How to strengthen the European forest carbon sink integrating active restoration and adaptation to climate change

Climate change is progressing faster than tree species can adapt or migrate to regions with more suitable climates. Geographic barriers and fragmented habitats caused by land use hinder the natural spread of trees, making passive restoration efforts — those with little or no human involvement — less effective.

A new EFI policy brief, published in collaboration with the SUPERB project, explains how active forest restoration combined with assisted migration of more climate-adapted tree species and populations, has the long-term potential to enhance carbon sequestration significantly compared to restoration efforts without assisted migration. Assisted migration means aligning tree species and populations to the climate to which they are adapted. This measure is a significant element of the so-called “Prestoration” approach SUPERB is taking, which stands for a combination of restoration and climate change adaptation of forests.  

The policy brief also looks at what policymakers can do to effectively implement and potentially refine the EU Nature Restoration Regulation. The authors point out that realistic restoration targets should be set so they can be achieved despite ongoing climate change, and adaptation should also be pro-actively tackled within the Natura 2000 system.  

Full reference: 
Chakraborty, D., Schüler S.,  Ciceu, A., Bauhus, J., Bou Dagher, M., Đodan, M., Kramer, K., Svensson, J., Schatzdorfer, E. 2024. How to strengthen the European forest carbon sink through prestoration: integrating active restoration and adaptation. Policy Brief 11. European Forest Institute. https://doi.org/10.36333/pb11

^{Photo by Gesche Schifferdecker.}