Bats can adapt to certain changes in habitat that threaten their preferred roosting sites. A new study from Poland shows that bats will widen their criteria for selecting roosting sites if forest management practices limit their preferred sites. However, experts recommend that small patches of old growth forest suitable for bat roosting are maintained as the bats in this study did not adapt to young woodland.

Although national and European policy supports the importance of outdoor recreation, there are few binding commitments for action, according to new research. In particular, monitoring of recreation in forests is rarely mentioned in national policy and the study suggests comparable European data could inform firmer decision-making.

A recent paper suggests that the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification scheme has not reduced deforestation, as originally intended, but acts instead as a market governance tool, which may become a barrier to international trade. However, it may develop a conservation role in conjunction with market initiatives which value ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration through the Clean Development Mechanism.

Reducing forest fire risk within a tight budget can be successfully achieved, according to researchers. The study simulated the economic and fire risk effects of five management plans and found that a combination of removing low level trees and selective positioning of woodland produced the most economic and least destructive results

National Forest Programmes (NFPs) aim to incorporate the views of a wide range of stakeholders into the management of national forests. However, an analysis of NFPs in Bulgaria and Germany found they had little impact on forest policy. Despite this, stakeholders who took part in the NFP negotiations welcomed the opportunity to contribute to the policy-making process, even though they realised they may have little impact.

A recent study has proposed changes to the way REDD+ strategies are categorised, from an implementation perspective. This will simplify the monitoring, reporting and verification of the schemes. In addition, to encourage countries to make an early start on the REDD+ programmes, the study suggests that monitoring should initially focus on forests where it is easiest to implement REDD+ actions.

A new international policy regime for sustainable forest management may complicate matters rather than provide solutions, according to a new report. It suggests there should be better co-ordination of existing hard and soft policy options and between the numerous organisations involved in forest management.

New research highlights that potential to use forest materials as bioenergy to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fossil fuel use must be balanced against the role played by forest stocks as carbon storage facilities.

Researchers have identified a possible way of reducing the survival rate of the pine processionary moth, a destructive pine forest pest. Including patches of broadleaf trees in pine woodland could trick the caterpillars into pupating in soil that is unsuitable for their survival.

An innovative reforestation technique has been used successfully to restore patches of forest in an area of Sardinia where traditional reforestation methods have previously failed. It was the first time the technique, known as the Miyawaki method, has been used to restore forests in a Mediterranean region.

Annual maps of forest cover in Indonesia reveal that, between 2000 and 2008, almost 10 per cent of forest cover on the islands was lost. Around one fifth of this loss occurred in regions where logging is restricted or prohibited. The new maps will help Indonesia meet the objectives of the UN REDD+ programme, which aims to reduce deforestation and forest degradation.

Countries that appear to have reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through reforestation may have simply “displaced” the emissions to another country, by increasing their imports of food, timber and wood. A new EU study highlights the need to recognise this ‘loophole’ in ongoing emission targets.

The only way to establish a long-lasting and effective strategy for forest management is through collaboration between ‘conventional’ scientists and local experts, according to new research.

A new study suggests that, although the global terrestrial carbon sink remained relatively stable from 1990 to 2007, the effects of tropical forests were virtually neutral because CO2 emissions from deforestation offset their carbon sink.

International trade in wood and wood products affects forest stocks around the world. A recent study examines the relationship between changes in forest cover and international timber trade at global level. If finds that some wealthier nations with low population density can maintain forest areas while exporting wood; but other, usually poorer, nations, are losing forests through domestic and global demand for wood.

The increased density of forests has been responsible for substantially increasing sequestered carbon in Europe and North America over the past 20 years, according to a recent study. The researchers suggest that managing forests for increased density offers one means of increasing carbon stocks.

According to a new analysis by Swedish researchers, action to reduce the impact of several serious forest diseases is typically taken too late. The researchers call for better communication by biologists of how and why diseases spread, to help minimise economic and ecological losses.

Inhaling smoke from forest, grass and peat fires causes about 340,000 premature deaths worldwide every year, according to new research. Reducing the number and extent of human-induced landscape fires could significantly improve air quality, mitigate climate change and reduce the rate of biodiversity loss, say scientists.

