Activities of Peter ERIKSSON related to 2014/2223(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on ‘A new EU Forest Strategy: for forests and the forest-based sector’ PDF (213 KB) DOC (166 KB)
Amendments (36)
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation -1 b (new)
Citation -1 b (new)
- having regard to the Decision No 1386/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 November 2013 on a General Union Environmental Action Programme to 2020 ʻLiving well, within the limits of our planetʼ;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 a (new)
Citation 1 a (new)
- having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions "Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe" (COM(2011)0571);
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 b (new)
Citation 1 b (new)
- having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions "Addressing the challenges of deforestation and forest degradation to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss" (COM(2008)0645);
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the European Union has no powers to create a common forestry policy and decisions on relevant policies concerning forestry and forests lie with the Member States; whereas funds for agroforestry have long been on offer to Member States in the CAP's rural development pillar;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
A a. whereas agroforestry, defined as land use systems in which trees are grown in combination with agriculture on the same land unit, is a suite of land management systems that boost overall productivity, generate more biomass, maintain and restore soils and provide a number of valuable ecosystem services. These include a systemic reduction of inputs due to better nutrient cycling and more habitat for pest predators, more carbon sequestration to mitigate climate change, higher biodiversity, better quality and more efficient use of water, higher soil quality and better erosion protection, regulation of water cycles, increasing regional rainfall via improving microclimates and preventing downstream flooding; Whereas agro-forestry systems could be applied across 90 million ha across EU landscapes; whereas as the economic return for farmers using agro-forestry has been shown to increase, it represents a win- win-win for farmers, the environment and society.
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
A b. whereas mixed use of forests is a long standing tradition in Europe, in particular dehesas, montado, and other grazed agroforestry or grazed woodland systems have been used for many centuries; Whereas this traditional use has until recently been discriminated against in CAP eligibility rules, whereby real farmers grazing livestock were not rewarded for the public goods they were providing; Whereas agricultural abandonment in High Nature Value areas including grazed agroforestry is linked to sharp biodiversity decline; Whereas such grazing has been shown to be an effective land management strategy to reduce fire risk;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas although timber is a sustainable resource and the intelligentlimited resource, its use can be sustainable, and the resource-efficient management and use of this raw material needs to be ensured, including by the development of know-how;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
E a. Whereas a growing number of EU policies drive increasing demands on forests, those demands need to be carefully balanced, and demand for new uses of wood in the bioeconomy and for bioenergy must be accompanied by resource efficiency, use of new technology and respect for the limits of sustainable supply;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)
Recital E b (new)
E b. whereas the conservation status of a number of European forest habitats is poor and several habitat types risk disappearing, meaning that in those cases, Sustainable Forestry Management is either not applied properly or does not yet provide the right level of environmental protection;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E c (new)
Recital E c (new)
E c. Whereas the loss of natural forests worldwide is still alarmingly high, and deforestation and degradation have major impacts on biodiversity, compounding the problems associated with climate change and threatening indigenous peoples and other subsistence communities, their livelihoods and traditional way of life; Whereas the EU has committed to at least halve the global rate of loss of natural forests by 2020 and to end natural forest loss by 2030, as well as committing to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E d (new)
Recital E d (new)
E d. Whereas according to the results of the Member States' reporting exercise 2007-2012, 80% of the biogeographical assessments of Natura 2000 forest habitats found them to be in an 'unfavourable status' and only 15% were evaluated as 'favourable'; Whereas the IUCN estimated in 2009 that 27 % of mammal species, 10 % of reptiles and 8 % of amphibians related to forests are threatened with extinction in the EU.
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E e (new)
Recital E e (new)
E e. whereas interview-based studies in France, Germany and Austria show that Natura 2000 rules do not affect the management decisions of forest operators including forest owners, managers and public authorities;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas it is crucial that European forestry is characterised by sustainable management and long-term planning, and whereas the principle of sustainability should be even more strongly emphasised in a global contextboth in the EU and globally;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
F a. Whereas the European Union has a role in ensuring that the forestry sector does not conflict with the existing environmental and climate legislation of the Union, such as the implementation of the Birds and Habitats Directives
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F b (new)
Recital F b (new)
F b. Whereas Europe's forests offer citizens great support in their physical and psychological well-being, and, in this light, open access to forests should be encouraged and expanded to the fullest extent possible.
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F c (new)
Recital F c (new)
F c. Whereas past tree disease outbreaks have taught us that monocultures and low genetic diversity lead to increased susceptibility to pests and diseases; whereas evidence from past interglacials shows us that one effect of global warming on species distribution is that the ranges of species and communities of species will move north; whereas climate change and international trade exposes our tree populations to ecologically novel pests and diseases, in particular alien invasive species;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the Commission communication on a new EU forest strategy and the accompanying working documents, and stresses that an EU forest strategy must focus on the sustainable management of forests and the role forests play in alleviating climate change, and calls for better coordination , becauseas the increasing number of European policy initiatives in areas such as economic and employment policy, energy supplpolicy, environmental and climate policy, call for a greater contribution from the forestry sector are likely to put increasing pressure on forests;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Acknowledges the importance of ownership and property rights and s, in particular the considerable extent of forests in public ownership across the Union, as well as the vital ecosystem services that both public and private forests provide as public goods; Supports all measures enabling stakeholder groups to participate in a dialogue on developing and implementing sustainable forest management and improveing the exchange of information;
Amendment 128 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Gives its full support to the Commission’s efforts to promote forest- related employment and the generation of prosperity in Europe, and stresses in this connection the important role of the sustainable production of timber and other materials, such as corknon- wood forest products (such as cork, livestock, mushrooms, resins, medicinal plants, crop plants, forest fruits and honey) through forestry and agroforestry systems, as well as tourism and other recreation-related industries depending on sustainable forest management and biodiversity conservation, for the development of sustainable economic models and the creation of green jobs;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Recognises that the economic potential of wood extraction should be consistently balanced with the vital role of forests for ecosystem services, providing habitat and cultural services, together representing a highly significant economic and societal value. The intensification of forest- based industries should not be at the cost of biodiversity and the delivery of these public goods, especially those mitigating and adapting to climate change.
