Forest soils play a key role in mitigating climate change and providing timber and other ecosystem services essential for people and the environment. Therefore, the sustainable management and monitoring of these resources are essential.
A new policy brief developed in the framework of the Horizon 2020 HoliSoils project investigates how to address critical forest soil challenges in Europe and proposes sustainable solutions through enhanced forest management and monitoring. The policy brief outlines key recommendations to support EU climate goals and the effective implementation of European regulation, placing particular emphasis on the importance of enhancing the quality of greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory reporting.
6 key recommendations for sustainable forest management and monitoring in Europe:
- Further measurements and sharing of soil data, models, and expertise are needed to reduce uncertainty in carbon stock changes in GHG inventories.
- Enhancing soil carbon sequestration on mineral soils and reducing emissions on peatlands can help meet LULUCF climate targets in the EU.
- Reducing harvests, increasing stocking density and extending rotation length, as well as sustainable post fire management practices, can increase soil carbon stock.
- Partial peatland hydrology restoration and emission reduction in drained peatland forests can be combined with timber production through continuous cover forestry, avoiding further ditching.
- Forest restoration to more resilient mixed and broadleaf dominated stands enhances adaptation to climate change.
- Readily available methods for assessing soil biodiversity, functional redundancy, and community resilience facilitate implementation of the proposed Soil Monitoring Law.
The policy brief was presented to researchers, forest and soil experts, stakeholders, and policy makers in a dedicated event organised by HoliSoils at the Permanent Representation of Finland to the EU in Brussels on 19 March 2025. Participants had the opportunity to discuss pressing challenges and innovative solutions in sustainable forest soil management, engaging with leading experts from the HoliSoils’ consortium, exchanging knowledge, and exploring collaborative approaches to address forest soil challenges in Europe.
HoliSoils (Holistic management practices, modelling & monitoring for European Forest Soils) is a Horizon 2020 project tackling gaps in knowledge on forest soil processes and aiming to harmonise available soil monitoring information to support decision making towards climate and sustainability goals.
