Stefanie Linser

BOKU University | boku · Institute of Forest, Environmental and Natural Resource Policy

A sustainable and circular bioeconomy is a pathway to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 because the bioeconomy relates to a number of SDGs. We therefore focused on whether and how these SDGs are considered in national bioeconomy strategies, and on their indicator-based progress monitoring and assessm...

Several forest related EU policy instruments have set forest relevant quantitative or qualitative targets. We identify the forest relevant targets in current EU policy instruments, and examine whether the pan-European Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management (Forest Europe, 2015a) are sufficient to satisfy the information needs of...

The “Fit for 55” climate package adopted by the EU is intended to prepare the way for the EU's climate neutrality in 2050. It contains measures affecting the forestry and timber sector. We evaluate three instruments: the proposal for a New EU Forest Strategy for 2030, the EU Renewable Energy Directive and the Land-use, Land-Use Change and Forestry...

Two decades after the pan-European set of indicators for sustainable forest management was adopted, the European Commission published the New EU Forest Strategy for 2030. We compared the documents on the basis of a content analysis to determine whether they share the same understanding of sustainable forest management. We looked at whether, and to...

The concept of sustainable forest management was developed in the 1990s and puts ecological, economic and socio-economic ecosystem functions on the same level. However, society is now making new and complex, not necessarily mutually compatible, demands on forests, for instance in the fields of climate change, renewable energy and biodiversity conse...

In this forest perspectives paper, we explore issues and concepts involved in the enhancement of regional monitoring frameworks for reporting on forest disturbances and damages. First, we consider the different meanings of “forest disturbance” and “forest damage,” terms that are often used interchangeably but have important differences in meaning a...

The bioeconomy is widely viewed as a viable solution to complex global challenges and diverse actors must collaborate to create sustainable and resilient economies. The public and private sector drive this transformation through strategies, policies, and regulation business choices and investments, innovation and market implementation respectively....

The urgent need to address biodiversity loss in relation to climate emergencies necessitates the development of effective monitoring tools to assess the pressures on and state of forest biodiversity. This presentation explores the untapped potential of forest biodiversity indicators within the UNECE region, focusing on their applicability for monit...

The frequency and intensity of wildfires, storms and pest outbreaks has been increasing rapidly for several decades, highlighting the vulnerability of the world’s forests and the impact of natural and human threats accelerated and intensified by climate changes. Although disturbance and mortality are inherent to forest ecosystems, and forest distur...

This report aims to stimulate dialogue and help find consensus on how sustainable finance, with regard to forest-related biodiversity, can be encouraged and verified. It provides guidance for biodiversity-oriented forest management, and proposes a set of 26 quantitative indicators and provides examples of thresholds, which would be applicable under...

Climate change stands as a primary stressor, exerting various adverse effects on forests that are particularly susceptible to swift alterations in climatic parameters. At the same time, forests provide a range of ecosystem services beneficial for society. Therefore, a proper management and planning of forests is essential to mitigate the effects of...

Pan-European Criteria and Indicators (C&I) for Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) have a history of 30 years and have been constantly developed since then. After the first set of C&I for SFM in 1998 and its improvement in 2003 and a revision in 2015, experience has shown that C&I for SFM are a very important tool for national and European forest p...

Forest types are key factors to consider when monitoring forests, particularly in consideration of the increasing need to assess how climate change is affecting different forests in Europe and beyond. A comprehensive classification system is indeed essential for understanding the diverse forest ecosystems, tracking their changes over time and acros...

Im Rahmen des Waldfonds-geförderten Projektes WaldBIOLOG werden die Waldbiodiversitäts-relevanten Indikatoren überarbeitet um die Dynamik der Biodiversität zu überwachen, Veränderungen im Laufe der Zeit zu erfassen und den Erfolg von Schutz- oder Erhaltungsmaßnahmen zu bewerten. Die wesentlichen Indikatoren, die im Fokus des Projektes stehen, umfa...

