Forest biodiversity threatened by fragmentation

The European Environment Agency has warned EU ministers that growing 'fragmentation' of Europe's forests and increased pressure on forest resources for biomass production is threatening biodiversity.

Addressing an informal meeting of European environment ministers, the executive director of the European Environment Agency (EEA), Professor Jacqueline McGlade, said: "There is an increasing demand on forest resources for biomass production. This contribution to Europe's energy supply need not necessarily conflict with biodiversity or ecosystem conditions.

"However, we must ensure that the way we use forest biomass has minimal negative impact on forest biodiversity," she said.

Deforestaion is not a major issue in Europe, Professor McGlade said with Forest areas having increased in most member states from 1990 to 2005.

But, referring to preliminary analysis carried out by the EEA, the professor noted that "forests are suffering from fragmentation into smaller 'patches'. Such changes often go unnoticed, but they can have very significant impacts."

For example, she said, the beech forests of southern Germany are really a mosaic of beech trees, cherry trees and other species, that rely on a succession cycle stretching over hundreds of hectares, that can take three to five hundred years to complete. Losing any part of the cycle through fragmentation into smaller patches, means that the mosaic cannot be completed and animal and plant species are lost or put at risk.

Across Europe, 20-30 percent of forest cover has been found to be on the threshold of maintaining several forest bird and mammal species. An increased demand for forest biomass may also increase the use of European forests, she said.

EU ministers also focussed on the issues of forests and biofuels at their meeting. Some called for expert investigation into the potential negative impacts of biofuels on biodiversity.

Slovene environment minister Janez Podobnik said that in order to establish sustainability criteria for biofuels, an intensive expert discussion is being held at the level of the ad hoc working group of the Council.

"It is our wish for the criteria to be precise, universal and provable, while they should not exclude competitiveness," said the minister, who is currently chairing the EU environment council.