and under the EFI name and scientific umbrella.
The main goal of PROCES is to activate
and co-ordinate efforts in NIS countries in
cooperation with other European countries
in the forest sector. The centre’s tasks are:
• Research in sustainable forest management;
• Creation of a forest sector science network
for universities, research institutes, and
other forestry organisations; and
• Transfer of forestry knowledge and
technology to forest sector stakeholders.
Currently the two main projects of the centre are “Forest Resource Scenario Modelling
for the European Part of Russia” and “Economic Evaluation and Implementation Strategy of Forestry Scenarios for the European
Part of the Russian Federation” The projects
are designed to assess future sustainable har-
Jasper Schipperijn
Economic model to estimate
accessibility
1. All-Russian Research Institute of
Silviculture and Mechanization of
Forestry, Pushkino
2. ARICFR – All-Russian Research &
Information Centre for Forest Resources,
Moscow
3. Biological Research Institute, St.
Petersburg State University
4. Center for Problems of Ecology and
Productivity of Forests of Russian
Academy of Sciences, Moscow
5. Department of Systems Ecology, Russian
Academy of Sciences, Puschino Region
6. Forest Research Institute, Petrozavodsk
7. Forest Research Institute, St. Petersburg
8. Moscow State Forest University, Moscow
9. Petrozavodsk State University
10. Russian Institute of Forest Specialists’
Education and Training, Pushkino
11. Russian Research and Design Institute of
Economics and Information for Forest,
Pulp and Paper, and Woodworking
Industries, Moscow – Associate Member
12. State Scientific Center of Timberindustry Complex, Moscow
13. St. Petersburg Forest Technical Academy
14. Mari State Technical University Department of Forestry Mensuration and
Management, Yoshkar-Ola – Associate
Member
PROCES was represented in EFI's 9th Annual Conference by
Alexander Selikhovkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Olga
Shaitarova
vesting levels and the current state and development of the forest resources. The projects
also help in training of researchers and foresters in the use of large scale planning models for forest management. The results of the
projects will be used both in further scientific
research and in practical activities.
Further information
Contact Olga Shaitarova, Co-ordinator,
email: [email protected]
www.efi.fi/rpc/Proces/
EFI News • 9
Planning and Management System
for the St Petersburg Forest Greenbelt
– A Joint Russian-Danish Project
Kjell Nilsson
Jasper Schipperijn
Russian-Danish partnership to improve
planning and management
The city of St Petersburg recognises the importance of
the forest greenbelt and its many functions. It has
therefore, with the assistance of Skov & Landskab, the
Danish Forest and Landscape Research Institute, embarked on an effort to preserve and improve the sustainability and functionality of the greenbelt. The
project aims to:
1. identify greenbelt functions and threats to these;
2. develop an informative forest classification system
based on functions;
3. develop an easy accessible and informative
database to support planning and management;
4. bring major stakeholders together to jointly decide
on planning and management strategies;
5. develop a comprehensive planning and management system based on the above; and
6. increase local and regional public and political
awareness of the importance of the greenbelt.
10 • EFI News
In 1947 a forest zone of approximately 142,500 ha surrounding the city of St Petersburg was given a protected status as ‘Forest Park Zone’ and the city was handed the responsibility for its management. This forest greenbelt provides the local citizens with a popular outdoor recreation
environment and a range of other social as well as environmental services, such as water protection and CO2-sequestration close to pollution sources. Current economic and societal developments have, however, added pressure on the
area, as more land is needed for infrastructure, new housing and industrial development. Also the recreational use
has increased.
From data analysis to practical training
During the project, existing information and new data will be compiled into
an informative, easy-to-use database using Geographical Information System
(GIS) technology. This database will provide an important tool for greenbelt
planning and management, e.g. through a set of indicators for greenbelt functions. Together with the planners, managers and other stakeholders, the problems, strategies and guidelines for management at different hierarchical levels
will be discussed and staff training will be organised. Nature trails and other
recreational facilities will be established to demonstrate the ways to improve
and manage the recreational use of the greenbelt. The Toxovo Forest District,
already recognised as a model forest, will be the main location for demonstration activities. Finally, public and political awareness of the importance of the
greenbelt will be enhanced by means of events such as Greenbelt Day and by
mass media coverage.
The project partners are The St Petersburg State Forest Technical Academy,
host of PROCES; The St Petersburg Department of Gardens and Parks of the
City Administration and Skov & Landskab, the Danish Forest and Landscape
Research Institute, host of EUFORIC. The project is mainly funded by DANCEE, the Danish Cooperation for Environment in Eastern Europe. The
project will run from January 2002 until May 2005.
Is there a niche for forest research in the 6 th
Framework Programme – and where? What will
the new instruments – Networks of Excellence
and Integrated Projects – actually be like? There
are a lot of questions related to the changes
brought along by the new Framework Programme launched last November. In order to
promote the dialogue and exchange of information between the EU and the forest research community, EFI, in co-operation with French ECOFOR,
arranged a one-day seminar to discuss the role
of forest research in the newly started Framework
Programme. The event gathered almost 200 participants from all over Europe.