While forest biodiversity concerns were already prominent in the 1990s, society is formulating new and complex demands on forests in the light of escalating threats of climate change, habitat change and species loss. Awareness and ambitions have risen regarding the share of protected land and to biodiversity on all types of forest (i.e., not only t...

Forest discourses help identify forest-related issues. They aim to aid policy and decision-makers in understanding forest-related challenges and opportunities better so that they may initiate possible strategies and tactics to tackle them. Ideally, information requirements for the forest discourses would be translated into measurable variables, bei...

Presentation held at the European Bioeconomy Scientific Forum 2023, 6 September 2023, Vienna, Austria about the insights of a Special Issue on land-based bioeconomy development which I guest edited.

The concept of sustainable forest management was developed in the 1990s and puts ecological, economic and socio- economic ecosystem functions on the same level. However, society is now making new and complex, not necessarily mutually compatible, demands on forests, for instance in the fields of climate change, renewable energy and biodiversity cons...

Reporting on Forests and Sustainable Forest Management in the Caucasus and Central Asia-Focus on Criteria and Indicators provides an overview of status and developments in reporting on forests and sustainable forest management in five countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia (Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan). This reportin...

Die EU-Taxonomie ist ein Regelwerk, mit dem Finanzprodukte im Hinblick auf ihre Nachhaltigkeit überprüft werden können. Damit soll Anlegern die Investition in umwelt- und klimafreundliche Wirtschaftsbereiche erleichtert werden. Ende November 2022 wurde der Entwurf für das geplante Regelwerk veröffentlicht, der auch die Waldbewirtschaftung behandelt...

Herausgegeben von: EFI European Forest Institute – Forest Policy Research Network InFER –Institut für Wald-, Umwelt- und Ressourcenpolitik der Universität für Bodenkultur Wien (BOKU) Feistmantelstraße 4, A-1180 Wien, Österreich

The 25th Session of the Committee on Forestry requested FAO to analyse - in collaboration with members of the CPF- the uptake of the Global Core Set (GCS) of forest related Indicators by other reporting processes and the extent to which they decrease reporting burden on countries. To respond to this request, FAO conducted a user survey among CPF pa...

The development of criteria and indicators (C&I) to generate information about the status quo and measure changes in sustainable forest management (SFM) has become ever more important. Forest Europe has developed C&I as a policy instrument to monitor and report about SFM. Forest Europe signatories considered the definition of SFM and related C&I as...

Der im April 2021 vorgestellte Europäische Waldbericht 2020 beleuchtet unterschiedliche Facetten einer nachhaltigen Waldbewirtschaftung. Darin lassen sich durchaus erfreuliche Tendenzen für Europas Wälder erkennen: Anders als global gesehen wuchs die Waldfläche am Kontinent und der stehende Vorrat nahm zu, der Einschlag war geringer als der Zuwachs...

There is no healthy forest without biodiversity, and the other way around. Forests are home to 80% of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity. Biodiversity ranges from the smallest organisms, invisible to the human eye, such as fungi and bacteria, to the largest mammals and plants. But beyond the beauty of these ecosystems, what is their role in maint...

Presentation on research and development of indicators for SFM of the IUFRO WP 9.01.05 in the UNFF 16 session 3(g) on Monitoring, Assessment and Reporting (MAR) at 28 April 2021.

Almost 30 years after their introduction, criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management (C&I for SFM) still rank high in public and political interest. They are meanwhile an increasingly common policy tool to implement sustainable forest management and to define related targets, which should improve monitoring, reporting and assessment...

As part of the Austrian Forest Program and the Austrian Forest Strategy 2020+, a set of 65 indicators for sustainable forest management in Austria was broadly agreed by all forest-related stakeholders including short- and medium-term targets for each indicator. The achievement of the targets are assessed based on a detailed description of the curre...

Balancing net annual increment and annual fellings is important for the sustainability of the production of wood as a renewable raw material. This balance maintains an adequate growing stock and forest environment necessary for the provision of a range of ecosystem services and non-wood products. Key messages: • More wood grows in European forests...

