Guidelines for Climate Adaptive Forest Restoration and Reforestation Projects

Climate change poses a major challenge for forest management in Europe. Understanding how forestry professionals perceive climate change is critical to inform decision-making on climate change adaptation. The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions of forestry professionals regarding climate change and its effects on forests, as well as the importance of different forest management strategies for climate change adaptation. Using a survey, to which we received 565 [retained] responses, we determined regional differences in climate change perceptions across nine European countries and six professional groups. We found a North-South gradient in the perceptions of climate change effects for early 2019 – at the time of the survey – and when looking ahead to 2050. Perceptions of climate change effects and views on the possibility to adapt to climate change were particularly negative in Germany. According to respondents, the most important forest management strategies to adapt to climate change are diversification of tree species, artificial regeneration with improved forest reproductive material, and enrichment of natural regeneration with forest reproductive material better adapted to future climate changes. Two distinct clusters emerged from our analysis on how to adapt forests to climate change: a close-to-nature forestry cluster and an intensive forestry cluster. It appeared that the perception of public forestry regarding climate change effects and the possibility to adapt to climate change was significantly more pessimistic than those of private forestry and the forest industry. Recent extreme summer droughts and exceedances of ecological thresholds have manifested itself in profound changes in the perceptions of climate change by forestry professionals compared to findings of previous surveys in European regions.

Over the past decade, the Sudoe region (Spain, Portugal, and France) has experienced a significant increase in forest fires, placing this region among the most affected in the EU. This growing threat is linked not only to climate change but also to socio-economic factors such as rural depopulation and the decline of traditional land-use practices. As forests become increasingly unmanaged and climate extremes intensify, the risk of wildfires continues to escalate.To address this complex issue, the Use4Forest project adopts a proactive approach to wildfire prevention. The initiative is built on three main pillars: understanding local environmental and socio-economic dynamics; designing and testing innovative forest use and management solutions; and promoting the transfer and replication of successful strategies across the region. By working closely with forestry experts and local authorities, the project aims to strengthen institutional capacity and encourage smarter, more sustainable forest management practices.The project brings together 13 key partners from across the Sudoe area: 3 from France, 3 from Portugal, and 7 from Spain — including 2 from the Basque Country (HAZI and EUSKALMET). HAZI is the public foundation of the Basque Government dedicated to promoting the development of the forestry and agri-food sectors. The Basque Meteorology Agency (EUSKALMET) is a public entity that provides information on weather and climate, including operational fire weather and wildfire risk monitoring and warning at local level.In this presentation, we provide a brief overview of the general objectives and planned activities of the project Use4Forest, with a particular emphasis on the contribution of the two Basque partners. In this context, we will present our specific goals, planned actions, and some preliminary results. The focus is on advancing the understanding of forest fires at the Basque Country level, not only in terms of weather-climate contributions, but also covering other key factors such as fuel dynamics and forest management practices.Among other relevant activities, it is worth highlighting the analysis of successful case studies where socio-economic prevention strategies are playing a key role in reducing wildfire risk in Basque Public Utility Forests; the use of LiDAR point clouds and TLS/SLAM laser scanning technologies to analyze territory; the real-time determination of fuel characteristics (fuel moisture sensors, satellite imagery, …); the review and improvement of the Euskalmet wildfire risk index prediction system (dynamic fuel condition, ...); the development and implementation of advanced decision support systems that integrate risk indices, impact assessments, and fire behavior and spread modeling; the operational use of satellite products and other observational data applicable to wildfire emergency response; and the operational validation of local predictive systems, with a focus on end-user needs and the incorporation of impact data from recorded wildfire events.

Climate-smart forestry is a sustainable forest management approach for increasing positive climate impacts on society. As climate-smart forestry is focusing on more sustainable solutions that are resource-efficient and circular, digitalization plays an important role in its implementation. The article aimed to validate an automatic workflow of processing 3D pointclouds to produce digital twins for every tree on large 1-ha sample plots using a GeoSLAM mobile LiDAR scanner and VirtSilv AI platform. Specific objectives were to test the efficiency of segmentation technique developed in the platform for individual trees from an initial cloud of 3D points observed in the field and to quantify the efficiency of digital twinning by comparing the automatically generated results of (DBH, H, and Volume) with traditional measurements. A number of 1399 trees were scanned with LiDAR to create digital twins and, for validation, were measured with traditional tools such as forest tape and vertex. The segmentation algorithm developed in the platform to extract individual 3D trees recorded an accuracy varying between 95 and 98%. This result was higher in accuracy than reported by other solutions. When compared to traditional measurements the bias for diameter at breast height (DBH) and height was not significant. Digital twinning offers a blockchain solution for digitalization, and AI platforms are able to provide technological advantage in preserving and restoring biodiversity with sustainable forest management.