Adapting to climate change is essential to the sustainable management of forestry but it needs to be grounded in current scientific knowledge. A recent US study has brought together scientific experts and forestry managers to ascertain some general adaptation strategies for the future.

A new study has identified the factors that cause deterioration of Mediterranean pine plantations, to develop a model of that can predict the risk of forest decline to help inform forests management strategies under a changing climate. It suggests that loss of needles is the most useful predictor of decline for the species studied.

Over 20% more carbon could be being released by tropical peatlands than previously estimated, a new study suggests. The research highlights the large quantities of carbon lost to rivers from deforested and degraded peatlands in Indonesia, in addition to carbon released as CO2 gas.

Woodlands in the grounds of old manor houses or castles can provide high quality habitat for numerous forest species, a recent study from Estonia concludes. The researchers found that, compared to nearby forests, old rural park woodlands appeared to be better at supporting biodiversity.

Forests may need to be converted to more drought-tolerant mixtures of tree species to prevent significant die-off under climate change, predicts a new study which modelled German forests. The researchers indicate that climate change is likely to lead to significant forest damage, which could be reduced through adaptive management.

Forests play an important role in both mitigating and adapting to climate change, although current policies tend to isolate the two approaches. A recent study suggests that mitigation and adaptation are complementary and linked, and that forestry management that integrates the two can successfully provide both of these important services.

The impacts of drought on European trees are of high concern, especially under a changing climate. New research has indicated that, if summers become continually drier, sensitive species, such as larch and spruce, will suffer reduced growth in some Alpine areas. This could potentially compromise ecosystem services provided by forests in these areas.

forest deadwood boosts key ecosystem services, new research suggests. By calculating the value of these services, the researchers were able to show that increasing the amount of deadwood in rivers and streams in a Basque Country reservoir basin was economically profitable and that returns on investment could be realised within 20 years.

Using open-access software and power saving technologies, researchers have developed an easily deployed, low-cost network for monitoring large areas of the Amazon rainforest. This Peruvian study shows that environmental information, such as soil moisture and rates of photosynthesis, can be recorded and uploaded to the internet without having to make repeated visits to remote areas.

A reforestation project has revitalised its surroundings just 80 years after its inception. In the late 1920s, the Saldaña badlands in northern Spain were a barren region, with a thin layer of intensely weathered soil, and only 5% vegetation cover. Now that cover has increased dramatically to 87%, the soil quality is improving, and the water flow in the area has stabilised, bringing greater environmental security to the local community.

Understanding the social context of Swedish forestry is key to understanding how the sector could be persuaded to move beyond ‘business-as-usual’ practices, to prepare for future climate risks, argues a new study. Using an approach that provides insights for future behavioural change more widely, the researchers explore the influences on forest managers’ behaviour, and highlight certification schemes as one important driver of actions which make forests better adapted to climate change. Knowledge on climate change risks and actions in itself is not enough to change behaviour, the study finds. For many environmentalists it may seem ‘logical’ for forestry to adapt now to future climate change: it epitomises an industry where actions taken today will determine long-term development, given that trees will not be harvested until 70–90 years after planting. However, the sector has taken limited actions to adapt, despite an abundance of available information on the impacts of climate change — such as storms, drought and changes in insect population.

A study of two forest ecosystems in Spain has found that land-cover maps of watersheds, ecosystems hosting key interactions between vegetation, wildlife, and water, are made more accurate by the inclusion of LiDAR data — a type of remote sensing that pulses laser light at a target to measure vertical distances for use in 3D-mapping an environment. This has important implications for ecosystem monitoring, flood mitigation, and forest management, fields in which accurately characterising an environment is key.

Forest root systems increase soil strength and stability, thus protecting mountainous regions against gravitational natural hazards, such as landslides. However, tree roots are affected by factors such as soil properties, climate and disturbances, such as timber-harvesting or wildfire — and, as a result, a forest’s stabilising effect can vary greatly. This study of fire-disturbed beech forests explores how this effect changes over time. The results reveal that forests which have suffered moderate and severe wildfires completely lose their protective function within 15 years, placing those regions at high risk of landslide for up to 50 years after the fires.

