FERN’s aim is to push for forestry practice and conservation in Europe which halts biodiversity loss and protects important habitats.
FERN’s analysis: The Rural Development Fund is the largest EU fund available for forests, and as such, if not spent correctly could have a devastating impact on the implementation of the EU’s environmental policies such as Natura 2000 (the EU's flagship biodiversity conservation programme) and its aim to halt biodiversity loss by 2010. Despite this, large amounts of EU funds are being spent on supporting forestry businesses and practices which lead to biodiversity loss across Europe.
What FERN is doing: FERN is monitoring implementation of the EU’s environmental policies including rural development programmes to analyse whether they support national forest programmes, biodiversity strategies, action plans and EU environmental policies. We also push to encourage the EU to consult with local stakeholders including environmental NGOs.
To learn more about this campaign: see Funding forests into the future.
Looking at how the European Fund for Rural Development affects Europe's forests, this report is the culmination of research and reports from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Ireland, Hungary, Portugal and Romania. It reveals that the Commission's own safety net of having NGO consultation and partnership has been routinely ignored and comes up with a series of recommendations to ensure the Rural Development Fund reduces biodiversity loss across Europe.
This series of reports commissioned by FERN looks at the extent to 
which programmes funded by the Europe Commission are fulfilling the promise of the Rural Development Regulation to protect forests and biodiversity.