What is FORWARDS?
Within the FORWARDS Horizon Europe project, forest data from different programs, projects and other initiatives are collected, with a focus on quantifying the impacts of climate change on forests. These datasets are collected by the forthcoming ForestWard Observatory, a pan-European monitoring and evaluation tool that will help demonstrate the impacts of climate change on forests and guide decision-making for practical forest management.
Objectives
The ambition of FORWARDS is to prototype The ForestWard Observatory, a European observatory for the impacts of climate change on forests. This will be a long-lasting practical tool to support decision making:
- at European and national scale, to provide a strategic overview of disturbances, future risks, and critical vulnerabilities and threats to European forests;
- at regional and local scale to deliver more operational information for local Climate Smart Forestry (CSF) & Restoration management practice.
Operating at these two scales will help the project improve the accuracy and timeliness of threat detection for European forests while enabling local management teams to respond promptly based on scientific evidence. To this end, the ForestWard Observatory will draw on existing networks and data streams to implement pioneering methods.
FORWARDS will analyse the factors influencing forest owners’ decisions. It will document current restoration activities concerning forests, wood provision, biodiversity, carbon, and soils. This analysis aims to ensure that different measures effectively meet policy objectives.
FORWARDS will support a wide range of activities that will ultimately contribute to setting up the ForestWard Observatory and supporting the implementation and scaling up of the CSF and forest restoration pilots.
Expected impacts
Scientific
Better understanding and mitigation potential of ecosystems and sectors based on the sustainable management of natural resources. Advanced understanding and science to support adaptation and resilience of natural and managed ecosystems, water and soil systems and economic sectors in the context of the changing climate
Policy / Societal
Efficient monitoring, assessment and projections related to climate change impacts. This includes the potential to co-design solutions for tackling emerging threats and support decision-making in climate change mitigation and adaptation policies at regional, national, European and global levels
Economic
Climate change mitigation encouraged in the primary sector, such as reducing GHG emissions, maintaining natural carbon sinks and enhancing sequestration and carbon storage in ecosystems
NETWORKS OF CSF PILOT SITES AND SUPERSITES
A Europe-wide network of pilot and supersites advancing forest monitoring and climate resilience
Consortium
The FORWARDS consortium involves 19 partners from 11 countries, each covering a specific area of expertise – industrial, research, communication and business.
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Sweden
European Forest Institute (EFI)
Finland
University of Firenze
Italy
University of Molise
Italy
Thünen-Institute
Germany
Helmholtz Centre Potsdam – GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences
Germany
Wageningen University
The Netherlands
Stichting Wageningen Research
The Netherlands
Latvian State Forest Research Institute
Latvia
Fondazione ICONS
Italy
Natural Resources Institute Finland
Finland
University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences
Austria
Environmental Social Science Research Group
Hungary
Lund University
Sweden
Prospex Institute
Belgium
Research Institute for Nature and Forest
Belgium
Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research
Switzerland
Forest Research
United Kingdom
Bangor University
United Kingdom
University of Bologna
Italy
Sister Projects
TRANSFORMIT
TRANSFORMIT (Transforming Forest Management for Multiple Ecosystem Services and Nature Conservation via the Integrative Approach) is a project funded by the Horizon Europe programme. Coordinated by the European Forest Institute (EFI), it brings together 16 institutions from 12 countries. The project’s main objective is to demonstrate and enhance the effectiveness of Integrative Forest Management (IFM). TRANSFORMIT aims to combine productive forestry and biodiversity conservation by integrating existing practical and scientific knowledge, and to encourage collaboration and mutual learning between science, policy and practice in Europe and internationally.
SUPERB
SUPERB (Systemic Solutions for the Upscaling of Urgent Ecosystem Restoration for Forest-Related Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) is a €20 million project funded by the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the EU Green Deal. The project aimed to restore thousands of hectares of forest landscape across Europe. By linking practical and scientific knowledge and transforming it into action, while also building a large, powerful multi-stakeholder network, SUPERB created transformative change towards large-scale restoration.
RESONATE
Although those concerned with forests are aware of the threats posed by climate change, they often lack the necessary advice and tools to increase the resilience of forests and their associated value chains. This knowledge gap is precisely what the RESONATE project, funded by the Horizon 2020 programme, set out to address. Coordinated by the European Forest Institute, the project began in April 2021 and ran for four years. With a focus on the resilience of the European forest sector, the project aimed to provide best practice examples and bespoke solutions for all stakeholders, including forest owners and managers, policymakers, and the wood-based industry.
