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Month: September 2020

Towards improved disturbance risk management in European forests: serving the needs and building on positive experiences of different countries

Day 2 of the SURE conference

Where are shortcomings in effective disturbance risk management in different European Countries? How can we move from often short-term decisions to long-term oriented disturbance mitigation and resource use in policy-making and practice to create a more resilient forest sector? How can the various actors involved in implementing measures for prevention and preparedness be better supported in view of future disturbance events? How do both policy makers and practitioners assess the importance of cross-sectoral and cross-country knowledge exchange and learning?

We discussed these questions with more than 40 policy makers and some practitioners from 17 countries on the 27th of August as part of the second day of the virtual conference of the SURE project. A Policy Brief distributed beforehand, provided a synthesis on natural disturbance risk management based on science, practice and policy perspectives. The key messages from the first day of the conference were also an inspiration for the discussion: Alex Giurca presented a graphic reporting capturing the issues discussed on day 1. Christoph Hartebrodt, based on his knowledge on the European Forest Risk Facility initiative, provided another perspective on the topics covered. After presenting the activities and research done during three years of SURE, an interactive session with policy perspectives on risk management paradigms gathered views from Germany, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland, Ireland, Austria, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the Czech Republic. 

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Which tree species is “climate fit”? The Tree App helps to decide

The new Tree App helps in all locations in Switzerland’s forests to identify the tree species that will also grow in a warmer and drier climate.

Written by Keith Anderson

Which tree species is suitable for a forest location in the future when the climate changes? This question is asked repeatedly by many forest managers and owners, for example when tending young stands, or when thinning mixed stands or planting trees. The question also arises more frequently during specific events that have a lasting impact on the forest, such as storms or pest infestations. Here, the Tree App can help, because it indicates the advisable tree species on the mobile phone and also directly on the pc.  

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Europe’s primary forests: What to protect? What to restore?

First international assessment of the protection state of mostly ‘untouched’ forests in Europe

Halle/Berlin. An expansion of the protected areas by only about 1% would sufficiently protect most remaining primary forests in Europe. This is one of the main results of the study on Protection gaps and restoration opportunities for primary forests in Europe conducted by an international team led by researchers from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU). The study, published in the paper Diversity and Distribution, is the first assessment of the conservation status of Europe’s primary forests. It identifies protection gaps and areas with restoration needs to reach conservation targets. In addition, it provides valuable information how to implement the new EU Biodiversity Strategy.

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Enhancing resilience of forests to disturbances – why networks are essential. Day 1 of the SURE conference.

“Collaboration is key to enhance forest resilience.” This was the opening message given by Marcus Lindner (project coordinator of SURE) when introducing the SURE conference and the European Forest Risk Facility on the 26th of August. During this first day, more than 70 participants joined the conference, from 25 different countries, representing science, practice and policy. Seven presenters from the European Forest Risk Facility network reflected upon the significance of collaboration highlighting the importance of immediate response, exchange of experts, prevention, networking, and media interaction to raise public awareness. The whole conference was supported by the graphic reporting of Alex Giurca who combined the skills of a note taker and artist to provide a visual and captivating representation of the conference. Such tools are a creative and immediate support to decision making providing an illustration and key messages of complex presentations and discussions.

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Stadtwälder als “natürliche Problemlöser”?

Gelsenkirchen ist Fallstudie in grossem europäisch-chinesischem Forschungsprojekt koordiniert von EFI

Was hat Gelsenkirchen mit der chinesischen Stadt Huaibei zu tun? Auf den ersten Blick nicht viel. Dennoch wurden beide Städte – zusammen mit u.a. Barcelona und Krakau, Hongkong und Peking – als “Fallstudien-Städte” für CLEARING HOUSE, das erste europäisch-chinesische Forschungsprojekt zu urbanen Wäldern ausgewählt. Und dies aus gutem Grund: Die ausgesuchten Städte sind mit besonderen Herausforderungen konfrontiert, die teilweise auf alle zutreffen, teilweise regional-spezifisch sind: von Umweltbelastungen zu hohen Arbeitslosenquoten, von massivem industriellem Wachstum zu Chancen und Schwierigkeiten, die Migration mit sich bringt. Gemeinsam haben alle diese Städte, dass stadtnahe und städtische Wälder sowie Parks und Bäume in öffentlichen und privaten Räumen eine wichtige Rolle spielen, wenn wir den ökologischen, wirtschaftlichen und sozialen Herausforderungen begegnen wollen. Urbane Wälder erhöhen unser Wohlbefinden, sind Lebensraum für viele verschiedene Arten und wirken negativen Klimaentwicklungen wie Hitzeinseln entgegen, indem sie im heissen Sommer Schatten spenden.

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“We want to encourage colleagues from abroad to visit Spain’s marteloscopes” – interview with David Lasala and Lidón Martínez

David Lasala is currently the coordinator of the Forest Resource Mobilization area at Agresta and is a member of the expert tree-markers team. Lidón Martínez works in the Forestry Policy and Natural Heritage area at the Forestry Department in Castilla y León. They have been leading the recent Spanish initiative of re-measuring the already existing five marteloscope sites to integrate them into the INTEGRATE marteloscope network, a network of more than 100 demonstration sites established all over Europe. They have also made the training software more accessible to local foresters by translating it into Spanish.

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