Christophe Maitre
Leena Roihuvuo
6th Framework Programme Launched:
Challenges and Opportunities
for Forest Research
The European Commission DG Research
was represented at the seminar by Pierre
Valette and Per Backe-Hansen from Directorate I ’Environment’, and Johannes
Klumpers from Directorate G ‘Industrial
technologies’. Mr Valette saw that the
niche for forest research within the 6 th
Framework Programme is mainly through
three “entries”: first of all, within Priority
6.3 “Global Change and Ecosystems”, especially its topic area 5: “Strategies for sustainable land management, including agricultural land and forests”. According to the
current plan, there will be only one purely
forest-related Integrated Project or Network of Excellence in the first call. The
topic of this activity will be the role and
impact of the complete forestry/wood
chain taking into account multifunctionality aspects and including regional and international dimensions and the societal needs.
There are also niches within Priority 3
‘New production processes and devices’,
and within the so-called eighth priority,
policy-oriented research, and its area 1:
‘Sustainable management of Europe’s natural resources’.
Johannes Klumpers described more in
detail the possibilities for forest-based industries and related research institutes
within priority 3 ‘Nanotechnologies and
nano-sciences, knowledge-based functional
materials, new production processes and
devices’. The overall objectives of sub-priority 3.3. ‘New Production Processes and
Devices’ are to develop a knowledge based
and added value industry in Europe, and to
improve its competitiveness and sustainability. Collaboration between research and
industry is supported in order to achieve
new production concepts and breakthroughs in organisational, quality and
technological developments.
Expressions of interest were
abundant
Per Backe-Hansen analysed the Expressions
of Interest within priority 6.3 ‘Global
Change and Ecosystems’. As many as 1412
Expression of Interest (EoIs) were submitted to this priority area – a big oversubscription, as Mr Backe-Hansen said. Only
about 20% of these EoIs were considered
excellent and fully meeting the requirements. However, the EoI process has been
a good learning experience both for the
submitters and the EU.
In addition to the keynote speakers
from the European Commission, the role
of forest research was discussed in panel
discussions that focused i.a. on research
needs from the point of view of various
end-user groups and other stakeholders.
Representatives of different fields of forest
research analysed the potential contribution of forest research to the new Framework Programme, and links were also made
to other relevant disciplines, such as climatology, information technology and landscape science.
To sum up, there seems to be much less
available to forest research as such, especially compared with the 5th Framework
Programme. However, there are many
niches for a forest research component in
large, multidisciplinary projects, and the
success of the forest research community in
getting involved in the 6th Framework Programme projects now largely depends on
its ability to team up with players outside
forest research to form cross-sectoral networks and projects. It should also be remembered that there are many opportunities within the 6FP also outside the seven
thematic priorities, which should not be
overlooked.
The seminar ‘Forest research and the 6th Framework
Programme – challenges and opportunities’ was arranged in the framework of the EU–funded project
IMACFORD (QLK5-CT-2002-30221). The presentations and abstracts of the seminar are available at
the event website at: http://www.efi.fi/events/2002/
Forest_research_in_6FP/
The First Calls of the 6th Framewortk Programme
opened on 17 December 2002. For more information, see: http://www.cordis.lu/fp6/
EFI News • 11
projects www.efi.fi/research/
FORMOD Completed
“Forest Models for Sustainable
Management” – the FORMOD
project, in which several simulation models have been combined to address a
number of sustainability issues was funded
by the INTAS programme (International
Association for the Promotion of Co-operation with scientist from the New Independent States of the former Sovjet-Union), and was carried out in the period
1999–2002 (INTAS 97-30255).
In the FORMOD project, processbased models developed in St. Petersburg,
Moscow and Pushchino where combined
with a model of forest development developed at the Moscow State Forest University, and applied at a pilot area “Ruskije
Les” (Russian Forest). Input data for this
modelling exercise were provided by the
All-Russian Research and Information
Centre on Forest Resources, and proved to
be an excellent basis for model comparison and evaluation of concepts. The results give a clear indication of the possibilities of using this type of models and combinations thereof for assessing limits to ecological sustainability. The project highlighted the strong modelling expertise and
interest in Russia, and raised considerable
interest from Russian forestry authorities.
The results will be published in the EFI
Proceedings series, and disseminated
amongst relevant groups in Russia and elsewhere. For more information on the project
as well as on the forthcoming proceedings,
please visit www.efi.fi/projects/formod.
EFFE Moves to Data Analysis Phase
The EFFE project – Evaluating the Financing of
Forestry in Europe (contract number
QLK5-CT-2000-01228) has finished its
second year during which the relevant
data was gathered in accordance with the
previously designed data-collection framework. At the same time, the compilation of
a database on forestry funding measures
was started. The outcomes of the year’s activities were discussed during the 5th project
co-ordination meeting (22–23 November,
2002), hosted by the Centre Tecnòlogic
Forestal de Catalunya in Solsona, Spain.
