Transcript Jean-LucPeyron - European Forest Institute

Strategic Research Agenda
Forestry Value Chain
Commentary address
by
Jean-Luc PEYRON
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First commentary on CHANGE
• Changes are stressed in many themes
– Environmental changes
• Climate change
• Productivity change due to
– Temperature
– Carbon
– Nitrogen
• Risks
• Biodiversity (loss)
– Socio-economic changes
• New perceptions
– Nature
– Leisure place
• New needs
• New paradigm?
– Sustainability and Multifunctionality
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• However, many uncertainties are at stake:
– In environmental changes
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Effectiveness of measures
Magnitude of the increase of average temperature
Regional differences
Increase of productivity until a certain point (saturation?)
Higher storm threats?
Difficulty to easily reduce these uncertainties
– In future social needs
• There has been a change
• Is it for a final stage?
– In the economic sector as well
• Energy and carbon markets
• Land use and agriculture
• Labour costs and labour productivity
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• Are forest management and policy adapted to
perpetual change and uncertainty, whatever the
domain (environmental, social or economic)?
There are many rigidities:
– Forest strategy
• Climax even if it is now considered in a more flexible way
• Growth models assuming invariable conditions
• Long term steady state even if it is tempered
– Cut volumes planned in the short run
– Cut areas planned in the long run
– Forest codes and top-down decisions
– High weight of initial training / professional training
– High weight of traditions in general
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• Which solutions?
– Adaptive management
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Quality
Diversity
Reversibility
Risk prevention
Transition is a key issue
– Governance
• Bottom-up procedures
• Share of responsibilities
• Reconciliation between social and private objectives
– Monitoring
• Long term experiments and measurements
• In link with research
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• Which solutions?
– Research
• Innovation needs in an evolving background
• Adaptation of research methods to this evolving background
– Rapid answers without heavy experimental protocols
– Suitable for forest managers and decision makers (expertise)
– Integration between social and natural sciences
– Education
• More importance to professional training
– Communication
• Society analyses
• Information of society
• In conclusion, these solutions are not totally
new but more emphasis has to be put on them
in consideration of change in general.
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Second commentary on Europe and
world forestry
• More and more global issues
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Internationalisation and globalisation in general
Trade of forest products
Climate change (UNFCCC)
Biodiversity (CBD)
Forestry (even though no forest convention)
Illegal logging
Forest certification
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• Tropical forests: a major concern for Europe
– Not only because of historical political links
– But also regarding wood supply
• Needs of forest products
• Ecolabels
• Illegal logging
– Regarding supply of chemicals
– And regarding European society
• Green belt
• Loss of biodiversity
• tourism
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• Tropical issues are useful for Europe
– NB: in the past European practices have been
exported to the tropics
– Multifunctionality
– Biodiversity
– Growth studies in uneven-aged stands
– Forest certification has been imagined for the
tropics
– Increase of temperature in Europe
• In conclusion, this topic (on world forestry and
Europe) could be explicitly in the scope.
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