The ForestWard Observatory to Secure Resilience of European Forests
Abstract
FORWARDS will prototype The ForestWard Observatory to provide (a) timely and detailed information on European forests’ vulnerability to climate change impacts, (b) science-based knowledge to guide management using the principles of climate-smart forestry, ecosystem restoration, and biodiversity preservation (CSF & Restoration), and (c) stakeholder engagement and public participation in decision-making processes. We capitalize on data from existing networks (e.g. ICP Forests) and expand this with a Network of Pilot sites through 5 FORWARDS Demo cases plus ~50 trials established via grants to third parties. We will reconcile the current divide between forest information obtained from the ground and remote sensing by incorporating the concept of Monitoring Supersites and novel approaches to more comprehensively characterize cause-effect relationships of forest disturbances. Tools for European-wide forwardlooking and spatially explicit projections on forests as well as regionalized CSF & Restoration trajectories will be developed jointly with stakeholders to evaluate synergies and trade-offs of conversion and restoration activities. These will be used to provide good practice guidance on effective CSF & Restoration management practices. The ForestWard Observatory will be constructed under the principle of co-design to address the information needs by users and stakeholders. FORWARDS interacts with several established networks on CSF & Restoration and effectively utilizes five dedicated grant calls to implement forest observations and test CSF & restoration measures. The ambition is for The ForestWard Observatory to become a long-lasting legacy of FORWARDS, which supports decision making across scales to boost the uptake of good CSF & Restoration management practice throughout Europe (local scale for management practice), while efficiently informing about climate change and disturbance impacts and resilience of European forests (regional to EU scale for policy making).
Social and behavioural science Carbon sequestration in forest Forest adaptation to climate change Forest ecosystem services Forest resilience Long-term forest monitoring Public participation
Publikationen
Project staff
Gerhard Weiß
Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Gerhard Weiß
gerhard.weiss@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-73217
BOKU Project Leader
01.11.2022 - 31.10.2027
Stefanie Linser
Dr.rer.nat. Stefanie Linser
stefanie.linser@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-73222, 99515
Project Staff
01.11.2022 - 31.10.2027
Alice Ludvig
Priv.-Doz. Mag. Dr. Alice Ludvig M.A.
alice.ludvig@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-73216, 99516
Project Staff
01.11.2022 - 31.10.2027
Elaine Parlade
Elaine Parlade B.Sc. MSc.
aineparlade@boku.ac.at
Project Staff
01.11.2022 - 31.10.2027
Barbara Öllerer
Dipl.-Ing. Barbara Öllerer
barbara.oellerer@boku.ac.at
Tel: +43 1 47654-73214
Project Staff
01.11.2022 - 31.10.2027
BOKU partners
External partners
European Forest Institute
Marko Lovric
partner
Wageningen University
none
partner
JOHANN HEINRICH VON THUENEN-INSTITUT, BUNDESFORSCHUNGSINSTITUT FUER LANDLICHE RAUME,_x000D_ WALD UND FISCHEREI
none
partner
Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam Deutsches GeoForschungszentrum
none
partner
UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI FIRENZE
none
partner
Università degli Studi des Molise
none
partner
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Ruben Valbuena
coordinator
University Lund
none
partner