New collaboration supports sustainable development in the Mediterranean

The European Forest Institute and International Center for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM) have strengthened their collaboration, signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 14 September in Paris.

The MoU establishes cooperation between the two organisations on shared research and capacity building goals at the interface of forestry and agriculture. Long-term sustainable development in the Mediterranean region depends on the governance, resilience and sustainable management of natural resources. This requires a landscape-level approach, integrating both forestry and agriculture to form the basis for a Mediterranean bioeconomy. 

The following focus areas will be a priority:

• Integrated Mediterranean landscape management and ecosystem prestoration, as a basis for developing a specific Mediterranean bioeconomy while enhancing the provision of ecosystem and essential services and products to support health and livelihoods.
• The role, trajectories and evolution of Mediterranean agro-silvo-pastoral systems to enhance landscape socio-ecological resilience while advancing the bioeconomy.
• Urban forest-based solutions and urban farming as a means to rethink cities in the Mediterranean and ensure they are climate smart and biodiversity friendly.

Joint activities will include research, networking and supporting capacity building, with the aim of maximising synergies and increasing impact.

Marc Palahí, EFI Director said: “EFI and CIHEAM are in a position to jointly create the knowledge base for rethinking holistically agriculture and forestry in a Mediterranean context to ensure food security, biodiversity conservation and a transition to a climate neutral circular bioeconomy.”

Plácido Plaza, Secretary General of CIHEAM said: “The future of food in the Mediterranean cannot be conceived without the sustainable management of forests and without taking into account the interactions at work between forest and agricultural areas. In this, EFI and CIHEAM have great potential for cooperation in the search for innovative solutions to these interconnected issues.”

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The European Forest Institute (EFI) is an independent international science organization which generates, connects and shares knowledge at the interface between science and policy. EFI has 30 member countries who have ratified the Convention, and c.130 member organizations in 40 countries, working in diverse research fields.

The CIHEAM (International Center for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies) is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1962 and composed of 13 member states (Albania, Algeria, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia and Turkey). Dedicated to food and nutritional security, sustainable agriculture and fisheries, and the development of rural areas, it celebrates its 60th anniversary this year.