Unit for Forest Growth

RE-ENFORCE – Transnational Cooperation on nature-based solutions for restoring degraded forests of Central Europe

date

04.12.2024

Chakraborty Debojyoti
Ebner Stefan

The forests of Central Europe provide a diverse range of ecosystem services, including carbon sequestration, protective functions, biodiversity support, and job creation, while also serving as cost-effective measures for climate protection. However, the effects of climate change are increasingly threatening forest ecosystems and presenting them with major challenges in terms of adapting to changing climatic conditions and protecting biodiversity.

Nature-based solutions (NBS) present a promising approach to address these issues through sustainable management, protection and restoration measures, thereby delivering benefits to human well-being and biodiversity. These challenges transcend national borders and require a transnational approach to forest restoration.

Bird's eye view of a huge windthrow area around a country road — Windthrow in Torun, Polen. Photo: Forest Research Institute of Poland (IBL)

The RE-ENFORCE project

The project aims to tackle these problems by promoting transnational cooperation in the restoration of degraded forest ecosystems in Central Europe through NBS. Forest restoration will be supported by the development of a transnational strategy, a web-based online decision support system (DSS), and the identification of priority areas for restoration. This strategy will also be practically implemented through six jointly developed pilot actions. In addition, a study is being conducted to explore the financing of restoration measures through economic and political instruments. The RE-ENFORCE project, with a budget of around 2.6 million €, is funded by Interreg Central Europe.

Tasks of BFW

The BFW, as project leader, is responsible for administrative tasks such as preparing reports, distributing funds, and communicating with the funding agency. Additionally, BFW employees actively contribute to various work packages, sometimes leading specific packages, and ensure that deliverables and research outcomes are achieved. BFW’s responsibilities include, for example, conducting and analyzing a cross-national survey on protection and restoration measures, as well as creating a report on economic and political measures for the restoration of degraded forests. Another key focus is contributing to the development and interpretation of thematic maps for Europe and participating in an online DSS.

Group photo — RE-ENFORCE project team on a field trip to the pilot area in Japons, Austria. Photo: BFW

Pilot actions for the practical application of the transnational strategy and for the exchange of expertise

An important element of the project is the establishment of a total of ten pilot areas distributed throughout Central Europe. The pilot areas are forest areas that have been destroyed, deforested or degraded due to an abiotic or biotic driver. The focus is on six factors: wind, fire, drought, bark beetle, ash dieback and inappropriate management. The transnational forest restoration strategy will be implemented in these pilot actions to link the results of the project with forestry practice.