The cumulative impacts of human and natural activity on forest landscapes in Alberta are clear. Human activity, such as forestry and oil and gas development, and natural processes such as wildfire leave distinctive marks on the composition, age class structure and spatial configuration of the forest. Also, other processes such as climate change may be slowly and subtly modifying forest dynamics and may lead to important changes over time. Given the importance and ubiquitous nature of these cumulative impacts, a forest management plan that does not adequately take such impacts into account cannot be expected to adequately manage the forest, neither its components nor its processes. In order to address the question of cumulative impacts in the context of forestry, a landscape model was designed and built in order to simulate forestry, oil and gas, climate change, wildfire, and demographic change for the Whitecourt forest management area over a long time horizon. This paper presents the model and the forest landscape states it forecasted with cumulative impacts, and evaluates the fate of some key indicators of biodiversity and forest productivity. Simulations of harvesting as the only disturbance, the nearest analogue to the current approach to forest management planning, yield results that differ greatly, in every respect, from the results of simulations of harvesting combined with other disturbance agents. The simulation of multiple disturbance agents together allows for the detection of interactions among disturbance agents, and indeed, there are important interactions between the processes of fire and oil and gas. Results also show that climate and demographic change will intensify the impact of fire on the supply of timber and other values. Also, the continued development of petroleum resources will lead to an important erosion of the forest landbase. Overall, this paper makes a strong case for cumulative impacts assessment and the use of spatial and temporal stochastic modelling in forest management. Key words: cumulative impacts, forest management, climate change, landscape modelling, APLM

Implementing the Climate-Smart Forestry (CSF) concept into practice requires interaction among key stakeholders, especially forest owners and managers, policymakers (or regulators in general), forest consultants, and forest users. But what could be the most effective policy instruments to achieve climate smartness in mountain forests? Which ones would be the most acceptable for forest owners? And for the local forest communities? Should they be designed and implemented with the use of participatory approaches or rather on a top-down basis? This chapter summarizes key policy instruments structured in three subsequent categories: command-and-control, voluntary market-based instruments, and community cooperation. It provides examples of their functioning in the forestry sector and discusses their suitability for the implementation of climate smart forestry. It appears that there are many policy instruments used with varying degrees of success such as forest concessions or voluntary certification schemes. A wide range of instruments are responding to direct regulation; this has been seen as insufficient to deal with natural hazards and calamities.

Non-native forest tree species have been introduced in Europe since the 16th century, but only in the second half of the 20th century the significance of the seed source origin for their economic use was recognized, resulting in the establishment of numerous provenance trials at a national, regional, European and International level, as those led by IUFRO. Breeding programs have also been launched in the continent for the most economically important species. Aim of this work is the formulation of provenance recommendations for planting of five non-native tree species in Europe (Douglas fir, grand fir, Sitka spruce, lodgepole pine and black locust), based on the information obtained from twenty countries, in the frame of the EU FP-1403 NNEXT Cost Action. The survey revealed that official and non-official national recommendations, based on provenance research results, have been elaborated and followed at a different level and extend for the above five species, but only for Douglas fir recommendations exist in almost all the participating to the survey countries. The compilation of provenance recommendations across Europe for each species is presented in the current work. Besides the recommended introduced seed sources, European seed sources are also preferred for planting, due to ease of access and high availability of forest reproductive material. European breeding programs yielding genetic material of high productivity and quality constitute currently the seed source of choice for several species and countries. Consolidation of trial data obtained across countries will allow the joint analysis that is urgently needed to draw solid conclusions, and will facilitate the development of ‘Universal-Response-Functions’ for the species of interest, rendering possible the identification of the genetic material suitable for global change. New provenance trial series that will test seed sources from the entire climatic range of the species, established in sites falling within and outside the environmental envelopes of their natural ranges, are urgently needed to pinpoint and understand the species-specific climate constraints, as well as to correlate functional traits to the seed origin and the environmental conditions of the test sites, so that the selection of suitable forest reproductive material of non-native tree species in the face of climate change can be feasible.