The maintenance, conservation, and appropriate enhancement of biodiversity remains an important goal for forest management in Europe. Biodiversity is generally considered valuable per se as well as being important for the adaptability and stability of forests. Forest management can support biodiversity through a range of practices – such as support...

Human interactions with forests span over ages. Forests have served as a source of food, shelter, and wood for various purposes. Though progress in technologies and urbanisation have reduced the dependence of people on food from forests, forests still generate job opportunities and income, as well as provide many other ecosystem services, including...

Criterion 2 considers and quantifies the exposure, risk, and impact on forest health posed by biotic and abiotic stressors. Environmental conditions, such as air and soil quality, influence the health and vitality of forest ecosystem and, subsequently, the provision of forest products and services. Appropriate management practices can improve the c...

Forest resources represent a substance for the provision of all forest products and ecosystem services. Characterised by the area of forests, volume of wood, age structure, and forest carbon, they provide an overall picture of the situation in land use and forest management related trade-offs. Key messages: • Both the forest area and the volume of...

The forest policy framework sets overall legislative, administrative, stimulation, communication and other conditions for forest management. It is an essential component of sustainable forest management, considering the environmental and socioeconomic conditions at international, national and sub-national level. Key messages: • National forest prog...

All 31 reporting countries confirmed that an institutional framework for forestry is in place although its organisational and administrative setup differs among countries. Administration of forest policy and support for private forest management are generally the responsibility of national ministries or subnational ministries in countries with regi...

Governments devote significant resources, of staff and funds, to support sustainable forest management. One approach is through publicly-owned forests, which nearly two-thirds of responding countries reported as being financially self-sufficient or profitmaking despite undertaking a number of activities which are not profitable by economic criteria...

Most European countries have policy objectives on the maintenance of other socio-economic functions and conditions focusing among other things on ecosystem services, free access to forests, forest-related value chain contribution to GDP, favourable employment opportunities, forest biomass for energy production, investments in innovation and on sust...

Almost all European countries have specific policy objectives in relation to the forest resources and their contribution to global carbon cycles. Quantitative targets related to the policy objectives were mainly focusing on increasing the forest area. The institutional framework supports related regulatory, supervision and stimulation measures to a...

Nearly all reporting European countries have policy objectives regarding the maintenance, conservation and enhancement of forest biodiversity. Quantitative targets for the related policy objectives focus mainly on increasing areas of protected forest and increasing deadwood volumes as well as on halting the loss of species diversity. Institutional...

Most European countries have policy objectives on the maintenance of forest health and vitality but also funding of damage prognosis and respective prevention is of high importance. Various quantitative targets related to the policy objectives were indicated by about one-fifth of the reporting countries focusing mainly on forest fires, ungulate bro...

Most of the reporting European countries have policy objectives on the maintenance and appropriate enhancement of the protective functions in forest management. A few quantitative targets reported for the policy objectives focus mainly on qualitative improvement of the protective functions of forests designated for protecting soil, water, other eco...

Nearly all European countries have specific policy objectives for the productive functions of forests. About one quarter of the reporting countries have quantitative targets for the maintenance and encouragement of the productive forest functions mainly focusing on additional timber supply through better utilisation of the increment and on accumula...

The State of Europe's Forests 2020 report was published at 19. December 2020. It presents recent official figures and information on European forests, their management, policies, institutional and legal frameworks, financial and economic instruments, NFPs, information and communication in the 46 FOREST EUROPE signatory countries. For the first ti...

Forests are important for preventing soil erosion, protecting water resources, and maintaining other protective functions. Forests also play a vital role in the protection of infrastructure or inhabited areas from natural hazards such as avalanches, rockfalls, noise, dust, heat, and wind. Countries apply specific policies and measures to maintain a...

