Objectives

The ambition of FORWARDS will be to prototype The ForestWard Observatory – a European observatory for forests climate change impacts – a long-lasting practical tool to support decision making:

1. at European and national scale to provide a strategic perspective of disturbances, future risks, and critical vulnerabilities and threats to European forests;
2. at regional and local scale to deliver more operational information for local CSF & Restoration management practice.

By operating at both these scales, the project will help improve the accuracy and timeliness of threat detection for European forests while enabling local management teams to respond promptly using a scientific basis. In this respect, The ForestWard Observatory will draw on available networks and data streams to apply pioneering approaches.
FORWARDS will analyse factors that 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 can meet policy objectives effectively.
FORWARDS will support a wide range of activities that ultimately contribute to setting up the ForestWard Observatory and supporting the implementation and scaling-up of CSF and forest restoration pilots.