Rural Europe on the move English_chapt1_6 | Page 67

In Loco - here in this place
“We need to invest in the slow-growing,
deeply rooted dry orchard and cork forests.”
Forestry policy
changes
been reduced. We need to consider
the environmental policy, for forests
are crucial actors in the fight against
climate change and biodiversity loss. A truly sustainable forest policy
IN LOCO’s view is that we need needs to take this into consideration to move away from our addiction to and move away from comparatively fast-growing eucalyptus forests which instant-gratification eucalyptus. integrated rural development strategy
produce dead landscapes and invest It requires long-term thinking articulates people, forest, cork, olive
instead in the slow-growing, deeply and planning ahead. Sustainable oil, agriculture, livestock and their
rooted dry orchard and cork forests. development takes time, it is not cultural and productive systems in a
They will take more time but they a quick-fix and so we need to sustainable way. I have heard Forum
will help us weather future storms. discourage political short-termism Synergies considers running one of
We anticipate more wildfires in the and encourage slower, more deeply its sustainable forestry workshops in
decades ahead as the landscape rooted development policy making. Portugal. That would be great.”
becomes increasingly arid and we
“Fortunately forest management is
need to be prepared for this. Olive and now changing in the right direction,
cork forests will improve our resilience but we are still 20 years away from
to these shocks but sustainability recovering from the errors made
takes time. in the past,” Artur says. “A truly
OPPOSITE
7. Fires in eucalyptus forest in 2017
8. Resilient forests grow slowly
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9. Hiking in a cork oak forest
PE OP LE !
With years of experience in the environmental sector and as a clerk of a rural
Parish in England, Gwil Wren first encountered Forum Synergies in 2009 when
he participated in workshops on ‘Sustainable Development in Lake Areas’, to
find contacts with people who were actively promoting nature conservation.
Since he joined Forum Synergies in 2011, he has taken part in different events
in 10 European countries stretching from France to Ukraine. He is the leader of
Forum Synergies’ forestry working group and co-organised workshops in his
home village in 2016 but also in Serbia and Estonia. Inspired by meetings and
discussions he picked up from Forum Synergies to accept that “everyone has
a different point of view - farmers, nature conservationists, economists. But you
can only really make a step forward and find a common ground when you talk to
each other!” That’s what also influences his work for EuCAN, an NGO working
for nature conservation in the UK and Europe. Gwil worked and lived in the
countryside all his life.
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