Wenz, John, author

Can citizen science help to drive environmental policy? What is its added value? Our short interview with Tom Wakeford (Reader in Public Science and Citizen Engagement at Coventry University, UK) examines some of the issues and a possible future for citizen science in environmental policy in Europe.

Additional funding mechanisms are required to finance adaptation to climate change in developing countries, according to a new study. The study predicts how relationships between costs associated with adapting to and mitigating against climate change, and costs associated with damages caused by climate change, will progress over the next century.

Subsidies support economic sectors and grant advantages to consumers, but can harm the environment. A new study has tested a number of existing tools for assessing environmentally harmful subsidies (EHS), developed a comprehensive methodology for identifying and analysing EHS and highlighted opportunities for reforming them.

From 1980 to 2000 China quadrupled its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) whilst only doubling its energy use. New research has indicated that this trend will not continue and China is likely to experience much greater energy use, coal demand and CO2 emissions than has been forecast by international energy agencies.

Recycling waste products between companies in industrial recycling networks can bring environmental and competitive benefits. A recent study on whether such networks can be used to advance sustainable development more broadly suggests companies first need a clear, shared network identity before other types of sustainability-oriented cooperation can take place.

Environmental regulation that is developed voluntarily within a company, for example through eco-management schemes, is more likely to lead to a competitive advantage than compulsory regulation, according to new research. The study of 208 Spanish companies suggests that command-and-control legislation tends to be perceived as a threat.

New research from Vietnam has provided insight into factors that may influence the likelihood of local people supporting schemes that reward them for protecting services provided by the environment. It suggested that local scoping studies and open dialogue with participants are essential for these schemes to be successful.

New research on sustainable forest management (SFM) initiatives in Russia and Sweden has indicated that the main challenges to SFM are combining top-down and bottom up approaches to management, coordinating the different sectors involved and including all actors and stakeholders.

A new study provides a 'snapshot' of the environmental skills programmes available across different industries in EU Member States. The study highlights the importance of partnerships – between public and private sector, and between different industry sectors – in ensuring the European workforce acquires the necessary skills to make the transition to a low-carbon, sustainable economy.

Firms that voluntarily adopt environmental policies appear to develop more innovative and proactive measures than firms where policies are imposed, according to new research. A study of 1151 Spanish firms indicated that those that self-regulate, especially in co-operation with other firms, seem to perform better environmentally.

For a new green economy to be successful, governments should support the development of green skills in the labour market, according to a new report. This could be achieved by improving or adding to the existing core skills of workers, whilst mainstreaming environmental awareness into education and training.

Rural areas are changing, with tourism playing an ever greater part in a multifunctional countryside. A recent study has looked at the role that sustainable rural tourism can play in rural development in Europe and some of the challenges to be overcome if a truly integrated approach to rural development is to be realised.

Converting algae into bioenergy is one option being considered to meet future demand for transport energy. However, a recent study suggests that some combinations of cultivation processes and conversion technologies for algae-derived energy consume more energy than is produced, although water use and greenhouse gas emissions are lower for the most promising options compared with bioenergy sourced from switchgrass and canola.

A new report commissioned by UNESCO has reviewed several case studies of national progress in learning and education for sustainable development (ESD). There are a wide range of approaches but, at the heart of all initiatives, are multi-stakeholder and collaborative partnerships which aim to instigate social change towards a more sustainable future.

Only three EU Member States – the UK, Germany and the Netherlands - have explicit legislation for monitoring the economic, social and environmental impacts of marine activities. This legislation embraces Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP), a promising tool to improve decision-making on the planning of human activities at sea.

The extraction, trade and consumption of materials, such as biomass, minerals, metals and fossil fuels, are the main drivers of most global environmental problems, according to a new report. Action must be taken now to achieve the policy target of a global ‘green economy’.

The extraction, trade and consumption of materials, such as biomass, minerals, metals and fossil fuels, are the main drivers of most global environmental problems, according to a new report. Action must be taken now to achieve the policy target of a global ‘green economy’.

With ever-increasing global consumption, the impacts of resource depletion, land use change and pollution are being felt worldwide. A new study reveals how international trade is shifting the environmental burden from the consuming nation to other parts of the world, and calls for changes in the way national material use is accounted for.