With the theme "Forests and Food" , to highlight the vital role of forests in food security, nutrition and livelihoods, today we celebrate the International Day of Forests , proclaimed in 2012 by the UN and which recurs every year on 21 March.On this occasion, Pefc Italia recalls how forest ecosystems provide food, fuel, income and employment, while protecting soil fertility, water resources and biodiversity.
For some communities, particularly Indigenous Peoples, forests are literally a source of survival, but more generally, forests care for all of Earth’s inhabitants, storing carbon and helping to mitigate climate change.
Forest Day is therefore the ideal moment to reflect on the importance of the regulations being approved, or already approved in Europe, and on the impact that citizens' food and consumption choices have on the environment.
Of particular note is the European Union Regulation on deforestation-free products (EUDR), which comes into force on 30 December 2025 , and which represents a significant step towards curbing extremely harmful practices.
The EUDR aims to combat the production and consumption of raw materials and products derived from deforestation and forest degradation, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and protecting biodiversity.
The regulation therefore applies to a wide range of wood products (including sawn timber, wood-based materials, paper and furniture) but also to rubber and food products such as palm oil, soya, coffee, cocoa and beef and all their derivatives.
According to data collected in an article published in Global Environmental Change, 29-39% of CO₂ emissions are attributable to international trade , particularly in products such as beef and seed oil, a figure that contributes significantly to the climate crisis.
Just think that ⅙ of the carbon footprint produced by the average diet of a consumer in the European Union refers to emissions from deforestation.
The EUDR therefore has the complex task of regulating the placing, making available and relative export to the EU market of all those products associated with deforestation and forest degradation.
This can only happen by imposing stringent requirements on companies , so that they become responsible for the necessary change of direction towards strictly zero-deforestation products (i.e. not produced on land subject to deforestation or forest degradation after 31 December 2020).
PEFC , which has always been committed to fighting deforestation through the promotion and certification of sustainable forest management, reaffirms its support for the objectives of the EUDR by developing a new standard, the PEFC EUDR.
PEFC certifications, already aligned with many of the key elements of the EUDR regulation, will be able to count on this additional tool, currently being finalized, which will allow the entire product supply chain to be traced and geolocalized, thus aligning with the principles of transparency and legality requested by European legislation.
If it is true that the role played by consumers on the environmental impact is more than fundamental, there is no doubt that greater traceability and transparency of products can improve competitiveness on the market, gaining consumer trust and starting a virtuous circle to the advantage of forests and biodiversity.
Traceability is an essential and valuable tool with a dual benefit: enhancing our forests and guaranteeing consumers a certified supply chain that guarantees the products purchased.
With the growing focus on sustainability, it is our duty to ensure that the products available on the market are truly sustainable and free from deforestation.
The challenge is global, not just local.
Italy is a country where the urgency is to plan and manage 11 million hectares of forests. Only in this way can we limit the import of material from abroad, even from countries where deforestation is an emergency.
To date, the illegal market in natural resources, including timber, has an estimated value of 213 billion euros , of which 23 billion are for protected plant and animal species alone.
The fight against illegal trade is now more than ever a crucial aspect for the success of forest sustainability objectives, given the significant influence that organized crime exerts on wood supply chains.
The International Day of Forests is therefore useful to remember how every consumer choice can make a real difference and how important it is in this sense to give consumers certainty of a supply chain capable of protecting forests from the country of origin to the final product. (Source: Eleonora Mariano, https://pefc.it/ )