Building Europe’s forest future: join the MoniFun stakeholder community

Forests provide multiple functions, help mitigate climate change, protect biodiversity, contribute to our economy, and improve our well-being. The consolidation of comprehensive knowledge on the multifunctionality of European forests is challenging. A European Forest Multifunctionality Monitoring System (EFFMS) would help in many aspects:

Enhanced resilience guidance for forest owners and managers:

• Forest owners and managers need guidance to strengthen forest resilience in the face of climate change, disturbances, and other challenges. This system will enable more effective forest management, allowing for proactive responses to disturbances and enhancing forest ecosystems’ long-term resilience and sustainability.

Supporting multi-functionality through data-driven policies:

• The multi-functionality of forests requires clear policies that address both the current and future needs of forests and forestry.  A well-designed information system could provide policymakers and stakeholders with essential data to develop forest management strategies, regulations, and policies. This would support decision-making across EU Member States, ensuring that forests continue to fulfil their ecological, economic, and social roles while promoting long-term sustainability.

Incorporating social, cultural, and biodiversity dimensions:

• Expanding forest monitoring to include forests’ social and cultural roles alongside comprehensive biodiversity monitoring will enhance forest multifunctionality. By tracking how communities interact with forests (e.g., recreational use, traditional knowledge, and others) and monitoring diverse species and ecosystem health, forests can be managed more holistically to meet ecological, economic, and societal needs.

Therefore, gathering information about forests to make the right decisions about their multiple functions is crucial. The challenge is collecting and integrating the information.

Europe's lack of harmonised monitoring systems limits the comprehensive knowledge needed for effective policy planning, implementation, evaluation, mitigation and adaptation measures. Thus, consolidating data would enable better planning and evaluation of forest-related policies. So, how can this issue be solved?

Be part of the solution! Join the MoniFun stakeholder community

MoniFun is a Horizon Europe project with the objective of “creating a blueprint for a comprehensive European Forest Multifunctionality Monitoring System (EFMMS).”

MoniFun is inviting anyone involved in the forestry sector or sustainable management of European forests, working with forest-based data, to join them in developing this forest information system tool that can help policymakers and stakeholders. By building a community, all relevant stakeholders who need to have a say in the various project activities Monifun conducts to co-create the monitoring system.

Fill out this stakeholder identification survey here.

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Find out how EFI is involved in MoniFun here.

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