European lawmakers rejected on Tuesday a draft law to monitor and report on “forest health”, which would mandate EU countries to collect data on forestry conditions and enable preparedness against forest fires across the bloc. The ballot revealed that the far-right and centrist MEPs predominantly voted no in the European Parliament, with 370 votes against and 261 in favour of draft legislation to harmonise data collection on forests and close knowledge gaps about the state of woodlands across the EU. …The Commission’s proposal built on the existing EU forest information entry point, satellite and remote sensing and national inventories, and sought to fill gaps in comparability and completeness of forest information. …Austrian lawmaker Alexander Bernhuber (EPP), who served as lead negotiator on the forest monitoring law in the Parliament’s committee for environment, said the group rejected “ideology” and advocated instead for an “effective and efficient” environmental policy.