Forest Biofuel Biodiversity Impact Assessment

Concawe contracted AFRY to assess the biodiversity impact of using forest residues for advanced biofuel production in Europe. The study explores the ecological significance of deadwood in forest ecosystems and examines how its removal may affect biodiversity.

AFRY conducted a comprehensive scientific literature review—screening over 1,180 titles—and performed regional analyses across the Nordic, Baltic, Central, and Mediterranean forest areas. The objective was to identify both qualitative and quantitative relationships between deadwood volumes and biodiversity indicators across various forest species, and to define region-specific deadwood thresholds that could inform sustainable residue removal practices.

The findings indicate a generally positive correlation between deadwood volume and biodiversity. However, threshold values vary significantly depending on species, forest type, and regional context, limiting the applicability of broad generalisations. The review also highlights a shortage of studies providing robust threshold values and an underrepresentation of specific species and forest types, which challenges efforts to evaluate forest biodiversity based on existing literature. Additionally, it emphasizes the importance of factors such as deadwood size and decomposition stage in influencing biodiversity outcomes.

In addition, the study examined national forest inventories and existing guidelines, noting significant variability and inconsistencies in data availability, monitoring practices, and regulatory frameworks across countries.

This work underscores the need for more regionally adapted, scientifically grounded thresholds. It also sets the direction for addressing key research gaps necessary to develop a robust biodiversity assessment framework, enabling the determination of sustainable removal rates of forest residues for advanced biofuel production.