How can uniform coniferous stands in Northern Europe be converted to more natural and climate-friendly managed forests? How will that affect the economic outcome of forestry and what is the effect on biodiversity?
These questions are raised and sought to be answered in the EU LIFE project Forest Fit For Future.
Conifer forests are important for our transition to a more climate-friendly and bio-based future. There is an increasing demand for wood as a replacement for fossil-based materials and energy, steel, concrete, plastic products, etc. However, traditional, uniform conifer plantations have proven to be vulnerable to storms, droughts, and insect attacks, which are expected to become more frequent with climate change. Therefore, we should consider changes in our forestry practices.
From 2020 to 2028, LIFE Forest Fit for Future, a partnership between the Danish state forestry and the private forest sector, will work on the conversion of conifer monocultures to more robust, variated and climate resilient forests. We aim at exchanging knowledge on closer-to-nature forestry and breaking down barriers for a more wide-spread implementation of this management form. The project is thus already starting to meet the recommendations to closer-to-nature forestry presented in the new EU Forest Strategy.
On the 5th and 6th of May 2022, 45 participants met in Schleswig-Holstein to see practical examples of conversion of conifer plantation to closer-to-nature-forestry and discuss the use of non-native tree species for climate adaptation. The excursion was arranged by the partners The Danish Nature Agency, Schleswig-Holstein Landesforsten and ProSilva Denmark.
You can find more information of LIFE Forest Fit For Future in Danish, English and German languages on the project website here: https://lifeforfit.dk/
