Integrated forest management approaches are a key strategy to integrate nature conservation objectives into Sustainable Forest Management (SFM). Changing socio-economic and environmental driving forces, which impact the prospects of integrative forest management, now and in the future and the potential to integrate biodiversity conservation and wood production is only partly understood. In addition, the question of how the close combination of both nature conservation objectives and wood production can be achieved under a changing climate and increasing risks is crucial. Moreover, various barriers exist in the science-policy communication about these approaches.
InForMAr has been designed to tackle these challenges. The project has five objectives:
- To understand and map out the current and future ecological, socio-political and economic driving forces of integrated forest management, including the development of a typology of such approaches
- To understand and demonstrate how successful these approaches are in integrating nature conser-vation in SFM
- To understand and demonstrate the potential of integrated forest management approaches to inte-grate nature conservation in SFM under conditions of climate change and related risks
- To build and maintain a learning architecture between scientists, policy makers and practitioners related to integrated forest management as a tool to combine both nature conservation and wood pro-duction
- To derive policy related conclusions for a favorable socio-political framework for integrated forest management approaches in Europe (and keep the issue on the academic/political agenda)
Methodologically, the project will operate in two major work packages that are strongly interconnected through a project management and communication work package. In one work package, the focus will be on the analysis of the existing knowledge relating to the objectives, and the analysis of best practices case studies in order to address knowledge gaps. The other work package is mainly characterized by a series of events and activities that create close networks between scientists, policy makers and practi-tioners relating to integrated forest management in Europe.
For these two projects, concrete cooperation agreements are envisaged that encompasses:
- Research stays of ConFoBi researchers at EFI Bonn, and cooperation regarding conferences, workshops and science-policy communications
- Close cooperation especially in WP 2 with the oForest project, including secondment of staff to the WSL and vice versa.
More information on the project website: http://www.informar.eu/ (Last visited 08.05.2018)
