Europe has exported a destructive forestry model to the world, but now has a chance to stop it at home, which EU countries must ensure is properly implemented, writes Kelsey Perlman.

Kelsey Perlman is a forest and climate activist at the forestry NGO Fern. Over the past 50 years, the forestry model that has unspeakably damaged nature and the climate has spread its tentacles around the world from the heart of Europe. The industrial forestry model, dominant for decades in Scandinavia and other parts of Europe, is based on 18th century Prussian/Saxon forestry methods. The main principle is economic efficiency. It achieves this by maximizing the yields of one species of tree to produce skeletal monocultures. In this way, resilient, diverse natural forests are cut down and replaced by managed uniform plantations. It's a forestry model supported by many national governments around the world – and one that has led to the collapse of carbon sinks, widespread biodiversity loss and declining forestry employment in the last decade, particularly in the European Union. This shift to monocultures has been so far-reaching that people in many parts of the world barely remember what a real forest is. A chance for change - Now Europe, which has exported industrialized clear-cut logging, can slow it down at home. The European Union is currently negotiating the first comprehensive continent-wide ecosystem restoration law for its member states to "bring back nature across Europe, from farmland and seas to forests and urban environments". The Nature Restoration Act will require EU governments to reverse the alarming environmental damage that has left more than 80% of Europe's habitats in poor condition. As such, the new law offers a unique chance for the EU to turn away from a clear-cut forestry model and instead adopt one that benefits nature while protecting Europe's rapidly shrinking old-growth forests. (Kelsey Perlman, EURACTIV)