Articles

Long Term Plan Forestry and Action Plan Forestry in Flanders

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Abstract

In  Flanders, the first serious regulations to set up a "National Forest  Program" (NFP) were taken    by the Forest Act in 1990. Consequently, a comprehensive scientific study  and analysis of the    forest and forest policy were carried out. A first Action Plan Forestry was  drawn up in 1994, but it    never got a legal character.    The Flemish Environmental Policy Plan of 1977 insisted to set up an Action  Plan Forestry. In    1998 the Flemish Forest Service launched two documents: the "Long Term  Plan Forestry" and    the "Action Plan Forestry". Together they were considered as the  Flemish National Forest    Program, in accordance with the recommendations of the International Panel  on Forestry.    However, although approved by several advice committees, these documents  have never been    legally approved.    The Long Term Plan Forestry is based on four touchstones: sustainability,  multiple use,    international developments and commitments, and social support. In this  frame four key notions    are distinguished: forest maintenance quantitatively, forest maintenance  qualitatively, forest    extension, and integrated task fulfillment. To concretize this plan an  Action Plan Forestry with 29    actions and 19 regulating initiatives was launched.    The objectives of both action plans were only partly implemented. The too  ambitious program    was probably the most important reason.    The great challenge in Flanders is to legally approve an NFP. It is clear  that such a program can    only be approved when its ambitions are not too high, so that the interest  of other sectors are not    directly threatened. The value of such a minimal NFP is, however, very  limited. Therefore it is    probably better to draw up regularly an ambitious, actualized and well  founded forestry    document, which is not legally approved, but with a high moral value.

How to Cite:

Lust, N., Nachtergale, L. & Serbruyns, I., (2001) “Long Term Plan Forestry and Action Plan Forestry in Flanders”, Silva Gandavensis 66. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/sg.v66i0.821