Commissioner Sinkevičius has raised concerns about the state of European forests. Due to this concern, Viveka Beckeman, the Director General of the Swedish Forest Industries, has today invited him to meet bilaterally.
The Swedish Forest Industries share Commissioner Sinkevičius’ opinion that our forests are a treasure for us all. We do however not agree with his description regarding the state of the forests. On the contrary, a recent study commissioned by our Federation but conducted by independent researchers, show that the biodiversity in Swedish forests have increased significantly during the last thirty years. This is a result of changed national forest legislation in the early 1990s and active forest management activities by Swedish forest owners. These owners, including several of our members, constantly balance the different interests and aspects of forestry such as the production of raw material for products replacing fossil products, the preservation or creation of recreational values and maintained or enhanced biodiversity.
It is fundamental that any EU discussions on forests, forest management or forest-based products are based on solid facts and carried out in a manner, which creates mutual respect between policy makers and business leaders.
