Facts and Figures, Italy (pp. 269-272). In Coppice Forests in Europe. A. Unrau, G. Becker, R. Spinelli, D. Lazdina, N. Magagnotti, V.N. Nicolescu, P. Buckley, D. Bartlett, P.D. Kofman (Eds.). Freiburg i. Br., Germany: Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg.

Coppicing represents the oldest form of systematic and sustainable management and utilization of forests. It is a very flexible management system that requires a low input and has been adapted and modified throughout Europe and beyond according to the needs of rural societies, to whom coppice forests deliver small size wood primarily for energy, agriculture and small scale businesses. Despite the reduction of coppice forest area, there are still over 20 million hectare of forests throughout Europe that originate from coppice. They characterize our landscapes, especially in mountainous areas of central, east and southern of Europe. Due to rural migration and technical and economic restrictions, most of these coppice forests are today neglected or even abandoned, representing a significantly underused natural resource. Furthermore, current European ecological research reveals that coppice forests protect and stabilize critical slopes and contribute in a unique way to biodiversity conservation. Due to their inherent ecological features they are appreciated as resilient ecosystems, also in the context of climate change adaptation. The COST Action FP1301 EuroCoppice was set up in 2013 to explore options and to propose practical ways and means to make better use of existing European coppice forest resources for the economy, environment and society. More than 150 scientists and experts from 35 COST Member Countries addressed in five Working Groups a wide array of coppice-related issues ranging from history and ecology to harvesting and utilization techniques, environmental protection and rural employment. During four years of activities, national and regional knowledge from both literature and collective sources was compiled, analyzed, documented and published. Research gaps were identified and cooperative strategies to close them were developed. A number of congresses and workshops were organized to discuss and share the common findings and views with the scientific community and with practitioners from forestry, wood industry and environmental agencies. Five COST Training Schools and 42 Short Term Scientific Missions were organized in different member countries, primarily for young researchers to increase their knowledge and expertise on several coppice related issues, as well as to promote personal networking. Major results of the Action and a call to take action were communicated to national and European actors and stakeholders. To facilitate further scientific activities after the lifetime of the Action, material, results and databases were transferred to the International Organization of Forest Research Institutions (IUFRO), where a permanent Unit dedicated to traditional coppice forestry was established. With all of these activities and achievements, EuroCoppice is an excellent example showing that substantial added value for science, economy and policy can be achieved by bringing together the expertise and views from various European regions and institutions. The coordinators together with the great number of participating scientists have used the EU format COST effectively to enhance knowledge and to raise attention of the multiple benefits and future opportunities of traditional coppicing. The results of this COST Action are also highly relevant in the context of the EU Forest Strategy and the growing recognition of the importance of forests for several EU policies and initiatives, such as energy and climate, rural development, environment and bioeconomy. As former research programme officer in the European Commission responsible for COST forestry actions, I want to express my recognition and warmest thanks for the excellent work of all persons involved, and I strongly recommend this book to all people interested and involved in forest and nature conservation issues throughout Europe.