Article written by Florian Schnabel (University of Freiburg)
I often go running in the hills surrounding Freiburg, Germany. The jogging trails stretch from the Rhine valley to forests that include tall beeches, sun-dappled maples, and towering Douglas firs. On my past run, I came across marked habitat trees – those supporting the diversity of forest-dwelling species through their microhabitats – and just moments later, a stack of freshly harvested Douglas firs – a tree species which, despite not being native, grows well in Europe. This mix of biodiversity conservation and timber production isn’t just a coincidence; it’s a deliberate management choice. And it’s becoming increasingly popular across Europe.
This approach, known as Integrative Forest Management (IFM), is gaining traction in policy circles and on the ground. But despite its popularity, many basic questions remain unanswered: What exactly is IFM? How does it differ from other management concepts? Is it being taught in higher education to the next generation of forest professionals? And is it really delivering its promises to conserve biodiversity while simultaneously sustaining wood production – especially under global change?
These are the questions we’re addressing in Work Package 3 of the EU Horizon Project TRANSFORMIT, led by Jürgen Bauhus and myself at the University of Freiburg.
A working definition of IFM – and principles for its application
Our first major achievement has been to provide a working definition of IFM for the project:
Integrative forest management (IFM) aims at integrating biodiversity conservation and global change adaptation into forest management for the sustainable provision of multiple ecosystem services… (read the full definition here).
Together with colleagues from ETH Zurich and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, we thereafter developed a structured framework with eight key principles and accompanying attributes to define what characterises IFM. These principles include retaining habitat structures, promoting native tree species, natural tree regeneration, structural heterogeneity, tree species diversity, low-impact management, landscape connectivity, and management of factors that hinder ecosystem functioning.
Through work led by Valentina Vitali at ETH Zurich, we are in the final stages of reviewing how the IFM concept aligns with other related forest management approaches, such as ProSilva, Closer-to-Nature Forest Management, TRIAD, Continuous Cover Forestry and Strict Set-aside Conservation. Initial results indicate that while all examined concepts show some alignment with IFM principles, they differ in their specific attributes. For instance, Closer-to-Nature Forest Management demonstrates a broader alignment, while TRIAD and Continuous Cover Forestry show a more selective adherence to IFM goals.
What about the next generation? IFM in European higher education.
Through work carried out by Andreea Spinu at the University of Freiburg, we want to understand how IFM is currently incorporated in higher education curricula. This led us to conduct a Europe-wide survey with forest science professors and lecturers. Based on responses from 30 institutions, we found that teaching around IFM tends to prioritize principles that promote natural and site-adapted regeneration, partial harvesting, structural heterogeneity, as well as the retention of habitat trees and deadwood. The responses also highlighted the need for increasing competencies in ecology, resilience, systems thinking, and innovation. Based on this, we identified gaps within current forestry curricula – an analysis that will support the development of a new educational module on IFM under TRANSFORMIT’s Work Package 7. Through these insights we hope to complement and improve the education that shapes a new generation of forest professionals.
A foundation for the Future
Whether it’s at the level of theory or higher education – with our current reviews we aim to offer a clearer picture of what IFM is and how it could be taught in the future. Such an analysis is needed to provide much-needed resources and input to policymakers, educators, and forest managers, aiming to simultaneously ensure timber production, biodiversity conservation, and global change adaptation. They also provide an important conceptual basis for future scientific endeavours – namely, our European-wide analysis of the effectiveness of IFM under various ecological conditions and societal settings. To be able to study a full spectrum of perspectives and contexts, we’ve engaged over 30 IFM-practicing enterprises for this.
So, the next time you walk, run or simply relax in a forest that seems both productive in terms of wood and diverse in species, you may be seeing IFM in action! Thanks to TRANSFORMIT, we’re now one step closer to defining and applying this integrative vision across diverse European forests, as well as ensuring that a next generation of forest enthusiasts knows how to carry it forward.
Dr. Florian Schnabel is a forest scientist at the Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Freiburg. His research focuses on the relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functions of forests, sustainable forest management in the face of global change and the effects of climate extremes on forests. He is leading Work Package 3 entitled Integrative Forest Management in Europe of the TRANSFORMIT project.