According to the Seventh National Forest Inventory (2004-2008), China's forests cover an area of 195.45million ha, or 20.36% of the total land area. China has the most rapidly increasing forest resources in the world. However, China is also a country with serious forest pest problems. There are more than 8,000 species of potential forest pests in China, including insects, plant diseases, rodents and lagomorphs, and hazardous plants. Among them, 300 species are considered as economically or ecologically important, and half of these are serious pests, including 86 species of insects. Forest management and utilization have a considerable influence on the stability and sustainability of forest ecosystems. At the national level, forestry policies always play a major role in forest resource management and forest health protection. In this paper, we present a comprehensive overview of both achievements and challenges in forest management and insect pest control in China. First, we summarize the current status of forest resources and their pests in China. Second, we address the theories, policies, practices and major national actions on forestry and forest insect pest management, including the Engineering Pest Management of China, the National Key Forestry Programs, the Classified Forest Management system, and the Collective Forest Tenure Reform. We analyze and discuss three representative plantations-Eucalyptus, poplar and Masson pine plantations-with respect to their insect diversity, pest problems and pest management measures.

Balancing societal demands on forests is a major challenge in current forest management. Small‐scale private forest owners are an important ownership group that is rarely addressed directly in this discussion. Our study aims to identify and differentiate between private forest owner groups. Based on this, we take a systemic approach and determine leverage points that can be used to foster transformative change towards integrative conservation‐oriented forest management. We conducted a survey of 1656 small‐scale private forest owners in northwest Germany within a typical European multi‐ownership landscape and formed three clusters based on their activities. While all groups generally perceived nature conservation as important, they differed with regard to their forest management activities. Multiple‐use‐oriented forest owners (45%) were most active, including in terms of conservation measures. Conservation‐oriented owners (25%) mainly focused on passive measures, and conventional owners (30%) showed only a little engagement with conservation‐related activities. Despite the differences, common instruments promoting conservation activities were identified. They included, for example on‐site consultation, information about legal regulations and financial incentives. Based on four system characteristics (parameters, feedback, design and intent), we identified leverage points towards transformative change. The deep and thus effective leverage points are changing the discourse, accounting for the heterogeneity of private forest owners as well as for uncertainty related to climate change and adapting measures to local contexts. Furthermore, working towards increasing awareness, knowledge and interest as well as accounting for the desire for autonomy and control are promising pathways for change. A holistic transformation of forest policy and management towards integrative conservation is urgently needed to meet the current challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and timber demand. This transformation has to go beyond the adaptation of existing policy instruments and instead focus on systematic and cross‐sectoral changes in the underlying policy orientation, its design and its implementation. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Climate Smart Forestry is a modern forestry concept that aims to reduce the negative impacts of climate changes on forests and to develop a long-term forest management strategy that considers climate changes and natural disasters effects on forests. Structural changes in virgin forests are a natural response on climate changes and this justifies the importance of their study in the context of Climate Smart Forestry. The dynamics of the Common beech virgin forest in the Ukrainian Carpathians has been studied from 2000 to 2015 on a 10-hectares permanent plot in accordance with the IUFRO methodological guidelines as a joint effort with the Swiss Federal Institute of Forest, Snow and Landscape (WSL). Climate changes (increase in the sum of active temperatures – by 22 % and decrease in precipitation – by 46 %) recorded on the meteorological station of the Carpathian Biosphere Reserve, which is located 3 km away from the research plot, and the impact of windthrow – according to the data of 4 inventories. An analysis of the 15 years dynamics of virgin forest revealed significant changes in some forest stand parameters against the background of the overall stability of its structure. Investigation results confirmed that beech virgin forest of the Ukrainian Carpathians is a very complex forest stand (four layers, nine species, and fluctuation of the trees’ diameter – from 6 to 132 cm and the trees’ age – from 1 to 400 years), but very stable (variability of 6 out of 8 key parameters does not exceed 10 percent) too. The increase in the number of trees in the beech virgin forest from 2010 to 2015 was 60 % (from 278 to 445 trees per ha) and the main reason for this was the windfall in 2007. The increase in the diameter increment was also significant from 2005 to 2015 (by 35 % – from 0.26 to 0.36 cm/year), even in spite of the increase in the number of trees and the decrease in average diameter. The uprise of four new species (Rocky oak, Cherry, Mountain ash, Goat willow) in the species composition of the virgin forest resulted from the vitality deterioration of the Common beech and other tree species that formed the virgin forest earlier. These changes in the virgin forest cannot be explained by its internal dynamics, and the structural stability of the virgin forest indicates that these factors were due to external factors, first of all – changes of the site conditions (global warming). Therefore, our research gives grounds to consider some proposals for Climate-Smart Forestry in the beech forests of the Eastern Carpathians: for prevention of the wood volume losses due to natural disasters, it is necessary to pay more attention to damages to trees and crowns within cuts (stem hollows, stem cancer, big crowns); for the formation of a native forest stands through the natural regeneration it is expedient to reduce the size of gaps within cutting to 1 – 2 trees of the main layer; in order to save in forests those species, which tend to deteriorate vitality, it is necessary to prevent their damage within cutting; it is expedient to increase the intensity of cuttings by 15 % or reduce the intervals between them in order to regulate the wood volume because of the increase of increment. Keywords: site conditions change, uneven-aged forest stand, tree number, diameter increment, undergrowth, new species.