The subsequent data analysis phase is
due to start in the beginning of 2003. At
this stage, the main objective will be to
determine relationships between public incentives to forestry and their economic,
social and ecological effects. The last
project year, 2004, will mostly be devoted
to the compilation and dissemination of
project results to science community and
decision-makers.
While the main task of the project is to
evaluate forestry funding programmes in
terms of their effectiveness, efficiency and
income distribution effects, its important
achievement will be to provide information that would be useful in designing
public forestry intervention policies. Furthermore, the project is expected to increase the understanding and transparency
of the government actions in forestry.
EFFE is carried out with the financial
support from the Commission of the European Communities, DG Research –
Quality of Life and Management of Living Resources Programme.
Further information
[email protected]
www.efi.fi/projects/effe
As part of the EFFE project, an international conference was arranged in June
2001 in Rovaniemi, Finland. The proceedings are available in EFI series, Financial Instruments of Forest Policy, A. Ottitsch, I. Tikkanen and P. Riera (editors).
EFI Proceedings 42. 220 p. ISBN: 9529844-90-5, ISSN: 1237-8801 Price: 35
EUR. Orders: [email protected]
Multi-source Inventory Methods for Quantifying
Carbon Stocks and Stock Changes in European Forests – CarboInvent
FORMOD project partners were the
Laboratory of Soil Biochemistry of St. Petersburg State University, the All-Russian
Research and Information Centre on Forest Resources in Moscow, the Laboratorium of Ecosystem Modelling of Russian
Academy of Sciences in Pushchino, the
Institute of Mathematical Problems in Biology of the Russian Academy of Sciences
in Moscow, the Department of Computer
Sciences of Moscow State Forest University, EFI, University of Joensuu, and Wageningen University (coordinator).
12 • EFI News
Among the most urgent political
priorities is the need to implement the United Nation Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC), to meet the
targets of the Kyoto Protocol for reducing
greenhouse gas emissions, and to implement national systems needed to monitor
compliance. Because the EU is a Party to
the Kyoto Protocol, the sources and sinks
of greenhouse gases, including those related to land use, land-use change and forestry activities must be annually reported to
the UNFCCC. Therefore, both at European and national level there is the need to
have a European uniform system of Greenhouse Gas reporting which is based on
sound science and principles like transparency, consistency, and verifiability, being at
the same time reliable and cost-effective.
Carbo-Invent project started on November
1, 2002 and will last for 36 months, and
will develop methodologies for carbon inventories of forests that meet aforementioned requirements. Besides the contribution to climate policy the project will also
address the scientific problems pertaining
to the estimation of carbon stocks and
stock changes of forest ecosystems, including the whole tree biomass and forest soils.
This project is funded from the 5th
Framework Programme of the EU. The
project is coordinated by Joanneum Research, Graz, Austria and has altogether 14
partners from 10 countries, many of
which are also members of EFI.
Further information
www.joanneum.at/CarboInvent
projects www.efi.fi/research/
Silvicultural Systems for Sustainable
Forest Resource Management (SILVICS)
The project applies existing
models to define and assess optimal silvicultural systems, aiming at sustainable forest resource development and
use. Models developed in a previous INTAS-project (see www.efi.fi/projects/formod) will serve as a framework for quantitative assessement of traditional as well as
new, innovative silvicultural systems aiming at integrated natural resource management. Emphasis will be on main forest
functions: production, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity conservation. Models will be applied in two case studies in
Russia, in Prioksko-Terrasnyj Reserve and
Russkije Les. The outcome of the project
will consist of scientific papers, models,
and practical guidelines for adaptive silvicultural systems aiming at sustainable forest resource management.
This INTAS (International Association
for the promotion of co-operation with
scientists from the New Independent
States of the former Soviet Union) funded
project started in May 2002 and will run
for 36 months (INTAS 01-0633). The
project is co-ordinated by the Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group Department of Environmental Sciences,
Wageningen University, the Netherlands.
Further information
www.efi.fi/projects/silvics
Increasing the Public Awareness
on Environment Protection in
Bulgaria
The EU PHARE
Access
Project
“Parks in Bulgaria – Partnership for Europe” (Contract No. PA99-MP-025/
15.09.01) set its aims at increasing the
public awareness on environment protection and management in Bulgaria and at
enhancing the dialogue between forest and
nature protection services.
The project resulted in establishing and
developing a working partnership network
of all stakeholders in the process of management and development of the system
of Bulgarian parks for the future. Further,
it provided an insight on the Europeanwide activities in the fields of management
of protected areas and related national and
international policy processes.
EFI Building Global Research Partnership through IUFRO
Special Project on World Forests, Society and Environment (WFSE)
es, and focuses on the key issues in appropriate governance of forest resources.
The most visible and tangible results of
WFSE-project are the different materials
prepared for dissemination. The main
publication will be published on the eve of
the IUFRO World Congress in Australia
in 2005, and distributed to the congress
participants.
Through its network, EFI is involved
in making the European contribution for
the project materials.
(chairman Anders Lunnan, Norway);
3) Non-wood forest products and services
(chairman Davide Pettenella, Italy).
