Can triad forestry reconcile Europe’s biodiversity and forestry strategies? A critical evaluation of forest zoning

Thomas A. Nagel; Mariano Rodríguez-Recio; Tuomas Aakala; Per Angelstam; Admir Avdagić; Zbigniew Borowski; Andrés Bravo-Oviedo; Gediminas Brazaitis; Thomas Campagnaro; Michał Ciach; Milic Curovic; Inken Doerfler; Dimitrios Fotakis; Zoran Govedar; Konstantin Gregor; Yaşar Selman Gültekin; Jacob Heilmann-Clausen; Johanna Hoffmann; Jeňýk Hofmeister; Diāna Jansone; Āris Jansons; Sebastian Kepfer-Rojas; Thibault Lachat; Katharina Lapin; Asko Lõhmus; Michael Manton; Stjepan Mikac; Martin Mikoláš; Frits Mohren; Björn Nordén; Peter Odor; Janine Oettel; Yoan Paillet; Momchil Panayotov; Catalin-Constantin Roibu; Tommaso Sitzia; Miroslav Svoboda; Eszter Tanács; Giovanni Trentanovi; Giorgio Vacchiano; Theo van der Sluis; Tzvetan Zlatanov; Sabina Burrascano

doi:10.1007/s13280-024-02116-2

Can triad forestry reconcile Europe’s biodiversity and forestry strategies? A critical evaluation of forest zoning

Thomas A. Nagel^*, Mariano Rodríguez-Recio, Tuomas Aakala, Per Angelstam, Admir Avdagić, Zbigniew Borowski, Andrés Bravo-Oviedo, Gediminas Brazaitis, Thomas Campagnaro, Michał Ciach, Milic Curovic, Inken Doerfler, Dimitrios Fotakis, Zoran Govedar, Konstantin Gregor, Yaşar Selman Gültekin, Jacob Heilmann-Clausen, Johanna Hoffmann, Jeňýk Hofmeister, Diāna JansoneĀris Jansons, Sebastian Kepfer-Rojas, Thibault Lachat, Katharina Lapin, Asko Lõhmus, Michael Manton, Stjepan Mikac, Martin Mikoláš, Frits Mohren, Björn Nordén, Peter Odor, Janine Oettel, Yoan Paillet, Momchil Panayotov, Catalin-Constantin Roibu, Tommaso Sitzia, Miroslav Svoboda, Eszter Tanács, Giovanni Trentanovi, Giorgio Vacchiano, Theo van der Sluis, Tzvetan Zlatanov, Sabina Burrascano

^*Corresponding author af dette arbejde

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › peer review

9 Citationer (Scopus)

11 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Balancing increasing demand for wood products while also maintaining forest biodiversity is a paramount challenge. Europe’s Biodiversity and Forest Strategies for 2030 attempt to address this challenge. Together, they call for strict protection of 10% of land area, including all primary and old growth forests, increasing use of ecological forestry, and less reliance on monocultural plantations. Using data on country wide silvicultural practices and a new database on strict forest reserves across Europe, we assess how triad forest zoning could help meet these goals. Our analysis reveals that zoning in Europe is overwhelmingly focused on wood production, while there has been little concomitant protection of forests in strict reserves. Moreover, most strict forest reserves are < 50 ha in size, likely too small to capture the minimum dynamic area necessary to sustain many taxa. We outline research priorities to meet future demands for timber while minimizing the impact on native biodiversity.

Originalsprog	Engelsk
Tidsskrift	Ambio
Vol/bind	54
Udgave nummer	4
Sider (fra-til)	632-641
Antal sider	10
ISSN	0044-7447
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-024-02116-2
Status	Udgivet - 2025

Bibliografisk note

Funding Information:
This study was based upon work from COST Action CA18207, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology). T. Nagel received additional support from the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency core funding (ARiS, P4-0059) and the Pahernik foundation. M. Mikol\u00E1\u0161 and J. Hofmeister were supported by the Czech Science Foundation (grant GACR 22\u201331322S). We thank Claudia Steinacker and Falko Engel for compiling data and providing explanations of strict forest reserves in Germany. We also thank A. Balmford, M. Betts, and G.R. Cerullo for comments on a previous version of the manuscript.

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024.

