Forests cover approximately 160 million hectares in the European Union, equivalent to 39 percent of the total area. In contrast to the rest of the world, where forest cover is decreasing, in the EU the forest area has grown by over 5 percent in the last thirty years, with six countries (Sweden, Spain, Finland, France, Italy and Germany) containing over two thirds of the total forests.
When a fire, a storm or a flood destroys a forest, the trees must be replanted. To do this, seeds and seedlings produced in nurseries are used, and until now each EU member state managed this supply chain with its own rules but not always respecting the characteristics of the place.
A new regulation
The European Parliament has definitively approved a new regulation that harmonizes legislation. Soon seeds, seedlings and cuttings intended for reforestation will have to be certified, traceable and chosen based on the climatic conditions of the destination site, including the climate expected in the coming decades, in order to ensure that reforestation works. The text also introduces the obligation of cooperation between neighboring countries when disasters cross borders, and the possibility of preparing emergency plans to guarantee sufficient supplies of material in the event of large-scale sudden reforestation.
“Europe needs a functioning single European market also for reproductive forestry material. This is the only way to satisfy the growing demand for high-quality saplings, which are needed to cope with the increased demand caused by climate change and the expanding bioeconomy”, declared the rapporteur of the European Parliament, the Italian MEP Herbert Dorfmann.
“The agreement improves the quality of our seedlings, as it creates the possibility to introduce more high-quality breeding material onto the single market, while ensuring that the burden on national administrations and control authorities is as light as possible. A win for Europe and its forests,” he added.
An old painting
For decades, the production and trade of seeds and seedlings intended for European forests were regulated by a 1999 directive. That text, now outdated, was not designed to respond to the challenges of climate change, the growing frequency of extreme events such as fires and storms, nor to exploit the possibilities offered by digital traceability.
Reproductive forest material
Reproductive forest material includes everything needed to grow new trees: seeds, fruits, stem or leaf cuttings, buds, radii, scions, but also seedlings already grown in the nursery from these sources. Good quality material, suitable for the climatic conditions of the destination site and genetically diversified, is an indispensable condition for a forest to be resilient over time.
The new regulation establishes that only “approved and certified” material can be placed on the European single market. The approval concerns the so-called “basic source”, i.e. the tree or stand from which the material comes; the certification applies to material collected before its marketing. Member States will have to register the sources approved on their territory in national registers, and the Commission will publish a unified list at European level, thus ensuring traceability on a continental scale.
Traceability
One of the most important innovations of the regulation is the introduction of mandatory traceability “from collection to marketing”. Each batch of seeds or seedlings must be followed along the entire supply chain, with tools that also include digital traceability.
Producers will be required to notify national authorities of their intention to proceed with harvesting before it begins, to allow controls to be organised.
More climate-resilient forests
The text also introduces an orientation towards ecological resilience. Basic sources will have to undergo an evaluation of their sustainability characteristics, which takes into account resistance to pathogens, capacity to adapt to local and future climatic conditions. It means that seeds and seedlings intended for reforestation will increasingly have to be chosen not only on the basis of the species, but also on the basis of the expected climate in the place where they will be planted.
The list of tree species covered by the regulation has been expanded compared to the previous legislation.
Cross-border cooperation
One of the most innovative aspects of the text concerns crisis management. Member States will need to cooperate to ensure the supply of forest reproductive material in areas affected by events that cross national borders, such as storms, fires or pest outbreaks. It is an explicit recognition that forest disasters do not stop at borders.
The regulation also introduces the possibility, on a voluntary basis, to prepare national emergency plans. These plans, with simplified requirements compared to the Commission’s original proposal, will serve to ensure sufficient reserves of material to be used in case of a sudden need for large-scale reforestation. The Commission will be able to provide technical support to States that request it in the preparation phase of these plans.
Five years to adapt
The regulation will come into force five years after its adoption, a very broad time window which is justified by the complexity of the adjustments required. National control systems, registers of approved sources, certification procedures and training of competent authority staff require time and resources.