A total of 17 countries (A, BG, DK,
FIN, F, D, EL, HU, IRL, I, NO, PL, P,
RO, S, CH and UK) have signed or are in
the process of signing the Memorandum
of Understanding. New countries are encouraged to join the Action. Countries
should declare their interest through their
National COST co-ordinator.
The nine seminars (three national and
six regional) organised in the course of the
project were attended by a total of 261 participants. EFI provided lecturers for the
three seminar series on management of protected areas and protection of bio-diversity,
sustainable use of natural resources and income generation for the local population.
The project was carried out by the Civil Society Development Foundation, the
Directorate of Park Vitosha and the European Forest Institute from September
2001 to September 2002.
“Parks in Bulgaria – Partnership for
Europe” website is available on the Internet at www.efi.fi/projects/bulgaria/. The
Civil Society Development Foundation
website at www.bg-parks.net/en/parks.html
offers further information on the topic.
Further information
www.efi.fi/projects/coste30
Further information
[email protected] or
[email protected]
Further information
[email protected]
COST Action E30 Launched – New Countries Welcome to Join
The first Management Committee
meeting of the COST Action E30
“Economic integration of urban
consumers’ demand and rural forestry production” was held in Brussels on September 20, 2002.
The objective of the Action is to gain
better understanding of the problems related to forest-based entrepreneurship
aiming at improved employment and income in rural areas and to find possible
solutions. The Action will be carried out
mainly in three working groups: 1) Smallscale forestry (chairman Bill Slee, UK);
2) SMEs in wood processing industries
Jo Van Brusselen
The mission of the
WFSE-project is to
focus on identifying, monitoring and analysing critical issues and changing paradigms in the global forests. This IUFRO
Special Project provides an innovative forum to challenge and test new ideas
through scientific approach, in support of
sustainable development and the well being of people.
WFSE highlights the different aspects
of forest-based livelihoods (role of forests
in the generation of welfare), the analyses
of the impacts of forest management and
forestry practices on environmental servic-
EFI News • 13
members www.efi.fi/members/
Anu Ruusila
The European Forest Institute was established by 12 founding members in October 1993. Ten
years after the Institute has developed into the leading forest research network n Europe. This
has been possible only because there has been a clear need for an organisation like EFI and
thanks to the activity of EFI members and partners across Europe and elsewhere.
‘Forest Research Crossing Borders’:
Ten Years of European Forest Research Networking
Juha Taskinen
To celebrate the research of the European forests, EFI organises a high-level two-day scientific seminar ‘Forest Research Crossing Borders’
on 28–29 August 2003. The event will be followed by the 10th Annual Conference of EFI
on 30 August. The post-conference tour will
extend via the forests of Finnish and Russian
Karelia to St. Petersburg, Russia. This is an exceptional chance to see how the world’s largest
forest resource is managed and to meet the local forest professionals.
The Scientific Seminar features keynote
speakers such as David Kaimowitz (CIFOR),
Risto Seppälä (IUFRO) and Björn Hägglund
(Stora Enso). The Commission of the European Communities as well as Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests will be represented in the keynote addresses. The Conference features also a new approach to involve audience more actively in the debate and panel
discussions. Professor Chris Baines, who is a
well-known environmental journalist, will lead
the panel session and debate following it on the
second day of the Conference.
14 • EFI News
Bazaar of forest research
Post-Conference tour in Russia
EFI members will have an opportunity
to present their activities in a unique bazaar of forest research. The bazaar will
include a Speakers’ Corner where examples of innovative research solutions are
presented in an informal setting. The
Bazaar will also feature a Poster Exhibition. The participants of the Conference
are invited to present posters on their
research topics on a wide range of topics
and on their organisations or a research
networks.
The Bazaar offers a Business meeting facility. Those wishing to arrange a
business meeting of their project or network, or wishing to invite researchers of
a certain topic for a presentation, can
use this opportunity and book a meeting
room for this purpose. For example, IUFRO groups, COST Actions or project
teams may wish to use this opportunity
to arrange their meeting during this time.
Would you like to see some of the
world’s largest forest resource? The participants of the post-conference tour
will have an exceptional chance to see
Russian forests and meet local forest researchers and managers at their work.
Also, the City of St. Petersburg celebrates its 300 Anniversary in 2003 and
the cultural programme is abundant.
The tour is organised jointly with the
Ministry of Natural Resources, Russia,
and St. Petersburg Forest Technical Academy.
A more detailed programme and second circular will be available in February 2003.
Further information on the event:
Anu Ruusila ([email protected]) or
Brita Pajari ([email protected]) and
www.efi.fi/events/2003/10AC/
members www.efi.fi/members/
Tentative Programme in Brief
28 August–2 September 2003 • Joensuu, Finland • St. Petersburg, Russian Federation
Border-crossing issues in forestry •
Thursday 28 Augusty
10 years Research Crossing Borders
Tim Peck, Chairman of EFI 1993–98
Forest Strategy for Europe
Franz Fischler, Commissioner, European
Commission (not confirmed)
Coming age of forests (Role of forests
in creating welfare)
Björn Hägglund, Deputy CEO of
StoraEnso
Forests in the pressure of global
policymaking
David Kaimovitz, Director, Center of
International Forest Research
Does global change hamper the
sustainable forest management?
