JRC conducts research on forestry and supports the implementation of the EU Forestry Strategy, the EU Forest Action Plan and the EU initiative on forest protection. The JRC also contributes to the Europe 2020 targets and in particular to the “Resource Efficient Europe” flagship initiative. It participates in the development of European climate change policies, and it supports multilateral environmental agreements such as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan. The JRC supports the development of a framework for the assessment of policy options that identifies ways to maintain and improve sustainable forest management practices, and enhance forest health and vitality. The JRC assesses the status of EU and global forest resources and investigates the roles that forests play in supporting economic and ecological services, particularly with respect to natural and anthropogenic threats.
The JRC delivers policy-relevant information on the status and trends of forests. It derives this information from advanced remote sensing, forest models and multi-sectorial sources through its information systems and spatial modelling tools. This modelling framework is shared with key partners from global networks and international bodies.

Accounting for ecosystems and their services in the European Union (INCA)

INCA is a project of the European Commission and the European Environment Agency. INCA addresses key policy objectives of the EU’s 8th Environment Action Programme and the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2030, which state that the European Commission should establish sound methods for natural capital accounting with a strong focus on ecosystems and their services. INCA has been running since 2015. Its objective is to build pilot ecosystem accounts at EU level.
Read the latest edition of the INCA final report.


SINCERE is a four-year project funded through the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme. From 2018 to 2022, SINCERE will develop novel policies and new business models by connecting knowledge and expertise from practice, science and policy, across Europe and beyond. An international Learning Architecture facilitates continuous collaborative learning from the project’s innovation actions, located in nine regions in Europe and two international cases in Peru and Russia. Innovations developed through SINCERE are intentionally varying in nature but, as a whole, aim to explore new means to enhance forest ecosystem services in ways that benefit forest owners as well as serving broad societal needs. SINCERE’s research also contributes to the development of a coordinated European policy framework to maximise the value to society of forest ecosystem services and their sustainable provision.


The European network INTEGRATE promotes and advances forest management approaches for the integration of nature conservation into sustainable forest management at three levels: the decision-making policy level, the level of forest practitioners/managers, and the level of research and academic knowledge. It currently comprises 15 European member states and involves about 50 representatives of policy and research related to forests and environment as well as the European Commission. The INTEGRATE network fosters knowledge transfer across borders and aims for capacity building in the field of integrated forest management. A great feature of the network is the integration of science, field experience and practical examples into its pool of knowledge. Participants are able to exchange best-practice and success stories, and collaborate in answering questions that are particularly relevant in forest management practice: Are successful integrated forest management concepts applicable in different contexts? How do those concepts affect other requirements on European forests? What are the extra costs?