HRH The Prince of Wales launches restoration of forest landscapes in Romania
- HRH The Prince of Wales launches restoration of forest landscapes in Romania by his Circular Bioeconomy Alliance
- Europe’s largest cross border forest restoration project launched
- New science-policy study on forest biodiversity published
Leading scientists, experts and practitioners met in Sibiu, Romania on 30 May to launch Europe’s largest cross border forest restoration project. The ThinkForest science-policy event celebrated a growing movement to restore forest biodiversity and advance the circular bioeconomy, for the benefit of people and the planet.
The event was opened by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, who the same day launched a landscape restoration project in the Carpathian mountains, funded by his Circular Bioeconomy Alliance and developed in collaboration with the Horizon 2020 project SUPERB.
The Romanian Minister of Environment, Waters and Forests Barna Tánczos joined HRH for the opening of the event.
His Royal Highness emphasised in his opening speech that we have to rethink our economy if we want to rewrite our future. We need a circular bioeconomy, investing in three mutually reinforcing areas: biodiversity, innovation and local and indigenous communities. The rest of the world can learn from the way Romania has relied on regenerative approaches to create rich landscapes in areas such as Transylvania, where man lives in harmony with nature.
The ThinkForest event also marked the launch of the 20m euro Horizon 2020 project, SUPERB, coordinated by the European Forest Institute. The project involves more than 100 forest science and practice organizations in 20 different countries and includes 12 large-scale forest restoration demonstration sites across Europe. One of the sites is located in the Romanian Carpathian mountains.
Marc Palahí, European Forest Institute Director and chair of the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance said: “Scientific collaboration is crucial to scale up successfully forest restoration in Europe in a context of rapid environmental changes and increasing demands on our forests. I am proud of EFI's leadership in bringing together some of the leading scientists and practitioners in Europe to demonstrate why and how we can restore forest landscapes for different purposes and benefits.”
A new EFI science-policy study on Forest Biodiversity in Europe was also presented at the event. Written by a group of distinguished scientists from 10 European countries, the study provides policymakers as well as forest and landscape managers with a better understanding of the complex subject of biodiversity in the context of European forests.
More information
ThinkForest is a European high-level discussion and information-sharing forum on the future of forests. ThinkForest is facilitated by the European Forest Institute, an independent, science-based international organization. More information: https://www.efi.int
SUPERB ‘Systemic solutions for upscaling of urgent ecosystem restoration for forest-related biodiversity and ecosystem services’ is a four-year, 20 million euro, EU-funded Horizon 2020 project, with 36 project partners and over 90 associate project partners. More information: SUPERB: Upscaling Forest Restoration - SUPERB (forest-restoration.eu)
The Circular Bioeconomy Alliance was established by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales in 2020. It provides knowledge-informed support as well as a learning and networking platform to connect the dots between investors, companies, governmental and non-governmental organizations and local communities to advance the circular bioeconomy while restoring biodiversity globally. More information: https://circularbioeconomyalliance.org/
For more information: Rach Colling, Head of Communications, European Forest Institute
Email: rach.colling@efi.int