The Southern Cone countries of Chile, Argentina and Uruguay have a common background regarding land use and land cover with a total of 46 million ha of forests whose benefits are prospering for the regional framework of the Southern Cone. The three countries do not articulate or interchange on their forest policies beyond circumstantial agreements....

Критерии и индикаторы представляют собой общий инструмент политики для обеспечения устойчивого управления лесами (УУЛ) и обозначения четких приоритетов и целей. Их применение позволит усовершенствовать мониторинг, отчетность и оценку ключевых аспектов эффективности УУЛ. Рекомендации содержат конкретные концепции, определения, инструменты и справочн...

Criteria and indicators constitute an increasingly common policy tool to implement sustainable forest management (SFM) and to define clear priorities and targets. This should improve monitoring , reporting and assessment of key aspects of SFM performance. These guidelines provide specific concepts, definitions, tools and reference materials to guid...

The aim of this study is to help build a knowledge base for the review of the EU Forest Strategy that was adopted by the European Commission in 2013. The EU Forest Strategy addresses 8 priority areas that were identified as being particularly relevant for forests and the forest-based sector until 2020. These priority areas address: (i) support of r...

IUFRO Spotlight is an initiative of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations. Its aim is to introduce, in a timely fashion, significant findings in forest research from IUFRO officeholders and member organizations to a worldwide network of decision makers, policy makers and researchers. IUFRO Spotlight also aims to present activitie...

Growing concern about forest degradation and loss, combined with the political impetus supplied by the Earth Summit in 1992, led to the establishment of eleven intergovernmental, regional, and international forest-related processes focused on the use of criteria and indicators (C&I) for sustainable forest management (SFM). Up to 171 countries have...

The use of criteria and indicators (C&I) for data collection, monitoring, assessing and reporting on sustainable forest management (SFM) has been growing since the Earth Summit in 1992, supported by eleven intergovernmental, regional and international forest-related C&I processes. The initial effort led to varying levels of implementation across co...

Appendix A: Supplementary material to Forests Article 25 Years of Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management - Why some Intergovernmental C&I Processes Flourished While Others Faded; Figure S1: Allocation of indicators from the C&I processes to criteria/thematic elements; Figure S2: Allocation of indicators to criteria/thematic eleme...

Information needs on a forest-based bioeconomy go beyond the classical instruments so far employed by the sector. These requirements are by nature multi-sectoral, interconnected and integrative across value chains. Against this background, new modalities of a forest-based knowl-edge base need to be developed that facilitate a broader approach towar...

Stefanie Linser coordinated the Revision of the Austrian Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management. The outstanding national Set of Indicators for sustainable forest management in Austria contains now the pan-European indicators for SFM as well as 33 indicators of additional national importance. The indicators are related to goals of the Austria...

European forests and the forest-based sector play a central role in a bioeconomy: they provide material (wood and non-wood), bioenergy and a wealth of other regulating and cultural ecosystem services. These demands need to be properly balanced, and many targets have to be tackled simultaneously. How is wood grown and used? What are the economically...

Forests are rich in biodiversity and valuable for recreation, water regulation and soil protection. As well as for providing timber and other non-wood forest products, forests are important for mitigating climate change and for the renewable energy sector. Forest ecosystems are exposed to a range of environmental, economic and social pressures that...

The FOREST EUROPE Signatories adopted in 2011 eight goals and nine targets for European forests to be achieved by 2020 to enhance the role of European forests in contributing to solve national and global challenges. Three of them relate directly to climate mitigation and adaptation. In 2015 a mid-term evaluation on the achievements of the goals and...

This report comprises a compilation and assessment of the available and required information for the reporting on the implementation and achievements of the eight “Goals for European Forests” and the nine “European 2020 Targets for Forests” which support the shared vision of the representatives of the Signatories of FOREST EUROPE: To shape a future...

In the light of major global problems and/or emerging challenges such as for example climate change, the continuing loss of biodiversity, deforestation and desertification, the need for a stable provision of renewable energy, and the further dispersal of invasive species, the identification of criteria and indicators (C&I) to generate knowledge abo...

