Offering the appetite for the monitoring of European forests a diversified diet

Key message Forest monitoring in Europe is turning matter of renewed political concern, and a possible role for ICP Forests health monitoring has been suggested to meet this goal (Ann For Sci 78:94, 2021). Multipurpose national forest inventory (NFI) surveys yet offer a sampling effort by two orders of magnitude greater than ICP level 1, have accomplished substantial methodological and harmonization progresses in the recent years, and therefore form a decisive contributor to future European forest monitoring incentives. Possible paths for the future development of a pan-European, comprehensive and more accurate monitoring are designed that stress a crucial need to build on the assets of the existing forest monitoring programs and favor their cooperation, in order to limit the co-existence of distinct forest monitoring processes.

Automated summary

Forest monitoring in Europe has gained renewed political concern, and there is a suggestion to utilize ICP Forests health monitoring to meet this goal. In recent years, national forest inventory surveys have made significant progress in methods and harmonization, and they are expected to play a crucial role in future European forest monitoring efforts. The future development of a pan-European, comprehensive and more accurate monitoring system should build on existing forest monitoring programs and encourage cooperation to avoid the coexistence of distinct monitoring processes.