Sustainable forest restoration in European countries: from subsidies to institutional models of the ecosystem services market

Abstract

The article presents a systematic analysis of the institutional and financial mechanisms for sustainable forest restoration that have emerged in European countries in response to climate challenges and global commitments to preserving natural capital. Drawing on a comparative study of practices in Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, the article shows that, despite the diversity of national models, they all rest on three fundamental principles: results-based financing, whereby funds are directed not at the process but at a verified increase in ecosystem functions; independent verification, which separates control from the distribution of funds; and a long-term monitoring horizon, extending from 30 to 70 years. Key mechanisms are examined in detail – payments for ecosystem services (PES) in the Netherlands, the German impact mitigation model (Eingriffsregelung) with the eco-account (Ökokonto) instrument, the voluntary British Woodland Carbon Code standard, the Irish national afforestation programme, and Scandinavian practices of climate-resilient forest restoration. The analysis identifies an invariant institutional core that enables the transition from an input-based, process-oriented model to an investment paradigm based on payment for verified ecosystem outcomes. Particular attention is paid to the conditions under which the examined models demonstrate sustained effectiveness: the presence of a developed infrastructure for independent expertise, a high degree of legal certainty regarding environmental obligations, and effective demand for ecosystem services. The article argues that direct transplantation of these institutional forms is likely to prove unsuccessful in other jurisdictions, yet the very logic of building a closed cycle of “result – verification – reward” is of universal significance. On a practical level, conceptual orientations are formulated for modernizing national forest restoration systems, including the creation of specialized intermediary institutions and the introduction of standardized metrics of ecosystem outcomes.