• Submit to Forests Login Register
• MDPI
• Journals A-Z
• For Authors
• For Editors
• About
• Open Access Policy

• Abstract
• Full-Text PDF [93 KB]
• Full-Text XML
• Article Versions Notes

• Article Statistics
• Google Scholar
• Order Reprints

• Cite this article
• Export to BibTeX
• Export to EndNote

• [+] on DOAJ
• Futter, MN.
• Keskitalo, E
• Ellison, D
• Pettersson, M
• Strom, A
• Andersson, E
• Nordin, J
• Löfgren, S
• Bishop, K
• Laudon, H
• [+] on Google Scholar
• Futter, MN.
• Keskitalo, E
• Ellison, D
• Pettersson, M
• Strom, A
• Andersson, E
• Nordin, J
• Löfgren, S
• Bishop, K
• Laudon, H
• [+] on PubMed
• Futter, MN.
• Keskitalo, E
• Ellison, D
• Pettersson, M
• Strom, A
• Andersson, E
• Nordin, J
• Löfgren, S
• Bishop, K
• Laudon, H

•  CiteULike
•  Facebook
•  Mendeley
•  Twitter

This article is

• freely available
• re-usable

Forests 2011, 2(1), 261-282; doi:10.3390/f2010261

Article

Forests, Forestry and the Water Framework Directive in Sweden: A Trans-Disciplinary Commentary

Martyn N. Futter ^1,* , E. Carina H. Keskitalo ² , David Ellison ² , Maria Pettersson ² , Anna Strom ³ , Elisabet Andersson ⁴ , Jessica Nordin ⁵ , Stefan Löfgren ¹ , Kevin Bishop ^1,6  and Hjalmar Laudon ⁷

¹ Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Institutionen för Vatten Och Miljö, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences—SLU, Box 7050, Ultuna, SE-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden ² Department of Social and Economic Geography, Umeå University, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden ³ Future Forests, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences—SLU, Umeå, SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden ⁴ Swedish Forest Agency, Hövrättsgatan 3, SE-903 25 Umeå, Sweden ⁵ Sveaskog, Arabygatan 11, SE-352 46 Växjö, Sweden ⁶ Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden ⁷ Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences—SLU, Umeå, SE-901 83 Umeå, Sweden

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received: 29 November 2010 / Accepted: 8 February 2011 / Published: 17 February 2011

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Future Forests)

Download PDF Full-Text [93 KB, uploaded 17 February 2011 10:01 CET]

Abstract: The Water Framework Directive (WFD) is an ambitious piece of legislation designed to protect and improve water quality throughout Europe. However, forests are only mentioned once in the WFD, and forestry is not mentioned at all, despite its potential implications for streams, rivers and lakes. Here we present a transdisciplinary commentary on the WFD and its implications for forests and forestry in Sweden. This commentary has been prepared by forestry stakeholders, biophysical and social scientists. While we were cognizant of a large body of discipline-specific research, there are very few inter- or trans-disciplinary commentaries which link academic and stakeholder perspectives on the WFD. We had originally felt that there would be little commonality in our concerns. However, we found significant areas of agreement. Our key areas of concern about the implications of the WFD for forestry in Sweden included: (i) concerns about what is meant by good ecological status and how it is assessed; (ii) a perceived lack of clarity in the legal framework; (iii) an inadequate environmental impact assessment process; and (iv) uncertainties about appropriate programs of measures for improving water quality. We were also concerned that ecosystem services provided by forests and the positive effects of forestry on water quality are inadequately recognized in the WFD.

Keywords: Water Framework Directive; Sweden; buffer; Environmental Impact Assessment; metrics; transdisciplinary workshop

Article Statistics

Cite This Article