A new principle of the European Union forest policy: the cascading use of wood products

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

The debate on forestry and bioenergy is influenced by a new principle defined in the recently approved document on the Forest Strategy of the European Union, the “cascade” principle. This principle implies the priority use of wood material based on the higher added value that can be potentially generated along the wood value chain. The paper discusses how the adoption of the “cascade” principle can influence the supply of biomass and other ecosystem services, with special reference to the Mediterranean context.