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Briefing note

NGO participation in the rural development policy

March 30, 2010

Forests cover more than 42 per cent of European Union (EU) land, almost as large an area as is covered by agricultural production. Most support for forest practices in the EU comes from Rural Development policy, the second pillar of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

On paper, the current Rural Development Regulation requires consultations to take place at different levels (known as the ‘partnership principle’). In practice however, the input of stakeholders can still be improved.

Based on research and case studies from six EU countries, this briefing note investigates the extent to which implementation of the ‘partnership principle’ has been successful.

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The lack of coherence between national rural development programmes and EU environmental commitments

March 30, 2010


The European Union (EU) is signatory to several environmental commitments, including the Göteborg commitments to reserve biodiversity decline by 2010 and the Kyoto Protocol targets for climate change mitigation. These commitments should be supported by EU policies such as the Rural Development Regulation. This briefing note looks at the expected effect of six EU Member States’ rural development programmes, and finds that, all too often, they are likely to undermine rather than support the EU’s environmental commitments.

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Is the rural development policy supporting good forest management and biodiversity conservation?

March 30, 2010


The European Union’s (EU) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is the largest EU source of support for forest practices. This money sits under the Rural Development pillar of the CAP and the policy which guides this funding is the Rural Development Regulation (RDR). This briefing note considers whether the RDR is contributing to good forest management and biodiversity conservation by looking at both afforestation measures and Natura 2000 (forest) payments of six countries.

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Rural Development Regulation fails to meet EU targets

November 25, 2006
The environmental quality and health of European forests is declining, and an increasing number of forest-dependent species are now endangered as a result of poor forestry practices. However, the new Rural Development Regulation for 2007–2013, which could be used to help prevent this biodiversity loss, looks set to miss the mark, as shown by research in this FERN - TRN Briefing Note.
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How EU taxpayers money gets lost in subsidising the forestry sector

November 6, 2006
Europe's forests receive huge subsidies. In 13 countries assessed, over 8.6 billion EUR of public funds were spent on forestry programmes during the period 1990-1999. This briefing examines the allocation of public funding to forestry programmes within Europe. This briefing is a summary of the FERN/ TRN report: EU subsidies for forestry practices during the 1990s
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Forests of the Czech Republic

August 3, 2006
This briefing note, on forests of the Czech Republic, is part of the series of briefing notes about the forest situation in the new Member States. Authors: Michal Rezek - FSC Working Group Czech Republic, Zuzana Stroufova - Hnuti DUHA (Friends of the Earth Czech Republic), Jaromir Blaha - Hnuti DUHA (Friends of the Earth Czech Republic).
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Forests of Estonia

July 3, 2006
This  briefing note, on forests of Estonia, is part of the series of briefing notes about the forest situation in the new Member States.  Author: Jaan Parn, Estonian Green Movement.
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Forests of Lithuania

October 14, 2005
The third briefing, in the series of briefings about the forest situation in the new Member States, is about Lithuania. Author: Andrius Gaidamavicius, Lithuanian Green Movement.
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Live or let die? an evaluation of the fifth session of the United Nations Forum on Forests

July 25, 2005
A FERN special report discussing the failure of UNFF5 and providing a series of recommendations for the future.
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Court of Auditors' Report: Forestry measures within the Rural Development Policy

July 25, 2005
A FERN/ TRN briefing note. In a special report about forestry measures in the rural development policy, the European Court of Auditors criticises the European Commission and Member States for spending billions of euro on forestry measures from rural development funds without adequate quality controls or documentation.
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