Bob Watson, The World Bank
(not confirmed)
Panel discussion
Research providing solutions to emerging
needs • Friday 29 August
Better information for good governance
of forests
Risto Seppälä, President, International
Union of Forest Research Organisations
Research needs in the Pan-European
Process
Representative of the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe
Panel discussion and interview:
Prof. Chris Baines
How to response to emerging research
needs in Europe?
• what do we want from our forests?
• what kind of research does this
imply?
• how should research be organised to
best respond to the needs?
Bazaar of forest research, including
• Speaker’s corner: short presentations
on innovative research solutions,
opinions, important issues, etc.
• Poster and stand exhibition.
• Facilities for side meetings.
Plenary discussion: Reconsideration of
the central issue: How to respond to
emerging research needs in Europe?
An evening at EFI headquarters
A decade of international
forest research
Organisers: CIFOR & EFI
September 2003
In 2003 both EFI and CIFOR celebrate their
10th anniversaries. To mark the event, the two
organisations will hold a seminar ‘A decade of
international forest research’ during the World
Forestry congress to be held 21–28 September
2003 in Quebec, Canada. The main objective
of the seminar will be to highlight the role of
international research by presenting the top
ranking projects of CIFOR and EFI during the
past years.
Further information
Risto Päivinen, [email protected]
10th Annual Conference of the European
Forest Institute • Saturday 30 August
Annual Conference: Technical sessions
Venue of the 2005
EFI Conference open –
time to submit your proposal!
Excursion • Sunday 31 August
Travel from Joensuu to St. Petersburg,
including
• Visit at North-west Leskhoz (Forest
farm) featuring fire control used in
North-west Leskhoz
• Stop in Roshinsky Leskhoz (Forest
farm), visit to old larch forests
planted on the orders of Peter the
Great for shipbuilding
Excursion • Monday 1 September
• Visit at the St. Petersburg Forest
Technical Academy; visit to museums
and botanical gardens of the Academy
• Scientific Seminar: Russian Forestry
– now and in the future
Cultural Programme upon choice
• Sight seeing tour of St. Petersburg +
Hermitage + Opera/Ballet or
• Czar’s palaces at Pushkin/Pavlovsk/
Petrodvorets + Opera/Ballet
Tuesday 2 September
EFI Regional Project Centres
annual meeting
Departures
EFI members have traditionally offered to host
EFI Annual Conferences. We owe warm
thanks to excellent hosts of the past years listed
below.
• EFI, Joensuu & Tampere, Finland (1994 &
1995)
• Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg,
Germany (1996)
• Department of Forestry, University of
Gembloux, Belgium (1997)
• Forest Research Institute, Slovakia (1998)
• Swiss Federal Institute of Forest, Snow and
Landscape Research, Switzerland (1999)
• Instituto Superior de Agronomia &
National Forest Research Station &
Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development
and Fishery, Portugal (2000)
• Institut européen de la Forêt cultivée (IEFC)
& Institut National de la Recherche
Agronomique (INRA), France (2001)
• Forest and Landscape Research Institute &
European Urban Forestry Research and
Information Centre (EUFORIC), Denmark
(2002)
• EFI, Finland (2003)
• University of Agriculture, Bangor, Wales,
UK (2004)
EFI members are invited to submit their proposals for hosting the 12th Conference in Aug/
Sept 2005. The proposal format is available at
www.efi.fi/members/ or by contacting Anu Ruusila, [email protected]. Deadline for proposals
is 30 June 2003.
EFI News • 15
members
Risto Päivinen
Copenhagen was a fitting place for Urban forestry conference. Here the urban forests of Dyrehavn are in good use.
EFI in the Land of Vikings
Anu Ruusila
The EFI members conquered new lands as they ventured into the land of
Vikings, Denmark, during the 9 th Annual Conference of EFI in August.
The Annual Conference was followed by the IUFRO Conference ‘Forests
serving urbanised societies’, which made the visit truly worthwhile.
Regional Project Centres in focus
One of the main tasks of the EFI members was to decide on the continuation of
the first three Regional Project Centres
(RPC). Initially the duration of the Centres has been set at three years. Now the
first three Centres (PROCES in St. Petersburg, Russia, IEFC in Bordeaux, France,
and MEDFOREX in Solsona, Spain) have
been functioning for three years. The
Conference unanimously agreed to prolongue the duration of all three Centres
for one more year.
Since the concept of Regional Project
Centres is a new one it was felt that more
experiences are needed before new Centres
are established. New Terms of Reference
for RPCs will be written during 2003.
The six Regional Project Centres currently
form a valuable part of EFI activities and
strengthen the EFI network significantly.
16 • EFI News
The Tim Peck
Young Scientist Award
The Foundation for European Forest Research grants the Tim Peck Young Scientist
Award of 1 000 euro to a young scientist
who has made, or is making, a significant
contribution to research in the field of forestry and forest industries. This year the
winner of the award was Dr. Ewald Rametstainer from Austria. Congratulations!
