ABOUT THE PROJECT

Safeguarding Carbon and Biodiversity across European Forest Ecosystems through Multi-actor Innovation

Forests play a critical role in mitigating climate change and supporting biodiversity, but many old-growth and natural ecosystems are under pressure from intensive human activities and environmental change . Protecting and restoring forests is crucial for sustainable and climate-neutral societies. Without coordinated conservation and restoration efforst, these ecosystems risk loosing capacity to provide essential services like carbon storage and habitat for wildlife. To protect and restore forest ecosystems, the EU-funded FORbEST project will operate across five key EU biogeographical regions and one tropical area to understand the effects of governance on forests. The project will engage local communities in developing conservation and sustainable management practices that enhance biodiversity, support climate adaptation and empower citizens for a greener future.

Partners

Countries

Project start

Project end

Total budget

€ 0 M

Partners

Countries

Project start

Project end

Total budget

€ 0 M

Objectives and Ambitions

Employing a multi-actor approach grounded in the establishment of six case studies within a Living Lab community, our main objective is to contribute knowledge of the climate-biodiversity nexus, through understanding the benchmark value and distribution of primary forests, known to be carbon- and biodiversity-rich, and devising a range of management, conservation through active, and restoration options, as well as policy interventions, that support the conservation and optimize ecosystem services provision of such forests.

From Knowledge to Action

Find knowledge-based solutions identifying carbon and biodiversity beneficial management approaches across 6 case study areas in diverse biogeographical and socio-ecological settings

The gap between scientific knowledge and implementation is addressed, and knowledge-based carbon and biodiversity friendly solutions to forest-related challenges become available to decision makers in case study areas

Smart Monitoring for Smart Decisions

Test the effectiveness and scalability of novel field-based carbon and biodiversity monitoring techniques based on eDNA metabarcoding and AI-powered ecoacoustics and smartphone apps.

The cost-effectiveness and scalable nature of novel biodiversity and carbon monitoring techniques is validated against traditional methods. Novel techniques that improve efficiency and lower participation barriers will be shared for wide-scale adoption.

Safeguarding carbon and biodiversity

Identify forests with both high carbon stocks and biodiversity value to prioritise conservation efforts, and deploy an early warning system that provides alerts of human and natural disturbances based on remote sensing, AI and in-situ data.

The EU ‘Biodiversity Strategy for 2030’ mandates protection of all of EU’s remaining primary forests, yet many data gaps remain regarding location and conservation status of these forests.

Foreseeing Biodiversity Futures

Model species’ response to different drivers of change, predict biodiversity shifts and extinction risk in protected areas, and identify active and passive restoration tools that will be most beneficial to biodiversity, resilience, and carbon uptake/storage

Emergent biodiversity trajectories are understood and hotspots of habitat loss identified, together with priority areas for adaptive forest management and the expansion of protected forest networks

Connecting Forest Landscapes

Identify barriers to the natural co-migration of forest communities and develop regional-scale restoration strategies and spatial planning techniques to facilitate species comigration

Barriers for the natural co-migration of forest species are identified, and key areas whose restoration could improve landscape connectivity located

Nature as an Economic Opportunity

Revise financial incentives to promote Ecosystem Services in case study regions. Develop policy recommendations to enhance economic opportunities and secure support from public and private landowners for forest protection.

Landowners and decision-makers are aware of existing business opportunities and incentive schemes to foster ecosystem services in case study areas

Methodology

FORbEST’s analyses are organized into three pillars. Each pillar is designed to address specific objectives across eight Work Packages (WPs).

FORbEST is a Horizon Europe project funded by the European Union (Grant Agreement No. 101181878). Views and opinions expressed are however those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

Pictures of forests: courtesy of Marek Mejstrik

Safeguarding Carbon and Biodiversity across European Forest Ecosystems through Multi-actor Innovation