Amendment 146 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Notes that rural areas have very close links to forestry, and welcomes in this connection the recognition of the role of forestry and agro-forestry in the Rural Development Programme of the 2014-2020 CAP; , and stresses the opportunity for Member States and regions to make full use of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), to support sustainable forest management and boost agro-forestry, delivering public environmental goods as well as stimulating local economies and creating green jobs; Regrets therefore that funding for agro- forestry in the second pillar has been cut in many Member States for this new programming period.
Amendment 160 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6 b. calls for an EU action on re- forestation and restoring forest, aiming to promote biodiversity, diversify and boost local economies and build climate resilience;
Amendment 168 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Stresses that timber as a raw material, and sustainable forest management, have an important role to play in achievement of the EU’s socio-political goals such as the energy transition and the implementation of the Europe 2020 Strategy targets and biodiversity targets, and notes that lack of management is inimical to these goals;
Amendment 197 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8 b. welcomes the EU's objective in the 7th Environmental Action plan and in the EU Biodiversity Strategy, of restoring 15% of degraded ecosystems
Amendment 199 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 c (new)
Paragraph 8 c (new)
8 c. Stresses the importance of the market to make use of new technology that enables more efficient extraction of energy and other materials from woody raw materials, and integrating these gains in the production cycle; Calls on the Commission and the Member States to promote implementation of efficient processes and to fund further research in this area;
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Takes the view that sustainable forest management must be based on generally acknowledged and accepted criteria and indicators which must always apply to the sector as a whole; strongly supports in this connection the sustainability criteria devised in the framework of Forest Europe (Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe)1 , which form a pan-European basis for uniform reporting on sustainable forest management and a basis for sustainability certification; __________________ 1 Forest Europe - Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe, Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Legally Binding Agreement on Forests in Europe: http://www.foresteurope.org/
Amendment 232 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Takes the view that forest management plans can be an important strategic instrument for the implementation of concrete measures at the level of individual businesses, while supporting the principle that such measures should be voluntary, in accordance with entrepreneurial freedom; calls at the same time for a clear separation between forest management plans and the management plans under Natura 2000 areas while emphasizing the need to properly implement EU nature legislation in forests, in view of the need to curb excessive bureaucracy, particularly for small and medium-sized forestry undertakings;
Amendment 234 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Amendment 235 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 b (new)
Paragraph 11 b (new)
11 b. Notes that additional EU payments are also available for maintaining Natura 2000 areas; Notes that a significant reduction of bureaucracy can be achieved by designing Forest Management Plans that comply with Natura 2000 rules, where applicable, from the outset;
Amendment 288 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Calls on the Member States and the Commission to support the exchange of knowledge and best practice between industry, science and producers and to promote targeted research on cost-effective solutions for new, innovative timber products and wood-based products and non-timber forest products together with services from forests and agroforestry;
Amendment 296 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Calls on the Member States and the Commission to promote initiatives focusing more closely on timber and non- timber forest and agroforestry products as one of the EU’s crucial raw materials and on the forest as a significant economic factor and supplier for a bio-based society, and expressly supports awareness-raising campaigns to this end in schools and educational establishments;
Amendment 298 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph - 18 a (new)
Paragraph - 18 a (new)
- 18 a. Takes the view, given the challenges posed by global warming and climate change, that ecosystems and populations of species must be healthy, biologically diverse and robust in order to be resilient. Considers that networks of protected areas such as Natura 2000 in good conservation status are essential for this, but also highlights the need for nature- friendly practices outside of protected areas, so that species can migrate and/or adapt their ranges in order to avoid extinction.
Amendment 304 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Stresses that sustainable forest management including agroforestry practices can reduce the impact of climate change and that the biodiversity thus achieved can diminish risks of forest fires, pest damage and disease;
Amendment 312 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Supports mechanisms that promote the global development of forestry towards more sustainable use, and in this connection refers in particular to the EU Timber DirectiveRegulation3 and to the authorisation system for timber imports to the EU (FLEGT)4 and invites the Commission to develop an action plan on deforestation and forest degradation in order to address the objectives set out in the Commission's communication on deforestation (COM (2008) 645) and fulfil the commitments made in the Seventh Environmental Action Programme ; __________________ 4Council Regulation (EC) No 2173/2005 of 20 December 2005on the establishment of a FLEGT licensing scheme for imports of timber into the European Community (FLEGT = Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade). 3Regulation (EU) No 995/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 laying down the obligations of operators who place timber and timber products on the market.
Amendment 338 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Takes the view, therefore, that the Standing Forestry Committee should be strengthened with the involvement of all relevant stakeholders to enable expertise from the Member States to be exploited to that end and to play an active role in the implementation process;
Amendment 353 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Notes that, in view of the Commission’s list of priorities, priority should also be given in implementing the new EU forest strategy to promoting the competitiveness and sustainability of forestry and agroforestry, protecting, conserving and reinforce the ecosystem services they provide, supporting rural and urban areas, expanding the knowledge basis and promoting coordination and communication;