Many aspects of urban forests
This year the scientific part of the EFI Annual Conference was provided by the IUFRO Conference ‘Forests Serving Urbanised Societies’. The event attracted over
200 participants to attend the sessions on
e.g.‘The development of urban forestry –
a people-based approach’; ‘The environmental functions and benefits of forests
and trees in urban societies’ and ‘Socioeconomic aspects of forests and trees in urban societies’.
Continuous Cover Forestry in
Bangor in 2004!
Three attractive proposals for hosting the
2004 EFI Annual Conference had been
submitted to EFI Board. The Conference
unanimously supported the Board’s recommendation to have the 11th Annual
Conference in Bangor, Wales. The theme
of the Conference will be ‘Continuos Cover
Forestry’ and the dates of the event are 3–7
September 2004. The host of the event will
be the University of Agriculture, Bangor.
EFI owes its grateful thanks to supportive and excellent co-operation of the Director and staff of the Danish Forest and
Landscape Research Institute (FSL) and
European Urban Forestry Research and
Information Centre (EUFORIC) for the
arrangements and logistics of the EFI Annual Conference. EFI is also thankful to
the Royal Agricultural and Veterinary University (KVL) for hosting and welcoming
the Conference in its excellent premises.
members www.efi.fi/members/
EFI Board for 2002–2003 and Scientific Advisory Board 2003
EFI Board for 2002–2003
Mr. Fergal Mulloy, Ireland,
Chairman of the Board
Mr. F. Xavier Ballabriga, Spain
Dr. François Houllier, France
Dr. Jan Ilavsky, Slovak Republic
Dr. Anatoly Petrov, Russian Federation
Mr. Anders Portin, Finland
Prof. Francisco Rego, Portugal,
Vice-Chairman
Mr. Jan Remröd, Sweden
Dr. Zoltan Somogyi, Hungary
EFI wishes to thank Prof. F. Schmithüsen
for his valuable work in EFI Board. A
warm welcome is due to Mr. Ballabriga.
International Scientific Conference
75 Years of the Forest Research
Institute of Bulgarian Academy
of Sciences
1–5 October 2003
Sofia, Bulgaria
Organisers
• Bulgarian Academy of Sciences,
Forest Research Institute
• IUFRO
• European Forest Institute (EFI)
• Ministry of Agriculture and Forests,
National Forestry Board
• University of Forestry
• Union of the Scientists in Bulgaria
Jasper Schipperijn
Background and aims
Forest Research Institute, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (FRI-BAS) has a unique
history with its invaluable contribution to
the achievements of the Bulgarian forest
sector. With the celebration of its 75-yearanniversary, the institute wants to open
the doors to international networks and
enhance the interaction between the forest
scientists from the Central and Eastern
Europe.
The general aims are to:
EFI Board and Scientific Advisory Board members on a well deserved break in Hørsholm, Denmark.
Scientific Advisory Board 2003
EFI sincerely thanks the departing SAB
members, Dr. Eduardo Rojas-Briales and
Peter Csoka for their significant contribution in the SAB. We hope this excellent
co-operation will continue also in the future.
EFI also warmly welcomes new SAB
members, Dr. David Humphreys (UK)
and Dr. Göran Ståhl (Sweden). The SAB
for 2003 is:
Prof. Dr. Gérard Buttoud, France
Dr. David Humphreys, UK
Prof. Dr. Max Krott, Germany
Ass. Prof. Dr. Elena G. Kulikova,
Russian Federation
Prof. Dr. Jari Kuuluvainen, Finland
Prof. Dr. Frits Mohren, The Netherlands,
Chairman of the SAB
Prof. Davide Pettenella, Italy
Dr. Göran Ståhl, Sweden
Prof. Dr. Hubert Sterba, Austria
Ass. Prof. Dr. Margarida Tomé, Portugal
Now Available – Forest Map of Europe
The project “Forest tree groupings database of the EU-15 and pan-European area
derived from NOAA-AVHRR data” (EUJRC contract No. 17223-2000-12 F1SC
ISP FI) has been completed and its final
product, the new “Forest Map of Europe”
(size 88 cm x 116 cm) can now be ordered
from the European Forest Institute for the
price of 20 € plus p&p. Please contact
[email protected] to issue your order.
EFI Internal Report 13 describes the
data input and briefly analyses the overall
results. It can be downloaded at
www.efi.fi/publications/Internal_Reports/
• outline the latest achievements in the
forest sciences
• trace out future problems of forest
sciences at the European level
• exchange scientific information
Parallel scientific sessions:
• Forest Biodiversity in South Eastern
Europe
• Structure, Functioning, Development
and Adaptation of Forest Ecosystems
• Forest Monitoring, Protection and
Regeneration
• Management, Sustainable Development
and Utilisation of Forest Resources
• Forestry, Social and Economic Aspects
of Forest Sector in Transition Countries
The official languages of the event are
English and Bulgarian.
