Starting her intervention with reflecting on tree-planting, Hélène Koch reminded that the planting trees pledge proposed by the Commission goes beyond forests as trees will also be planted in urban areas and on agricultural land. As the key questions to keep in mind regarding tree-planting Ms. Koch mentioned appropriate financing, planting right trees to right places, and the after-planting work because planting a tree is just a beginning of the process. Indeed, in order for the planted seedlings to survive, their selection should be based on a forward-looking plan taking into account the upcoming climate change impacts, she argued.
Regarding forest restoration Ms. Koch brought up the upcoming EU Nature Restoration Law which is expected to include forest ecosystems, and called it to focus on forests that are suffering from climate change induced disasters such as windthrow, pests or forest fires. After all, not all EU forests need to be restored, she pointed out.
But first and foremost, before considering planting trees and restoring forests, one has to reflect on who owns the land where these actions would take place, Ms. Koch highlighted. For any tree-planting or forest restoration projects to be successful, prior and informed consent of the landowners, their sincere motivation and commitment are prerequisites. And despite these, the outcome might still be uncertain given unforeseen climate change impacts, she stated.
Concluding her intervention, Ms. Koch explained that in terms of climate change mitigation, forest restoration or tree-planting solely are not enough, but they are a part of forest sectors’ contribution to this global challenge. It is important to reduce fossil fuel emissions globally and across sectors. In this, using wood to replace fossil-based materials, will contribute to the substitution of fossil intensive options.
The recording of the conference can be accessed here.
