WRITTEN QUESTION E-2967/02

by Pere Esteve (ELDR) and Isidoro Sánchez García (ELDR) to the Commission

(22 October 2002)

Subject: Protection of Mediterranean forests

In the light of the current situation regarding forests in the Mediterranean areas of the European Union and of the absence of any specific policies for their protection or reforestation: what is the Commission's view on the drawing-up of an EU-financed plan for the restoration of Mediterranean forests, comprising programmes based on sustainable criteria for the protection, regeneration and conservation of the forests of southern Europe and the establishing of a European protected forest heritage for forests with flora and fauna of particular ecological value that are public property and managed by non-governmental organisations?

How would the Commission assess this initiative? Does it intend to bring forward any other proposals concerning the protection of Mediterranean forests?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(21 November 2002)

Mediterranean forests are natural areas of great variety that enjoy a specific set of bioclimatic conditions. Their functions protective, productive, social and cultural are exposed to a range of risks involving both natural and human agency.

Some damage, e.g. from fire, can give rise to other problems such as soil erosion or the spread of pests and diseases. The dangers to which these forests are subject have to be considered not in isolation but in the context of natural phenomena such as long periods of drought and social phenomena such as increasing urbanisation and the agricultural exodus.

Damage prevention and control work cannot be carried out without the involvement of owners, managers and users. Here it is important to take account of both the structure of ownership, since these forests belong predominantly to a multitude of private owners often of small areas and the various types of management and use discernible in the ongoing history of these Mediterranean ecosystems.

Turning to Union action in this area, and in particular the question of any initiatives on the part of the Commission, some basic principles well defined in the Union's forestry strategy must be noted.

The Council Resolution of 15 December 1998 on a forestry strategy for the Union(1) makes the subsidiarity principle one of the basic policy elements:

given the fact that the Treaty establishing the European Community makes no provision for a specific common forestry policy and that responsibility for forestry policy lies with the Member States, nevertheless taking into account that, pursuant to the principle of subsidiarity and the concept of shared responsibility, the Community can contribute positively to the implementation of sustainable forest management and the multifunctional role of forests.

This decentralised approach accords with the principles and objectives set out in Parliament's resolution on the Union's forestry strategy passed on 30 January 1997 (rapporteur David E. Thomas; doc. A4-0414/96), point 2 of which states that coordination of national policies must be based on respect for the principle of subsidiarity.

The launching of systematic action to restore the Mediterranean forest heritage in line with sustainable protection, regeneration and conservation criteria is therefore in the first place a task to be assumed in the Member States' forestry policies. So too are decisions on which administrative agencies or organisations are to be charged with managing forest ecosystems that are protected because of a flora and fauna of special ecological interest.

The main aim of the measures adopted or envisaged at Union level under the environment, rural development, regional policies etc. is to add value to and reinforce the Member States' policies on sustainable forest management, including protection of the Mediterranean forest heritage.

Among the Community instruments backing up the Member States' action to protect and conserve Mediterranean forests are:

- Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora(2);

- the Sixth Environment Action Programme(3);

- Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 on support for rural development(4);

- Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 on the Structural Funds(5);

- the sixth framework programme for research activities(6).

In the context of these instruments the Commission is encouraging the Member States to develop an integrated approach coordinating forest management with spatial development planning in order to:

- make forests useful to the whole population and compatible with their real needs,

- ensure sustainable multifunctional forest management based on science and technology that takes proper account of the links between silviculture and more complex problems: erosion, flooding, biodiversity loss etc.,

- bring together at regional and local level all those with an interest in Mediterranean forests, including public and private owners, local authorities, managers of protected zones and non-governmental organisations so that they can work together and develop a comprehensive overview of what is involved in management and protection of our forest heritage.

The integrated and decentralised approach that the Community's regional and rural policies take to fostering protection and sustainable development of the Mediterranean zones does not see the problems as purely silvicultural, environmental or administrative but as needing to be tackled in the wider context of regional development and the lives of local people, producers, users and other interested parties.

(1) OJ C 56, 26.2.1999.

(2) OJ L 206, 22.7.1997.

(3) OJ L 242, 10.9.2002.

(4) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999.

(5) OJ L 161, 26.6.1999.

(6) OJ L 232, 29.8.2002.