Further information
Scientific Secretary
Forest Research Institute,
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
[email protected]
www.bulnet.com/forestin
EFI News • 17
publications www.efi.fi/publications/
Forthcoming in 2003
EFI Research Report 15
Development of European Forests until 2050
– A Projection of Forest Resources and Forest
Management in Thirty Countries
G.J. Nabuurs, R. Päivinen, A. Pussinen and M.J. Schelhaas
In Europe, forest policy discussions are
moving towards an EU-wide strategy.
This will further intensify the relations
between European countries in the field
of forests and forest management. European-wide forest planning and decision
making require that policy makers have
insight in the long-term development of
European forests under alternative regimes. In several projects carried out
jointly by EFI and ALTERRA, The European Forest Information Scenario Model
(EFISCEN) has been used to make projections of the development of the forests
in thirty European countries under four
different scenarios. The results show that
when fellings remain at the current level
of just under 400 million m3/yr (business-as-usual), the average growing stock
in Europe will rise from 137 in 1990 to
226 m3/ha in 2050.
Foreseen realistic increases in fellings
of some 0.3% per year do not do much
to curb this trend of increasing growing
stock. The foreseen increase in area of setaside from 4 million ha in 1990 to 11.9
million ha in 2050, does not hamper this
fellings increase.
This book addresses what the consequences of each scenario are for wood
Growing stock
(m3/ha)
development for
each study country
in the multifunctional scenario.
production, biodiversity, and environmental functions of the forest. The results
provide policy makers with a challenge
on whether to intervene in the ongoing
trend of build-up of growing stock or
whether to choose for biodiversity, for increased use of domestically produced
wood products, or a combination of these
but spatially separated. The increasing resource provides policy makers with a
challenge and the luxurious situation to
choose between these varying combinations of aims for biodiversity values and
increased cuttings for rural development,
bio-energy, and employment opportunities according to national priorities.
The projected scenarios of European
forests pose a fundamental question for
policy making in European societies:
should business-as-usual policies be pre-
ferred by policy makers (and the public)
in the future, or is there a need to re-design policy interventions.
The report will be published in early
2003, please check www.brill.nl for further information on availability and pricing.
Now available – free download of EFI Internal reports
at www.efi.fi/publications
EFI Internal reports present a variety
of topics and approaches to EFI’s recent research. The reports have been
internally reviewed. Please visit EFI
website for further details and titles.
EFI Proceedings 46
Cross-Sectoral Policy Impacts on Forests
Ilpo Tikkanen, Peter Glück and Heikki Pajuoja
(eds.)
ISSN 1237-8801
ISBN 952-9844-95-6
Price 35 EUR
18 • EFI News
The notion of sustainable forest management as an outcome of international forest policy processes and
deliberations, including economic, social and environmental dimensions, has been broadly received as
an overall aim for national forest policies and programmes since the Rio Summit. National forest programmes as a process provide a potential strategic framework, which enables cross-sectoral approaches
and policy co-ordination through participation and partnership arrangements. Forest policy formulation processes are evolving in many countries adopting these principles. Two major challenges – and
weaknesses – have surfaced especially in the implementation stage of national forest programmes: interinstitutional arrangements for policy co-ordination to implement SFM in support of sustainable development may be ineffective, and policy research providing knowledge on cross-sectoral policy impacts
and inter-sectoral linkages may be virtually non-existing. The few empirical analyses available are mainly related to the issues of deforestation and poverty. In addition, some econometric models have been
specified to include policy variables from sectors external to forests.
An international conference “Cross-Sectoral Policy Impacts on Forests” was arranged to discuss these
questions – these proceedings compile the keynote presentations as well as the papers given at the
COST Action E19 Working Group meetings.
announcements
The Foundation for European Forest Research (www.fefr.org) is a non-profit
organisation promoting European forest and environmental research. It grants
financial support to researchers working on international research topics.
The Foundation for European Forest Research invites proposals for nominees for the
European Forest Research Award 2003
• The purpose of the award is to highlight the role and value
of research in supporting policy and decision making in the
field of sustainable forestry and environment and to
encourage the networking of forest science.
• The award can be given to a person, research group or
institute, which has made a significant contribution to the
promotion of forest research relevant to European forestry,
especially by enhancing forest research networking in
Europe. The awarded activity can be for instance coordination of a major research project, involvement in coordinating institutions etc.
• The amount of the award is 15 000 EUR.
• The first award will be given at the 10th Conference of
European Forest Institute in Joensuu, 30 August 2003.
Bruce Michie
Visiting Researcher at EFI
Ed Pepke visited EFI in December 2002 – January 2003
and experienced some extreme winter conditions.
Ed Pepke, Forestry Officer, UNECE/FAO Timber
Branch (Geneva), visited EFI in December 2002 –
January 2003 and experienced some extreme winter conditions. The UNECE/FAO Timber Branch
(Geneva) is cooperating with EFI on a project with
EFI to create a web-based forest products market
information system (MIS). A functional MIS
would respond to users’ needs for market information. The MIS would be accessible via the Global
Forest Information System being developed by IUFRO and compatible with its meta data requirements. Continued, improved dissemination of the
statistical and analytical information we develop is
in line with the Strategic Plans of the FAO Forestry Department, the UNECE/FAO Timber Branch,
recommendations of international policy forums
and the mission of EFI.
