Essential Forest Mitigation Indicators (EFMIs): a pathway to assess decarbonisation and climate change resilience in European forests – Policy Brief #3
Forests are at the heart of Europe’s climate goals, providing vital services like carbon sequestration, biodiversity protection, and regional climate regulation. However, making these services operational for forest managers and policy-makers requires clear, science-based tools. To meet this need, OptFor-EU releases a new Policy Brief dedicated to our set of Essential Forest Mitigation Indicators (EFMIs). […]
Interim report on project’s response to European Green Deal and New EU Forest Strategy
Τhe OptFor-EU project forms one of the enablers towards optimized forest management in Europe within the guidelines of the European Green Deal and New EU Forest Strategy 2030. OptFor-EU, being a project under the Horizon Europe programme, is developing innovative solutions that contribute to a low-carbon and climate-resilient future. In this framework, the project published […]
Report on socio-economic effects of forest management scenarios by Case Study Area (CSA)
Forests are often seen through a purely ecological lens—as carbon sinks or biodiversity hotspots. While these roles are critical, they only tell half the story. OptFor-EU latest publication brings the other half into focus: the socio-economic impact of how we manage our woodlands. This comprehensive study explores how different management strategies influence everything from rural […]
Report on Forest Managers Perceptions about Forest Ecosystem Services – No 1
As we navigate the complexities of a changing climate, it is becoming increasingly clear that the success of European forest management depends on more than just ecological data. It depends on the people on the ground—the forest managers who make daily decisions about the future of our landscapes. The latest OptFor-EU report “Forest Managers’ Perceptions […]
Enhancing Climate Resilience in Forest Management: Recommendations from OptFor-EU – Policy Brief #2
Forests are vital for climate mitigation and adaptation, yet their management faces numerous challenges due to institutional gaps, policy fragmentation, and governance inefficiencies. The OptFor-EU project has identified these challenges and proposed solutions to foster sustainable forest management and enhance resilience across forest-based value chains. This brief summarises the key findings and recommendations to address […]
Novel set of Essential Forest Mitigation Indicators (EFMIs)
This report from OptFor-EU presents the carefully developed set of Essential Forest Mitigation Indicators (EFMIs), designed to guide forest managers, researchers and policymakers in assessing and enhancing the potential of carbon mitigation of forests through informed management practices. The EFMIs were created through a bottom-up collaborative process that brought together scientific experts, forestry professionals and […]
Development of an open-access code to harmonize forest-climate data
The latest OptFor-EU report “Development of an Open-Access Code to Harmonize Forest-Climate Data” introduces a powerful data harmonisation framework, ensuring that diverse forest and climate datasets can be integrated, compared, and applied effectively in forest management and climate modeling. This report presents a standardized approach to collecting and processing critical climate and forest data sets. […]
Harnessing the potential of European forest ecosystem services: recommendations to advance decarbonisation and climate resilience – Optfor-EU Policy brief
Forests offer essential services like carbon sequestration, biodiversity support, water regulation and timber for commercial activities/production. However, the future sustainability of such services is increasingly under threat. Based on the habitats assessments reported under the Habitats Directive updated in 2023, forestry presents the highest proportion of habitats being affected by one or more pressures/threats from […]
New Forest Management Practices (FMP) in forest models and implications for land cover change parametrisation in climate models
This report from the OptFor-EU project highlights advancements in forest management practices within its Case Study Areas (Austria, Romania, and Italy) and explores their implications under varying climate scenarios. The report provides key insights on the integration of these practices into climate models, highlighting the importance of forest management in mitigating climate change impacts and reinforcing the […]
Threats and challenges for increased forest-based carbon removals in CSA
This report presents a comprehensive analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data collected from case study areas (CSAs) within the OptFor-EU project, focusing on stakeholders’ perceptions regarding climate change (CC), forest management practices (FMP), and policy and governance barriers. The report is organised in the following sections: Section 1 provides an introduction, while Section 2 […]