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Society attributes various values to forests, shaped by experiences, beliefs, and understanding. Forests have instrumental value, offering tangible benefits like timber and recreation. They also have relational value, reflecting the cultural, emotional, and social connections people have to them. Finally, people assign intrinsic value to forests, acknowledging their inherent worth independent of human use. Forest management must balance these relational, instrumental, and intrinsic values to sustainably meet diverse societal needs.

Main messages

By offering jobs, wood products, water purification and opportunities for recreation, forests are crucial for environmental and human well-being.

Crop yields in agroforestry systems are higher than in monoculture croplands, as also timber is produced.

The socio-economic benefits are far greater than the provision of raw wood material alone.

  • The EU Forest strategy (European Commission 2020) recognises the central and multifunctional role of forests, and the contribution of foresters and the entire forest-based value chain for achieving a sustainable and climate neutral economy by 2050 and preserving lively and prosperous rural areas.

  • The EU Bioeconomy strategy implements action plans based on sustainability and circular bioeconomy to achieve climate objectives.

  • The EU Circular Economy Action Plan targets how products are designed, promotes circular economy processes, encourages sustainable consumption, and aims to ensure that waste is prevented and the resources used are kept in the EU economy for as long as possible.

  • The EU Taxonomy aims to direct investments towards sustainable economic activities thereby assisting the climate and energy targets established in the Green Deal.

  • Eurostat forestry database Statistics on timber removals, wood products and trade, economics employment, forest resources and environmental functions.