The Condition of Forests in Europe : 2002 Executive Report

Brüssel

2002

35 S.

Lit. Ang.

Bandaufführung

97159

This Report presents for the first time a Europe-wide assessment of critical deposition loads based on measurements from monitoring plots. These results are an important cornerstone in the production of areal maps for Europe. Another novel feature of the Report is the assessment of species diversity. It shows clearly that soil acidity has a negative influence on ground vegetation divesity in the forests. The inclusion of the measurement of species diversity in the ICP Forests is also important because species diversity serves as an indicator of biological diversity in forest ecosystems e.g. for the Ministerial Conference on Protection of Forests in Europe (MCPFE). The ICP Forests is very much oriented towards empirical natural sciences. This is understandable and acceptable as a starting point. However, the original reason for forest condition problems is usually to be found in economic development and human behaviour. Consequently, solutions to the problems are almost always connected with socio-economic and political factors. This suggests that the ICP Forests should also include socio-economic and policy research in its agenda. Although changes in the condition of forests in Europe can only be traced by means of continuous monitoring and the collection of data, it is timely to ask whether sufficient attention has been paid to the efficient use of existing information and knowledge. Collecting more and more data often begins to dominate activities to the extent that there are not enough time and resources left for analyzing all information available. In addition, policy makers and other users of research results do not always consider the results and conclusions produced by the research community in their deliberations. In many cases a major step forward would be made if that what we already know were implemented properly.