Protective windbreaks are an element of forest vegetation contributing to the state of the environment and reducing risks of hazardous phenomena and processes resulting in soil degradation. Their function is particularly significant in areas dominated by agricultural production, mostly without sufficient high vegetation, where wind erosion results in loss of soil fertility and increased risk of pollution and extreme climate phenomena. Additionally, protective windbreaks have a multifunctional value reflected primarily in improving and protecting biodiversity, linking rural and urban areas, protecting water bearing land, promotion recreational functions, etc. For the purposes of this document, the collected positions of relevant decision-makers and managers indicate unanimously the environmental value of forest protective belts (mitigation of effects of climate change, protection against wind erosion, improving biodiversity, establishing tourism-recreational contents, and the like). They also point to the need to come up with adequate models for financing the establishment and management of protective windbreak belts. In view of the relatively low level of afforestation in the Republic of Serbia, and with respect to unfavourable trends of climate and anthropogenic effects, protective windbreaks offer great potential as an instrument of environmental protection and increasing the level of afforestation.