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When it comes to sustainable forest management, it is important to see the forest for more than just the trees. In a plenary session for the Sixth Mediterranean Forest Week (6MFW)  in Lebanon from 1-5 April, the European Forest Institute Mediterranean Facility (EFIMED) focused on “Forest-based Solutions: Linking Non-Wood Forest Products (NWFP) with the Economy, Participatory Approaches”.

Different grafting techniques and deployment strategies for improved genetic materials of stone pine, Pinus pinea, offer more landowners the possibility to consider the tree as a viable crop. The stone pine is an emblematic tree that produces Mediterranean pine nuts, the most expensive nuts in global markets due to their scarcity.

Authors: Felipe Pérez Martín (Unit of Forest Genetic Resources. Directorate General of Rural Development, Innovation and Forest Policy, Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food). 

Helena Almeida (Centro de Estudos Florestais. Higher Institute of Agronomy (ISA). University of Lisbon. Portugal)

In many EU countries, the collection and the consumption of truffle and mushrooms are historically strictly linked to local traditions of many communities. Although the economic and social role covered by these products, and the growing interest towards them, the European sector of mushrooms and truffles appears very heterogenous, with a chaotic situation, especially in terms of taxations for producers (pickers or farmers). In particular, a lack of homogenization of fiscal system among EU Member States favours an unfair competition among EU actors.