Date/Time
Date(s) - 29/09/2026
13:30 - 15:30
Location
Press Club Brussels Europe
Categories
The event will bring together perspectives from science, the European Commission, the European Parliament and forest owners to discuss how scientific evidence can shape policy and whether the EU has sufficient tools to ensure that its biodiversity commitments are implemented in practice.
Programme
13:30 – 13:53 – Science-Based Criteria for Forest Protection in Northern EU Regions
Mikko Mönkkönen, Professor of Applied Ecology, University of Jyväskylä; Lead of the Old-Growth Forests Working Group
13:53–14:00 – How does the EU deliver on its commitment to protect Europe’s remaining old-growth forests?
Ion Codescu, head of the land use & management unit in the department in charge of environment of the European Commission, acting director for biodiversity.
14:00–15:00 – Panel Discussion:
How Scientific Criteria Influence the European Commission, Policymaking, Industry and Forest Owners’ Practices
Ion Codescu, Acting Director, DG Environment, European Commission
Marko Mäki-Hakola, Copa-Cogeca / MTK
Katri Kulmuni, Member of the European Parliament
Bengt-Gunnar Jonsson, Professor, Mid Sweden University
15:00-15:30 Time for media to discuss with researchers
The event offers the public and journalists an opportunity to hear directly from the scientists behind a new Nordic-Baltic scientific framework for identifying old-growth forests, and to question policymakers and stakeholders about how science should shape the final decisions.
Read the article here: From guidelines to practice: Operational criteria for identifying old-growth forests in northern Europe | Ambio | Springer Nature Link
For more information, please contact: Interaction lead Sini Suomalainen, sini.p.suomalainen@jyu.fi
The ForTran and REBOUND projects are organizing the event in collaboration.
Follow the event online.
Sign up for the live event (limited seats)