Scorecard Summary
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Terrifying news about forests reach Europeans from the Amazon and from South-East Asia where the rainforest is burning. We hear about ruthless exploitation of forests as far away as Western Africa and Siberia. But in Europe, everything seems perfect.

Everything? Think about air pollution in Scandinavia, forest fires in the Mediterranean, soil erosion, or forest species becoming extinct because of damaging forestry practices. In Europe, it is the quality of the forests that causes concern, not their quantity.

Over centuries, forests have been profoundly changed by humans. Old-growth forests only remain in isolated patches, amounting to less than 2% of all forests in Western Europe.

The biological values of the other 98% have fallen dramatically. Forest managers tend to be tidier than nature likes, removing dead and hollow trees and fallen branches, and replacing natural forest with plantations, one and the same tree species in rank and file. In doing so, they condemn many forest-dwelling animals and plants to homelessness.

But forests do not just supply wood: they provide clean freshwater and act as water reservoirs; they protect against erosion and avalanches; they offer relaxation and inspiration; they even contribute gastronomic delights like deer, berries and mushrooms. And they play host to an amazing variety of animals and plants.

Country Final
Score
Forestry
Production
Forestry-
Environment
Forestry-
Social/Cultural
Protected
Areas
Austria 57% - 3 58% 71% 75% 43%
Belgium 36% - 14 38% 43% 60% 45%
Denmark 32% - 15 38% 19% 47% 33%
Finland 60% - 2 73% 63% 64% 68%
France 52% - 7 60% 46% 77% 35%
Germany 49% - 9 57% 44% 81% 28%
Greece 54% - 4 60% 56% 59% 65%
Italy 47% - 10 38% 41% 54% 63%
Netherlands 45% - 11 42% 37% 48% 58%
Norway 51% - 8 70% 50% 63% 32%
Spain 41% - 13 40% 42% 46% 40%
Sweden 54% - 5 67% 56% 65% 40%
Switzerland 61% - 1 66% 69% 89% 26%
Turkey 53% - 6 45% 35% 44% 45%
UK 43% - 12 45% 37% 64% 48%

World leaders recognized the multiple functions of forests when they signed a forest protocol at the UN Conference for Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro. A year later, forest ministers from 34 countries met in Helsinki to kick-start the *pan-European' or 'Helsinki' process on forest policy.

The Helsinki process laid down four resolutions on forests, including a definition of the desired future forest management, the so-called 'sustainable forest management'. Six criteria, with roughly 100 indicators, were established in order to measure status and trends in forest condition in Europe.

The fundamental flaw of this process is that many of the targets for forest management are so vague that it is impossible to understand what they actually mean. It is like having a superb compass but no idea where to go.

To repair this flaw, WWF created the European Forest Scorecards. They should be seen as an analytical tool that measures progress towards ecological, social and economic sustainability in Europe's forests.

The Scorecards are based on the Helsinki resolutions and the forest principles of UNCED, and the objectives for future forest management are clarified. The Scorecards should be developed further in cooperation with all stakeholders, starting with the development of common clear objectives for forestry in Europe. All countries should realize that they still have a lot to improve in their forests.

The European Forest Scorecards 1998

The WWF European Forest Scorecards are a new, cutting-edge tool for judging forest quality, mainly using current forestry statistics produced by individual countries.

In the Scorecards, WWF has chosen 91 indicators in five categories - environment, production, social & cultural aspects, protected areas and pollution. The emphasis is on quantitative and descriptive indicators and on data quality: insufficient data will lower a country's score.

WWF experts evaluated each indicator and allocated a score. The scores were merged into one final, comparative value per country which rates the way in which nations (or regions) treat their forests. The final scores are an indicator of a country's performance but not an exact measurement.

The Scorecards are much more than just a ranking: the detailed analysis in the main report will help all countries to identify where best to direct their efforts and resources towards improving their forests - and hence their future scores.

WWF intends to publish the next scorecards in 1999.