Die Struktur des Waldberichts 2015 orientiert sich an den Österreichischen Indikatoren für Nachhaltige Waldbewirtschaftung. Diese wurden im Rahmen des Österreichischen Walddialogs erarbeitet. Indikatoren erfüllen für den Walddialog zwei wichtige Funktionen: Sie dienen zur Überprüfung, wie sich der Zustand der nachhaltigen Waldbewirtschaftung im Ver...

This study comprises a review and assessment of the available and demanded information for the monitoring and reporting on the implementation and achievements of the eight “Goals for European Forests” and the nine “European 2020 Targets for Forests”. 4 Executive Summary This study comprises a review and assessment of the available and demanded info...

Regional authorities require detailed and georeferenced information on the status of forests to ensure a sustainable forest management. One of the objectives in the FP7 project EUFODOS was the development of an operational service based on airborne laser scanning and satellite data in order to derive forest parameters relevant for the management of...

Im Rahmen der dreijährigen Projektlaufzeit (2011 bis 2013) des von der EU geförderten Forschungs- und Entwicklungsprojektes EUFODOS1) wurden Services für eine effektive Waldschadensfeststellung und für eine operationelle Ableitung von Waldparametern entwickelt. In EUFODOS kooperierten 8 Forschungsinstitute, Unternehmen und Universitäten mit 7 Nutze...

Forests play a key role in the European economy and environment. This role includes ecological functions that can be affected by insect infestation, forest fires, heavy snowfall or storm events. Local or regional authorities therefore need detailed information on the condition of their forests in order to take appropriate measures for their forest...

Das von der EU 2011-2013 geförderte FP7-Projekt EUFODOS – Improved Information of Forest Structure and Damage – war Teil des europäischen Erdbeobachtungsprogramms GMES/COPERNICUS und orientierte sich daher an den Bedürfnissen der Nutzer, zum Beispiel den Forstbehörden. Im Projekt EUFODOS wurden einerseits Informationen über Waldschäden erfasst und...

The GMES Service Element for Forest Monitoring (GSE FM) is a joint initiative of theEuropean Space Agency (ESA) and European Union (EU) and focuses on the application of Earth Observation (EO) for improved forest and environmental management. GSE FM has been managed within an international consortium by GAF AG since 2003, and has been routinely sup...

Key messages: • For the period 1998-2009, almost 70 major landslides were recorded in different databases in Europe. These events, which often occurred at multiple sites for the same triggering factor, claimed a total of 312 lives and damaged or destroyed an extensive amount of infrastructure including roads and houses. • There seems to be no obvio...

Key messages: • The last winter in Europe with catastrophic avalanches was in 1998/1999 but snow avalanches still cause many fatalities each year, most of them occuring in relation to snow sports. Major events 2003–2009 include: 12 July 2007 Jungfrau/Switzerland (6 fatalities); 25 August 2008, Mt. Blanc/France (8 fatalities); 25 January 2009 Mt. Z...

Im Rahmen des von der European Space Agency finanzierten Projektes GSE Forest Monitoring erstellten die Forschungsgesellschaft Joanneum Research und das Umweltbundesamt eine fernerkundungsbasierte digitale Waldkarte von Österreich sowie abgeleitete Indikatoren zur Erfassung des Landschaftmusters. Die Methodik für die Erhebungen wurde so ausgelegt,...

A special services are provided for and with users from both governmental and non-governmental organizations and private enterprises by the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES), to bring the users in commanding position. An important component of the service delivery is the qualitative and quantitative validation of both the remote...

This paper concerns the analysis of needs for and requirements towards forest information products from Earth Observation on the both policy level and that of practical users of services of the GMES Service Element (GSE) for Forest Monitoring (GSE FM). Detailed user feedback is summarised concerning specific policy drivers, working practices & deci...

Detailed information on the Austrian forests is regularly provided by the Austrian national forest inventory on a plot sample basis. However, for environmental assessments and international reporting, in addition, up-to-date information on the forests at a wall to wall basis, as well as derived environmental indicators is required. Therefore, withi...

