European forests: facing the challenges of the coming 50 years

European forests (177 Mha of forest and other wooded land in EU27) are mostly characterised as semi-natural, multi functional forests. European forests are highly diverse through centuries of management; each country with its own cultural historical objectives, and regional speci¿ c demands. These forests provide multiple goods (wood and non-wood) and services (capturing 10% of the European Union’s CO2 emissions, being the main host for biodiversity, providing high-quality water) to rural communities and society in general. Often, the current management trend is towards nature oriented management, aimed only partly at wood production, and hardly aimed at other services. For many of the 16 million small private owners, income from wood production is only a small part of their total income including other sources. These circumstances, plus a sluggish demand under the current economic crisis hamper any investment, or more rational forest operations, despite signals of the forest sector having to play a role in the green economy with new demands for bioenergy and biore¿ neries’ specialised products. Here we project the state of forest resources and wood supply with the EFISCEN (European Forest Information Scenario) model for the all EU forests. The analyses pay attention to provisioning functions as well as regulating services. We conclude with policy recommendations.