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Coppice is the oldest form of sustainable forest management and is still abundant throughout Europe today. Its unique characteristics contribute to rural livelihoods, the bio-economy, environment and cultural heritage. Coppice forests have become neglected in recent history, leaving an enormous untapped potential. Experts from 35 countries, involved in COST Action FP1301 “EuroCoppice”, urge EU policy-makers to seize this opportunity by specifically addressing and supporting coppice within EU strategy, policy, R&D programmes, and structural funds.

Coppice is a forest regenerated from vegetative shoots that may originate from the stump and/or from the roots, depending on the species. In contrast to forests originating from seed (the so-called high forest), the rotation period of coppice forests can be significantly shorter (approx. 5-30 years, depending on the type of coppice system). In 2000, about 16% of the productive forests in Europe were managed as coppice, covering a total area of about 23 million ha. All European coppice forests consist of broadleaved tree species. Among them, eucalypts, a non-native species, is a bit of an outlier in terms of the environmental concerns discussed in this document. Even though eucalypts can be managed to be highly productive and cost-effective, they can have major detrimental effects to the environment such as soil depletion and fire risk. Willows, poplars and black locust are treated as short-rotation coppice (SRC), which is usually regarded as part of agricultural-production systems. There are different forms of coppice forests: simple coppice, coppice with standards, coppice selection, pollarding and short rotation coppice.