On the occasion of the International Day of Forests we present an in-depth report on mature forests. What are they and why can they function as vaccines against climate and global change? Do they require management? Which one?
A final report of the EIP-AGRI Focus Group on ‘New forest practices and tools for adaptation and mitigation of climate change’ was published last January. Enrique Doblas, as an expert involved in this Focus Group, was involved in this publication.
Aude Valade, CREAF researcher, and the international team behind the study published in Nature recommends that forests be managed with a view to preserving the ecological, social and cultural ecosystem services they provide, rather than to cooling the planet as envisaged in the Paris Agreement.
The final conclusions of the LIFE MEDACC project, conducted by the Catalan Office for Climate Change (OCCC) of the Ministry of Territory and Sustainability, CREAF, IPE-CSIC and IRTA, draw attention to the need to adapt forest, agriculture and water management strategies to the new arid conditions expected as a result of climate change. Since 1973, the water flow at the headwaters of the Muga and Ter rivers has dropped by almost half, and the volume of the middle and lower sections of the Segre has decreased by as much as 60%.
We are in the middle of the wildfire season, and the ecologist Francisco Lloret explains what we can learn about fires and how we can adapt to them to avoid catastrophic large wildfires.
To Jaume.
An extensive review of studies and databases reveals that drought and an increase in temperature are already causing species substitutions, greater aridity, higher forest fire risk, lower soil fertility, and lower water availability, among other negative impacts.
The forth post of Francisco Lloret's section Festina Lente. In this one he explains different dimensions of combining forest management with biodiversity conservation.
To Jordi and Lluís.
What is the future that the Mediterranean forests expect? Climate change is already strongly felt and its impacts reach everywhere. Francisco Lloret tells the current situation and how we will have to prepare ourselves and forests to the coming changes .
For Craig and Seva.
The European project MENFRI was coordinated by CREAF and came to an end in 2016. Its novel approach, centering on cooperation and knowledge transfer, has opened the door to new opportunities, The NODE being one of them.