Indicators for monitoring sustainable forest management in the context of streamlining European biodiversity indicators (SEBI). Expert group 6.

Das Arbeitsprogramm 2005 der Österreichischen Nachhaltigkeitsstrategie sieht vor, nicht-nachhaltige Trends in Österreich zu beleuchten. Das Forum Nachhaltiges Österreich initiierte daher in Kooperation mit dem Ökosozialen Forum und mit Unterstützung des Lebensministeriums die Erstellung eines Positionspapiers, in dem aktuelle nicht-nachhaltige Tren...

Das Arbeitsprogramm 2005 der Österreichischen Nachhaltigkeitsstrategie sieht vor, nicht-nachhaltige Trends in Österreich zu beleuchten. Das Forum Nachhaltiges Österreich initiierte daher in Kooperation mit dem Ökosozialen Forum und mit Unterstützung des Lebensministeriums die Erstellung eines Positionspapiers, in dem aktuelle nicht-nachhaltige Tren...

Das Arbeitsprogramm 2005 der Österreichischen Nachhaltigkeitsstrategie sieht vor, nicht-nachhaltige Trends in Österreich zu beleuchten. Das Forum Nachhaltiges Österreich initiierte daher in Kooperation mit dem Ökosozialen Forum und mit Unterstützung des Lebensministeriums die Erstellung eines Positionspapiers, in dem aktuelle nicht-nachhaltige Tren...

The "Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe" (MCPFE) is an intergovernmental initiative for cooperation of 44 European countries and the European Community as well as 44 observer countries and organisations. Since 1990 four Ministerial Conferences have taken place adopting 17 resolutions. Two resolutions deal explicitly with...

“The process of finding, implementing, and improving sustainable development indicators will not be done right at first. Nevertheless, it is urgent to begin.” (MEADOWS 1998: 78) SUMMARY: The Agenda 21, which was agreed upon by 179 nations at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro stands for a...

Seit heuer orientiert sich der Waldbericht "Wald in Österreich - Situation, Tendenzen, Perspektiven der nachhaltigen Waldwirtschaft" an den sechs Kriterien für nachhaltige Waldbewirtschaftung der Ministerkonferenz zum Schutz der Wälder in Europa (MCPFE). Europaweit wird die Verständigung über nachhaltige Waldbewirtschaftung immer besser. Since thi...

The Rio conference 1992 declared "sustainable development" as one of its central concepts and deemed it as a guideline for all future activities. The model of sustainable development represents a concept which seeks to reconcile people's social and economic needs with the long-term conservation of natural living conditions. This does not mean that...

Agenda 21 which was adopted as the final document at the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro calls explicitly for the development of indicators of sustainable development (United Nations 1997). This paper describes the theoretical background of indicators by giving an overview of different definitions as w...

Eine neukonzipierte Lehrveranstaltung "Wald als Ressource in Politik und Planung" soll anschaulich machen, wie neue Lehrformen und –inhalte im reformierten Studiengang Forstwissenschaft an der Universität Freiburg praktisch umgesetzt werden. An ihr kann exemplarisch aufgezeigt werden, wie tiefgreifend sich der Lehrbetrieb gegenüber der hergebrachte...

Der thermische Wirkungskomplex der Waldatmosphäre prägt nachhaltig die Erholungsfunktion von Wäldern. Er lässt sich in physiologisch relevanter Weise über thermische Indizes quantifizieren, die auf die Energiebilanzgleichung des Menschen beruhen. Anhand von geeigneten meteorologischen Messungen während Strahlungswetterlagen im Sommer 1995 wurden di...

The thermal effects of the forest atmosphere have a definite influence on the recreational function of forests. They can be quantified in a physiologically relevant manner by thermal indices based on the energy balance equation for man. Appropriate meteorological measurements during sunny weather conditions in the summer of 1995 were used to determ...