Better communication needed for EU forestry

The forest sector in Europe should communicate effectively with EU level policy makers and representatives of other sectors and stakeholder groups in order to safeguard its interests, according to a recently published study in Europe.

The doctoral dissertation ‘Communication in forest policy decision-making in Europe: a study on communication processes between policy, science and the public’ by Gerben Janse, indicated that personal communication with peers is the most important source of information for forest policy-makers, according to a report on European news service, AlphaGalileo. At present, the European Union is without a common forest policy.

It was also found out that the excess of information and complicated websites and inaccessible databases did not serve or attract the policy-makers.

The study indicated both policy-makers and scientists agreed that scientific information should be presented in shorter and easier to comprehend formats and that scientists should be involved more in policy advisory meetings. It also recommended more personal contacts between scientists and policy-makers, according to the online news report.

All in all, successful communication with policy-makers requires relationships and networks based on mutual trust, AlphaGalileo reported.

Internal communication in the forest sector at the European (i.e. mainly EU) level is generally well developed, but the desired strengthening of communication with other sectors and the public at large is perceived as difficult, the report said.

The study called for more active exchange of ‘best practices’ in forest communication at both national and European level and increased coordination of communication efforts is desired because of the varying expectations within the sector.