A warm welcome to Luxembourg Despite a chilly autumn at our doorstep, on the 4th of October, we were warmly welcomed by the chair of the Integrate Network, Michel Leytem (ANF), as he opened the 9th Annual Meeting of the Integrate Network held in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg. There were about 94 participants across 3 days from...
On the 9th of November at 15:00 CEST, FOREST EUROPE is hosting its second HLPD – High-level Policy Dialogue. In the first part of the event, German Federal Minister Cem Özdemir, the current chair of the FOREST EUROPE process, along with María Jesús Rodríguez de Sancho (Director General of Spain), Michael Reinhard (Head of the...
Recently there has been broad political interest in alternative forest management systems, in response factors that call for a rethinking of production-oriented forestry, including biodiversity concerns, resilience issues and socio-economic changes. The EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030 for example calls for the development of nature-oriented forestry practices to safeguard biodiversity and rural livelihoods. Moreover, it sets...
Why the best exchange of knowledge&experiences about forests usually happens in the forest Have you ever heard of the ADAPT Project, a project implemented by IUCN to increase ecosystem and community resilience to climate change and disaster risks by applying Nature-based solutions in the Western Balkans? I in fact haven’t, until recently I met some of...
On the 9th of September, the Czech state forest enterprise Lesy České Republiky (LČR) organized a joint meeting with colleagues from Germany’s Sachsenforst state forests at the Křivoklát forest, in Central Bohemia. At the Marteloscope Křivoklát area, foresters from Saxony got to know the integrated approach to forest management of the Křivoklát area. The training...
In Italy, marteloscopes are one of the most useful tools to communicate and teach how conservation of biodiversity can be integrated in traditional forestry practices. In the past years, the Pennataro (south Italy) marteloscope, developed by University of Molise, was used as an outdoor laboratory to implement teaching activities with students and forest practitioners.In the...
Do climate adaptation, mitigation and biodiversity conservation goals walk hand in hand when it comes to the management of Europe’s forests? Or are they closely related, but essentially different pursuits? To unravel the complexities of the topic, EFI and IUCN invited representatives from the EU Commission, academia, and the advocacy and policy arenas to debate...
In October 2021, Astrid Van Den Bossche, a student from Gent University, established a new marteloscope in Flanders (Belgium), adding it to the extensive Integrate Network. You can read Astrids’ exciting story here
A Tree-related Microhabitat (TreM) is a distinct, well-delineated morphological singularity occurring on living or standing dead trees, which constitutes a crucial substrate for species. Cavities, conks of lignivorous fungi and dead branches are examples of TreMs. TreMs are widely recognized key features of biodiversity and are useful indirect indicators for biodiversity. Therefore, researchers have suggested...
How can we improve the management of our forests to make them more resilient to impacts of climate change and the increased risk of disturbances? What can we do to first predict and then adapt to change? How can we enhance biodiversity in our forests while still provide wood for the bioeconomy? What can we...