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10.1007/s13280-024-02116-2Licens: CC BY

FulltextForlagets udgivne version, 1,34 MBLicens: CC BY

Citationsformater

Nagel, T. A., Rodríguez-Recio, M., Aakala, T., Angelstam, P., Avdagić, A., Borowski, Z., Bravo-Oviedo, A., Brazaitis, G., Campagnaro, T., Ciach, M., Curovic, M., Doerfler, I., Fotakis, D., Govedar, Z., Gregor, K., Gültekin, Y. S., Heilmann-Clausen, J., Hoffmann, J., Hofmeister, J., ... Burrascano, S. (2025). Can triad forestry reconcile Europe’s biodiversity and forestry strategies? A critical evaluation of forest zoning. Ambio, 54(4), 632-641. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-024-02116-2

Nagel, TA, Rodríguez-Recio, M, Aakala, T, Angelstam, P, Avdagić, A, Borowski, Z, Bravo-Oviedo, A, Brazaitis, G, Campagnaro, T, Ciach, M, Curovic, M, Doerfler, I, Fotakis, D, Govedar, Z, Gregor, K, Gültekin, YS, Heilmann-Clausen, J, Hoffmann, J, Hofmeister, J, Jansone, D, Jansons, Ā, Kepfer-Rojas, S, Lachat, T, Lapin, K, Lõhmus, A, Manton, M, Mikac, S, Mikoláš, M, Mohren, F, Nordén, B, Odor, P, Oettel, J, Paillet, Y, Panayotov, M, Roibu, C-C, Sitzia, T, Svoboda, M, Tanács, E, Trentanovi, G, Vacchiano, G, van der Sluis, T, Zlatanov, T & Burrascano, S 2025, 'Can triad forestry reconcile Europe’s biodiversity and forestry strategies? A critical evaluation of forest zoning', Ambio, bind 54, nr. 4, s. 632-641. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-024-02116-2

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AU - Nagel, Thomas A.

AU - Rodríguez-Recio, Mariano

AU - Aakala, Tuomas

AU - Angelstam, Per

AU - Avdagić, Admir

AU - Borowski, Zbigniew

AU - Bravo-Oviedo, Andrés

AU - Brazaitis, Gediminas

AU - Campagnaro, Thomas

AU - Ciach, Michał

AU - Curovic, Milic

AU - Doerfler, Inken

AU - Fotakis, Dimitrios

AU - Govedar, Zoran

AU - Gregor, Konstantin

AU - Gültekin, Yaşar Selman

AU - Heilmann-Clausen, Jacob

AU - Hoffmann, Johanna

AU - Hofmeister, Jeňýk

AU - Jansone, Diāna

AU - Jansons, Āris

AU - Kepfer-Rojas, Sebastian

AU - Lachat, Thibault

AU - Lapin, Katharina

AU - Lõhmus, Asko

AU - Manton, Michael

AU - Mikac, Stjepan

AU - Mikoláš, Martin

AU - Mohren, Frits

AU - Nordén, Björn

AU - Odor, Peter

AU - Oettel, Janine

AU - Paillet, Yoan

AU - Panayotov, Momchil

AU - Roibu, Catalin-Constantin

AU - Sitzia, Tommaso

AU - Svoboda, Miroslav

AU - Tanács, Eszter

AU - Trentanovi, Giovanni

AU - Vacchiano, Giorgio

AU - van der Sluis, Theo

AU - Zlatanov, Tzvetan

AU - Burrascano, Sabina

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AB - Balancing increasing demand for wood products while also maintaining forest biodiversity is a paramount challenge. Europe’s Biodiversity and Forest Strategies for 2030 attempt to address this challenge. Together, they call for strict protection of 10% of land area, including all primary and old growth forests, increasing use of ecological forestry, and less reliance on monocultural plantations. Using data on country wide silvicultural practices and a new database on strict forest reserves across Europe, we assess how triad forest zoning could help meet these goals. Our analysis reveals that zoning in Europe is overwhelmingly focused on wood production, while there has been little concomitant protection of forests in strict reserves. Moreover, most strict forest reserves are < 50 ha in size, likely too small to capture the minimum dynamic area necessary to sustain many taxa. We outline research priorities to meet future demands for timber while minimizing the impact on native biodiversity.

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KW - Disturbance

KW - Forest management

KW - Forest reserve

KW - Land sharing/sparing

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JF - Ambio

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