Iriai forests are an example of communal forest management in Japan. Local institutions have never been static in governing iriai forests and the external environments of iriai forests have changed significantly over time. This study examines the management challenges of forest producers’ cooperatives (FPCs) and authorized neighborhood associations (ANAs) as the two most important contemporary forms of iriai forest management. Data from nine FPCs and three ANAs in the Fukuoka and Saga prefectures of Kyushu Island are used. Surveyed topics included basic information about FPCs and ANAs, recent management activities, financial conditions, and member perceptions of forest management. Some FPCs suffered from disadvantageous forestry circumstances, including low timber prices, decreased number of members, and tax burdens; at the same time, some FPCs greatly profited from non-forestry income or assets, e.g., by leasing or selling forestland. In most cases, basic forest management operations had been conducted by both FPCs and ANAs, and members had maintained attachment to and responsibility for iriai forests and a sense of public contribution. Policy recommendations include making legal settings and administrative supports more compatible with contemporary realities, providing greater financial support for management activities, and pursuing multi-level governance to open the commons to wider society.

Challenges of contemporary forest management are frequently referred to as complex. This article empirically studies complexity in forest management decision-making. In contrast to what is often assumed in the literature, this article starts by assuming that complexity does not just consist of an external descriptive element, but also depends on how decision-makers perceive the system at hand. This “perceived complexity” determines decision-making. We used a straightforward interpretation of perceived complexity using two criteria: the number of factors considered and the uncertainty perceived about these factors. The results show that Dutch forest managers generally consider forest management decision-making to be complicated (many factors to consider) rather than complex (many uncertain factors to consider). Differences in sources of complexity confirm the individual character of perceived complexity. The factors perceived to be most relevant for decision-making (the forest itself, the organization’s objective, the cost of management, public opinion, national policies and laws, and new scientific insights and ideas) are generally seen as rather certain, although “complexity reduction” may play a role that can adversely affect the quality of decision-making. Additional use of more open-ended, forward-looking methods, such as qualitative foresight tools, might enable addressing uncertainty and complexity, and thereby enhance decision-making in forest management to prepare for increasing complexity in the future.

Climate influences natural processes at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Consequently, climate change raises many challenges for sustainable forest management; among them, the integration of fire and forest management is increasingly discussed. We propose here an evaluation of the adaptive capacity of forest management under changing forest fire regimes under climate change in the boreal forest of Quebec. Adaptation begins by reinterpreting current practices dealing with climatically driven variability. Among them, fire suppression, and regeneration enhancement can contribute to coping with some impacts of climate change. However, there is an increasing need to develop more integrative and spatially explicit management strategies to decrease the vulnerability of forest management to changing fire risk. Some developing management strategies, such as fuel management or the triad approach (zoning system for conservation, intensive, and extensive forest management), present an interesting potential for integrating the fire risk in management plans. While fuel management and fire suppression are indicated for particularly severe fire regimes, protection against insects, and maintaining a shorter disturbance cycle using forest management represent the preferred adaptation options where the fire cycle is lengthening under climate change. Key words: forest fire, fire risk, climate change, vulnerability, impacts, adaptation strategy, adaptation options, sustainable forest management, fire management

