Which new practices and tools can improve the climate mitigation and adaptation potential of EU forests?

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.

The EIP-AGRI Focus Group on ‘New forest practices and tools for adaptation and mitigation of climate change’ brought together 20 stakeholders in order to exchange on forest practices and tools to tackle climate change and to explore successful experiences and innovation in practice. To make this exchange of information successful, the team was multidisciplinary, with people from various interest groups: scientists, forest owners, companies, politicians, managers of the natural environment. Together they made a set of proposals that will serve to prioritize issues or create specific funding programs at European level. A final report of this work was published last January. Enrique Doblas, as an expert involved in this Focus Group, was involved in this publication.

The final report focused mainly on three aspects:

1. How adaptation strategies are selected and implemented
2. The use of decision support tools to bridge scientific knowledge and practice
3. Training approaches and ways of sharing experiences.

The challenges posed by climate change, although global, show strong regional differences. Considering the diversity of forest types and different management traditions across Europe, climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies must fit the region-specific climate change effects expected and local circumstances. The report also presents some suggestions on good practices and strategies for the future of our forests, as for example:

• Improving forest management at stand level with special attention to small scale forests. Climate smart silviculture, genetic resources and decision support systems (DSS) and tools can highly contribute to this objective.
• Scaling up management and tackling climate change risks by an integrated landscape management and the implementation of early warning and innovative risk management strategies (eg. for pests or forest fires).
• Fostering adaptation and mitigation by promoting good practices for forest fires prevention (e.g. silvopastoralism), economic incentives to promote adaptation (climate smart silviculture, payment for ecosystem services) and/or Innovative value chains to enhance climate change mitigation (e.g. new products and uses of wood).
• Enhancing knowledge exchange and awareness about climate change beyond the forest community by finding and using effective communication methods and bringing together views from science, policy and practice

Results:

• Starting paper
• Final report
• Factsheet

Other information:

• Agenda first meeting 20-21 June 2017 - Ljubljana, Slovenia
• Agenda second meeting 22-23 November 2017 - Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain 
• Mini-paper 1: Effective communication for Mitigation of Climate Change and Adaptation to its Impacts
• Mini-paper 2: Implementing adaptation strategies through economic incentives
• Mini-paper 3: Prevention, Early Warning and Innovative Risk Management
• Mini-paper 4: Climate smart silviculture & genetic resources
• Mini-paper 5: Integrated management of forested landscape in the face of climate change
• Mini-paper 6: Knowledge exchange through platforms, networks, or competence centres that link research, practitioners, industry and forest owners
• Mini-paper 7: Decision Support Systems & Tools
• Mini-paper 8: Techniques and practices to manage fire risk in the forest (biomass management, Silvopastoralism)
• Mini-paper 9: Innovative Wood-based Value Chains - “shift to smart wood”
• Mini-paper 10: Small scale forest management