H2020 project ONEforest
The Horizon project ONEforest -
Multi-criteria decision support system for a common forest management to
strengthen forest resilience, harmonise stakeholder interests and ensure
sustainable wood flows - has officially started on 1st June 2021. The project
duration is set for 3 years and will end in June 2024. The project has an
overall budget of around €5.2 million and consists of 19 partners in 8
countries throughout Europe. ONEforest will be led by Rosenheim Technical
University of Applied Sciences (Germany).
Forest ecosystems cover 42% of
the EU’s total land area and strong efforts have been made to facilitate an
increase of multiple forest ecosystem services. The forest-based sector can
greatly contribute to climate change mitigation trough carbon storage and
driving the bioeconomy transition and achieving the European Green Deal.
However, all ecosystems recently have been hit by rapidly changing climatic
conditions, e.g. long lasting droughts, heavy rain events, frequent and
intensive storms, pests and forest fires. To address this within future
silviculture management concepts, forest operations and wood supply, all
stakeholders along the Forest Wood Value Chain will need to form a common idea
of future forest management, while none of them can increase its benefit
without harming another one.
ONEforest will address this
challenge by developing a on multi-criteria decision support system that will
enable different stakeholders in forestry to make long-term strategic decisions
according to individual objectives, e.g. environmental, societal or economic
aspects. Forest owners will be able to assess which way of forest management is
advantageous for their objectives under current and future ecological and
economic conditions.
The overall idea is to achieve a
multi-functional resilient forestry and sustainable wood supply levering
wood-based products on a long-term perspective. ONEforest will provide
solutions for harmonizing various Forest Ecosystem Services.
Within ONEforest, four Case
Studies Regions will be established, following Europe’s biogeographical
regions, which are Mediterranean forests, Alpine forests, Continental and
Boreal/ Hemi-boreal forests. Through them the project will study
climate-resilient silvicultural management practices and new methods of seeding
and planting by the application of an own engineered topsoil cover based on
wood fibres. Corresponding forest operations and concepts of actions in case of
disturbances will be developed under selected sustainability criteria.
Stakeholders will be activated in the participative process of socio-economic
studies. The information will be consolidated in a Dynamic Value Chain Model to
assess the impact of the Forest Wood Value Chain on regional development
quantified by a set of economic, environmental, and social indicators. The
newly developed Multi-Criteria Decision Support System visualises
decision-making by comparing Sustainable Forest Management, synergies and
trade-offs of Forest Ecosystems, reliable wood supply, and stakeholder
interests through Forest Wood Value Chain indicators of social, economic, and
environmental dimensions.
The application will be available
for stakeholders. In the long run, all ONEforest results will be as far as
possible implemented in the processes of establishing new Model Forests, being
part of the International Model Forest Network for regionally adapted forest
management concepts.
The solutions implemented by
ONEforest will allow obtaining multiple benefits such as increasing the
long-term resilience of forest production systems and their value chains,
strengthening the protection and restoration of the biodiversity of these
ecosystems, adopting actions to enhance climate change mitigation, adaptation,
and rural development objectives, promoting the increase of green jobs, and
overcoming existing barriers between the different actors of forest management.
Further information: Sandra Krommes (Project
coordinator) sandra.krommes@th-rosenheim.de
Martin Brunsmeier Martin.Brunsmeier@th-rosenheim.de
Researchers: Prof. Dr. Carola Paul, Dr. Kai Husmann, Volker von Groß, Leona Ottens
Led by:
Rosenheim Technical University of Applied Sciences (Germany)
Duration:
06.2021 – 06.2024
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