Table 1.

Definition of the final selected challenges for each sustainability area

Area	Challenge	Definition
Environment	Challenge 1. Increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events	Climate change results in an increase of extreme weather events regarding the frequency and intensity (e.g., storms, droughts, and rainfall) affecting the resilience of forest. It affects the susceptibility to wildfires as well as forest health, functionality, and FES provision all around Europe. Despite the inherent resilience of European forests, the resulted changes in forest structure, composition, and thus ecological functioning could be irreversible
	Challenge 2. Increasing extent, frequency, and impacts of pests and diseases in forest habitats	Due to climate change, forests are increasingly vulnerable to pests and diseases, as seen in the extent of recent bark beetle infestations. Especially vulnerable are forest dominated by single species stands with a higher density of trees, resulting in a lower provision of all FES at a European scale
	Challenge 3. Fragmentation of forest habitats	Land use change results in fragmented forest structures, habitat quality decline, and negative impacts on biodiversity. The lack of connectivity especially affects forest-dependent and endemic species. Moreover, the lack of spatial continuity could hinder the sustainable provision of FES
Management	Challenge 4. Narrow focus and normative mindset on forest management	Traditional and often normative mindsets on forest management are focused on timber and biomass production especially in central and north European regions. Biodiversity and FES such as cultural or regulating services could be affected by this challenge. Integrating all forest functions and socio-cultural dimensions is key for preserving healthy ecosystems, local cultures, knowledge, and values
	Challenge 5. Lack of adaptive forest management practices	Forests are undergoing continuous changes that demand an adaptive approach. The lack of adapted management decreases forest resilience to rapid changes affecting people and forests in specific contexts. Continuous monitoring and flexible forest management practices are challenging to implement, due to strict administrative conditions, and lack of resources and knowledge among other factors
	Challenge 6. Unknown demand and supply of FES	There is a lack of information on the biophysical supply and societal demand of regulating or cultural FES across European countries. Information about the FES flows, synergies, trade-offs, and bundles is missing. As a result, some services are often absent in policy discussions and decisions (e.g., cultural FES). Barriers inducing social inequality can affect the accessibility of specific FES
Economy	Challenge 7. Insufficient financial support for adapting to changing conditions	Support to cover losses from- and adaptation towards natural hazards are deficient to non-existent. This challenge particularly affects forest owners’ capacities to risk investing in innovations, especially when there is no guarantee of receiving sufficient revenue or at least mitigating losses. Facing periodic natural hazards without financial support often exposes forest owners to unbearable risky financial conditions
	Challenge 8 Economic power asymmetries among actors in the European forestry sector	Power asymmetries are generally influenced by a reduced number of actors, who take decisions, control, and direct the markets. On many occasions, those actors can operate regardless of the negative externalities of intensive wood/timber production
	Challenge 9. Lack of efficient economic instruments and business models for regulating and cultural FES	Efficient economic instruments and business models capable of recognizing and promoting regulating and cultural FES are scarce to non-existent in Europe. This also affects non-wood forest products, particularly those of public good character. Many forest owners are motivated to provide those services, but there is a lack of economic incentives
Governance	Challenge 10. Lack of coordination and competition among different policy sectors	This challenge occurs across all administrative levels and policy sectors, especially those with contradicting goals affecting forest owners. As a result, making simple decisions on planning and management activities often becomes an ordeal. Depending on the policies conflicting, the process could lead to irreversible changes in the provision of specific FES
	Challenge 11. Lack of representation of diverse key stakeholders in forest management decision	Forest planning and management decisions are often made without considering the effects that they can have on actors beyond forest owners, managers, or policy makers. There is almost no space (vertically or horizontally) for participation of other members of the wider community of potential beneficiaries (e.g., local communities) in the decision-making process on the provision and use of FES
	Challenge 12. Tensions and mismatching expectations about the role of public forests	Planning and management decisions in public forests are particularly complex. Mismatching expectations about the role of public forests might emerge, seeing them as a strategic profitable resource and/or as public goods with the public mandate to provide FES
Socio-culture	Challenge 13. Homogenization of perceptions of forest values by society	This challenge focuses on the multiplicity of social–cultural values associated with FES as well as the difficulties in their identification, prioritization, and integration in forest planning and management. This is particularly true for the marginalized indigenous peoples, traditional communities and the associated risk with the vanishing forest-related forms of knowledge and livelihoods
	Challenge 14. Conflicts between FES providers and beneficiaries	The conflicts between FES providers and beneficiaries may arise due to diverging interests, demands and rights. On occasions, private owners are expected to supply a series of public goods without any incentive. This incentive is not necessarily an economic reward for the provision of FES. In occasions, the incentive is an acknowledgment or recognition. It is to some extent a communication and conceptual conflict related to the understanding of public–private relationships, power structures, and interests that regulate the use, provision, and access to forests and forest resources
	Challenge 15. Rural migration and impacts on rural areas	European rural areas are increasingly experiencing migratory flows to cities leading to a lack of generational turnover in the forest sector and/or abandonment of forested lands. The trend of urban dwellers moving to the countryside has not stopped the process, as less and less people engages with forest-related economic activities