Spray varnish it? First glossy, for strength, and then matt, for looks.
Also, you'll find that glueing them to a board will drastically reduce the loss of flock, as the loss is mostly due to the paper being rolled out and back up again.
I did exactly the same for my first table, but I also used a variety of different spray paints to make the flat green surface a bit more interesting. I used dark brown, light brown, pale yellow and black, if I recall correctly.
The paper was glued down on the (fibre)board with simple wood glue (PVA), which worked really well. Just beware of overdoing the glue and making the paper backing bulge up.
For durability, I then added a wooden strip to the sides of the board, slightly higher than the surface, for even more protection.
That table has seen quite some action, has been deployed and stored more times than I care to remember, but is still in good shape...
+++EDIT+++ Added a picture; it says more than words apparently...