“As a federation, we have long been committed to the issue of forests and their economic and environmental sustainability. We are proud to have contributed with this project to a forest management protocol that aims to enhance the use of wood, a raw material with a neutral CO₂ balance, and its cascading use“.
This was the comment made by Alessandro Calcaterra, president of Fedecomlegno and FederlegnoArredo’s delegate for Forests and Forest Certification, at the conference “Strengthening sustainable forest management to regenerate the economy” at Ecomondo, to present the results of the European project “LIFE CO2PES&PEF”, co-financed by the European Commission’s Life programme and aimed at combining the conservation of the forest, its processes and ecosystem services, with increasing CO₂ absorption.
The aim of the protocol is to provide useful suggestions for promoting the harvesting of wood from forests in the country, favouring a “cascade” use of wood for lasting CO2 absorption (involving the use of wood in several stages, used as a raw material or building material, thus extending its cycle), which is advantageous both ecologically and economically.
“Our goal,” continues Calcaterra, “is to enhance the value of Italian forests, promoting their sustainable and active management with a view to a short supply chain, so that we can reduce the share that we are currently forced to import from abroad. Wood is an essential raw material, recyclable, reusable, able to activate a virtuous cycle of sustainability of which as a sector we represent an example of excellence. We hope that the many tools developed by the project can make an effective contribution to a coordinated management of our forest heritage, prolonging as much as possible the cycle of wood use as an essential and effective factor for climate protection“.
