The European Forest Task Force
 Björn Welander, SOF
Forests cover approximately one third of Europe’s land surface
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Why is forest protection important?
Plant and animal species, the genetic resources they contain, as well as the environments they live in and help to form, are collectively referred to as biodiversity. Biodiversity is an immensely valuable resource whose many uses and importance that we are only beginning to understand. The world's natural forests hold more biodiversity than any other environment, but they are also one of the most threatened. As well as preventing the extinction of plant and animal species, sustaining and restoring forests with natural features and old trees is to preserve the essence of Europe’s natural history. The cultural and non-timber economic value of old forests will continue to grow in a world increasingly conscious of falling environmental quality.
Europe’s forests need better protection. Although among the richest ecosystems for wildlife, at most a few per cent of European forests are strictly protect. Many of these protected areas are also located on poor soils or in remote highlands, where species diversity is lowest.
To contact the staff of the Forest Task Force, click here.
European Biologically Important Forests's interactive mapping service
BirdLife’s European Forest Task Force (FTF) opened a new website devoted to European Biologically Important Forests www.forestmapping.net. Currently the site contains the results of two mapping projects – Baltic States and Polish-Belarusian Project. It will be updated with the results from the Bulgaria and Romania in the beginning of 2009.
BIFs are forests identified on the basis of a set of criteria referring to age of stand, canopy composition and structure, natural disturbances and old wood, presence of threatened and rare species. The BIF mapping service can be used as a source of information for developing of national forest conservation and management policies, for securing forest biodiversity as well as for scientific purposes (e.g. potential habitats of rare species, migration corridors, etc.), tourism development and education. Thanks to the user-friendly interface, the BIF Mapping provides easy zooming, selection of criteria, and several base layers such as vector maps and satellite images.