Forest Ecosystem Services

This research shows the progress of platforms, strategies, policies and actions in regard with forest ecosystem services in the European Union. It also depicts the trend of science/scientific work after the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Synthesis Report had been published in 2005. It assesses strengths and weaknesses of the main stream of EU policies such as the EU Forestry Strategy and the Forest Action Plan. The research demonstrates many shortages concerning adequate focus on the forest ecosystem services in both domains, EU policy and scientific knowledge. It illustrates that both fields have payed dominant attention to climate change and biodiversity. Indeed, both of these issues have already been part of crucial discussions in the field of environment protection, before forest ecosystem services attracted proper attention. The accomplished research provides some suggestions to bridge the gaps in the field of forest ecosystem services and integrate the results of researches into the policy making process.