Forests and the European Union Resource Network

Description

Fern is a non-governmental organisation dedicated to protecting forests and the rights of the people who depend on them.

It identifies threats facing the world’s forests and works with affected peoples, social and environmental organisations and policy makers to devise solutions where European Union action can make a difference. Fern produces research and briefings, builds coalitions with partner organisations in Europe and the global South, and campaigns for policy change rather than speaking on behalf of others. Its current focus areas include reducing bioenergy, meat consumption and pulp and paper use, strengthening forest governance, and challenging carbon offsets and damaging trade policies. It has also worked on climate policy, sustainable supply chains, illegal logging and export credit reform.

Fern was created in 1995 at a Forest Movement Europe meeting, in response to a lack of NGOs working on forest policy at the EU level. It engages daily with the European Commission, the European Parliament and national representations to shape legislation protecting forests. It is a non-hierarchical organisation with no single director, and it is based in the EU and the UK. It works in five-year strategy cycles developed together with the wider forest movement.