Ensuring Climate Action in Forests is STABLE and Resilient - Zoltan Kun, Frankfurt Zoological Society, Germany / Hungary - ZEF

Ensuring Climate Action in Forests is STABLE and Resilient
Zoltan Kun, Frankfurt Zoological Society, Germany / Hungary

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The role of forests in climate change discussions
FAO suggests that forests
• “have the potential to absorb about one-tenth of global carbon
  emissions projected for the first half of this century into their
  biomass, soils and products and store them - in principle in
  perpetuity” http://www.fao.org/forestry/climatechange/en/
IUCN concludes that forests
• “help stabilise the climate. They regulate ecosystems, protect
  biodiversity, play an integral part in the carbon cycle…”
  https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/forests-and-climate-
  change

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What existing legal tools we have to ensure forest can
fulfil its role in climate change discussions
CBD Aichi Targets
•  Target 11 By 2020, at least 17 per cent of terrestrial and inland
   water, …, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity
   and ecosystem services, are conserved
•  Target 15 By 2020, ecosystem resilience and the contribution of
   biodiversity to carbon stocks has been enhanced, through
   conservation and restoration, …, thereby contributing to climate
   change mitigation and adaptation
EU 2020 Biodiversity Strategy 6 targets and 20 actions to halt the
loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services in the EU by 2020
IUCN definition of protected areas
•  …but there are also challenging legislations (eg. RED II) and
   perverse subsidies
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Where are we now in Europe?
Forests loss in Europe: Coverage has halved over 6,000 years (Roberts et al
2018)
EEA forest area in Europe has increased since 1990 by 17 million hectares (ha)!
What forest? More than half are “planted forests”

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Challenges with the EU 2020 Biodiversity Strategy –
lack of focus on the most valuable forests
Despite their outstanding conservation value, primary forests are rare and
their current distribution is the result of centuries of land use and forest
management. The conservation outlook for primary forests is uncertain as
many are not strictly protected and most are small and fragmented,
making them prone to extinction debt and human disturbance (Sabatini et
al, 2018)
EHF assessed the implementation of EU 2020 Biodiversity Strategy and
found that conservation status of forest habitats & species covered by EU
nature legislation shows no significant signs of improvement
•   insufficient implementation of existing legislation
•   the main drivers of biodiversity loss are not sufficiently addressed
•   lack of resources (finance gap) and continuation of perverse subsidies
•   many terrestrial & most marine Natura 2000 sites remain paper parks
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Examples from the field 1. - Hungary
Őrség National Park (transboundary, EDEN award, Natura 2000 site)

      © Zoltán
        FZS Kun

Examples from the field 2. - Hungary
Bükk National Park (also Natura 2000 site)
Logging in 180 years old beech forest

       © Index.hu
         FZS

Examples from the field 3. - Slovakia
Poloniny National Park (Natura 2000 site, European Diploma holder,
UNESCO WH sites included) – it should be a showcase of protection, but…

      © FZS             © Google Earth / Zoltán Kun

Examples from the field 4. - Romania
Cerna Valley National Park (Natura 2000 and UNESCO
components) is currently facing extreme deforestation

      © Martin
        FZS Mikolas

© BBC
  FZS

Examples from the field 5. - Ukraine
Earthsight report – Complicit in Corruption – revealed significant
illegal logging in the Carpathians
•   wood cuts carried out without authorisation
•   false declarations of the volume and value of the cut timber
•   wood cuts carried out outside the authorised territory
•   obtaining authorisations thanks to corrupt procedures
•   unjustified sanitary wood cuts
•   illegal occupation of forests for construction purposes or for the
    extraction of raw materials, requiring the cutting of the forest.
•   the hunger for bioenergy within the European Union drives
    logging (based on the EUTR database the import of firewood from
    Ukraine to EU member states increased 5 times in 11 years)
•   Svydovets ski resorts threatens roughly 14.000 hectares of forest

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Opportunities
Legal tools
•  CBD post 2020 target – QUALITY and quantity
•  EU post 2020 biodiversity strategy – inclusion of forest
   biodiversity target, fight against perverse subsidies
•  IUCN 2021 – 2024 programme including primary forest
•  UN decade on ecological restoration – creating new core, buffer
   and connectivity! The quality of forest is important (no to tree
   farms)
•  Eubiomasscase.eu
Field projects
•  KfW supported project in the Carpathians improves management
   effectiveness and capacities of protected areas in Ukraine
•  Germany 2% wilderness / Slovakia 10% wilderness (?)

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FZS work on wilderness and old-growth forests
Supporting the work of IUCN Primary Forest Task Team
•  Contributing to the development of IUCN 2021 – 2024 programme
   (IUCN 2020 World Conservation Congress in Marseilles)
Boreal and temperate forest protection research project in
cooperation with an international team of organisations
•  Mapping, carbon modelling, the impact of bioenergy, policy
   recommendations
Field projects in the Carpathians (4 countries), Polesia (3 countries)
and Bialowieza (2 countries)
•  Working with existing protected areas to improve management
•  Carry out restoration activities
•  Helping local communities

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Thank you! Any questions?
zoltankun71@yahoo.com

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