The member organisations of EFI and other relevant bodies
in the field of forestry, and forest and environmental research
organisations are invited to nominate candidates.
The proposals should be accompanied by sufficient background information on the nominee and his/her/its activities
in the area of the award. The detailed instructions for proposal can be found at www.fefr.org/award.html or ordered by
email from [email protected].
The nominations should be sent to the Foundation for European Forest Research, Torikatu 34, 80100 Joensuu, Finland
by the end of March, 2003. The nominations and their evaluation will be carried out confidentially.
New Programme Manager at EFI appointed: Marcus Lindner
der global change. His
The new Programme
current research focus is
Manager for the reon the potentials of forsearch programme Forest management in carest Ecology and Manbon mitigation, and he
agement at EFI has
has been heavily involved
been appointed. The
in e.g. the EU funded
successful candidate
project SILVISTRAT
was Dr. Marcus Lind(Silvicultural Response
ner from Germany.
Strategies to Climatic
The emphasised reChange in Management
quirements in the se- Dr. Marcus Lindner from
of European Forests) and
lection were the re- Germany has been appointed
COST Action E21 ‘Consearch experience on The new Programme
tribution of Forests and
the field of Forest Manager for the research
Forestry to Mitigate
Ecology and Manage- programme Forest Ecology
Greenhouse Effects’.
ment, coordination and Management at EFI.
Dr. Lindner will take
and management expeup his duties at EFI gradually during
rience and knowledge on the Eurothe winter 2003. His wife Claudia
pean forest issues. There were a total
and the two children will be moving
of 20 high level applicants from nine
with him to Joensuu during the sumcountries for the post.
mer break 2003. Dr Lindner’s predeDr. Lindner has a degree in forcessor, Timo Karjalainen, has been
estry from the University of
nominated Professor of International
Freiburg, Germany. Since 1992 he
Forestry at the Finnish Forest Rehas been working at the Potsdam Insearch Institute, Metla. EFI would
stitute for Climate Impact Research,
like to thank Prof. Karjalainen for his
focusing on the simulation of imexpertise and commitment in develpacts of climate change on managed
oping the research programme into
forests in Europe and the developone of the strongest cornerstones of
ment of adaptation and mitigation
EFI.
strategies for the forestry sector un-
EFI News • 19
Are You Planning a
Research Project?
Number 2
Volume 10
February
2003
EFI – the Leading European Network in Forest Research
EFI News
EFI News is the newsletter of the
European Forest Institute published
twice a year and distributed to app.
4000 individuals and organizations.
Are you planning a research project –
e.g. a Network of Excellence or Integrated Project – requiring knowledge
on forests? The European Forest Institute – EFI – is a network of 141 forest organisations in Europe and beyond, providing expert knowledge on
Europe’s forests.
Research today has become multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral. The
new instruments of the newly started
6 th Framework Programme require
co-operation between a variety of
fields of research, and integrated approaches for solving complex research
problems.
EFI has a wide experience in managing research networks and has participated as a partner or co-ordinator
in over 20 EU projects within the
4th and 5th Framework Programmes.
It provides also research support services e.g. event organisation and editing of scientific publications.
Through its extensive network of
highly recognised forest sector organisations across Europe, EFI is able to
• Provide forest expertise to multidisciplinary projects
• Help in finding research partners
• Reach decision-makers
• Lead to unique data sources
If you are interested in joining
EFI's pan-European network, contact
one of our Programme Managers for
further information.
Multidisciplinary support to sustainable development
Editor-in-Chief: Risto Päivinen
Managing Editors: Leena Roihuvuo
and Minna Korhonen
Editorial Team: Cecil Konijnendijk,
Marc Palahi and Andreas Ottitsch
Layout: PihkaPojat Oy
Cover photo: Markku Meriluoto
ISSN: 1236-7850
Call for contributions
Readers of EFI News are warmly
welcome to send letters to the editor
and short articles as well as proposals
for articles on current forestry issues.
EFI reserves the right to edit the articles
as necessary.
Announcements
If you are interested in having a paid
advertisement in EFI News, please
contact [email protected]. EFI Members are
welcome to send short announcements of
events, publications etc. to be published
in EFI News free of charge.
EFI members
Subscription
EFI News is free of charge. In order to
receive a copy, please send your full
address to the European Forest Institute.
Mission
EFI’s mission is to promote, conduct and
co-operate in research of forests, forestry
and forest products at the pan-European
level; and to make the results of the
research known to all interested parties,
notably in the areas of policy formulation
and implementation, in order to promote
the conservation and sustainable
management of forests in Europe.
Forest Ecology and Management:
[email protected]
Forest Products Markets and Socioeconomics:
[email protected]
Policy Analysis:
[email protected]
Forest Resources and Information:
[email protected]
20 • EFI News
Torikatu 34
FIN-80100 Joensuu
Finland
Tel. +358 13 252 020
Fax. +358 13 124 393
Email: [email protected]
http://www.efi.fi/