The widespread use of insecticides in forest ecosystems has raised significant concerns about their nontarget effects on biological control agents (BCAs), such as predators and parasitoid wasps, which play a pivotal role in natural pest suppression. This review evaluates the lethal and sublethal impacts of various insecticide classes on BCAs. Systemic insecticides, while effective in controlling pests, have been shown to impair the reproduction, foraging behavior, and host-seeking abilities of BCAs, leading to disruptions in pest regulation and biodiversity loss. In Pinus koraiensis (Siebold & Zucc) forests, parasitoid wasps such as Baryscapus dioryctriae (Yang & Song) are critical for managing pests such as Dioryctria pryeri. However, insecticide exposure threatens their efficacy, exacerbating pest outbreaks and ecosystem instability. The deployment of B. dioryctriae as a BCA provides a sustainable alternative to chemical control, with demonstrated success in reducing pest populations and minimizing environmental impacts. Integrated pest management (IPM) frameworks that combine biological control with targeted insecticide use offer promising solutions to mitigate nontarget effects. Future research should focus on optimizing mass-rearing and release strategies for BCAs, exploring semiochemical-based pest disruption and assessing the long-term ecological consequences of low-dose insecticide exposure. By advancing IPM approaches, forest managers can achieve effective pest control while preserving the ecological integrity and biodiversity of forest ecosystems.

COST (COST is an intergovernmental framework for European cooperation in science and technology. COST funds network activities, workshops and conferences with the aim to reducing the fragmentation in European research) Action E47, European Network for Forest Vegetation Management—Towards Environmental Sustainability was formed in 2005 and gathered scientists and practitioners from eighteen European countries with the objective of sharing current scientific advances and best practice in the field of forest vegetation management to identify common knowledge gaps and European research potentials. This paper summarizes the work of the COST action and concludes that although diverse countries have by necessity adopted different means of addressing the challenges of forest vegetation management in Europe in the 21st century, some common themes are still evident. In all countries, there is a consensus that vegetation management is a critical silvicultural operation to achieve forest establishment, regeneration, growth and production. It appears that herbicides are still in use to some degree in all the countries reviewed, although at a lower intensity in many of the northern countries compared to other regions. The most common alternatives to herbicides adopted are the use of mechanical methods to cut vegetation and achieve soil cultivation; overstorey canopy manipulation to control vegetation by light availability; and in some instances the use of mulches or biological control. Any reductions in herbicide use achieved do not seem to have been driven solely by participation in forest certification schemes. Other factors, such as national initiatives or the availability of additional resources to implement more expensive non-chemical approaches, may be equally important. The development of more cost-effective and practical guidance for managers across Europe on non-chemical control methods can best be brought about by future collaborative research into more sustainable and holistic methods of managing forest vegetation, through the identification of silvicultural approaches to reduce or eliminate pesticide use and through gaining a better understanding of the fundamental mechanisms and impacts of competition.

Forestry is a major contributor to the Ghanaian economy and has the potential to increase its contribution if a number of challenges are overcome. Over the past 15 years, Ghana has modified its forest policies, laws, and regulations, but still faces serious challenges with illegal logging and unsustainable forest management. At the same time, Ghana’s major wood product trading partner, the European Union (EU), is requesting that Ghana, under the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA), ensures that wood products from Ghana to the EU are legally produced. Additionally, several EU wood product importers have requested their suppliers in Ghana to meet certification requirements. To date, efforts by Ghanaian companies to achieve certification have not been successful. Certification can potentially address forest management challenges facing tropical countries like Ghana, while enhancing the export of wood products to environmentally sensitive markets, such as the EU. This research was conducted to identify the underlying causes for Ghanaian companies’ inability to meet certification requirements and the implications for forest management and timber exports from Ghana. The research was conducted in Ghana from May to August 2009. Mail surveys supported by field assessment of forest management practices were the main research methods used. In addition, interviews were conducted with key contacts from the four groups studied: policymakers, loggers, wood processors/exporters, and wood product importers from Ghana. Results suggest that current forest management practices in Ghana are unsustainable. Forest management certification was found to have a positive impact on forest management, but is unlikely to be an effective mechanism in influencing overall forest management practices. Respondents identified illegal logging, corruption, and weak enforcement of forest laws as the key impediments to sustainable forestry in Ghana. In spite of the increasing demand for certified wood products by European importers, results indicate that Europe is the primary destination for respondent wood exports. The most significant conclusion is that the government should undertake institutional roles reform to transfer key forest management functions to companies that adhere to government standards, while addressing the underlying factors of corruption, illegal logging, and weak enforcement of forest laws through a broader stakeholder consultative process.