Decades of study have shown and quantified the impact of climate change on forests around the world. Changes in growth patterns, drought induced mortality, and species distribution shift have been observed in many forest ecosystems as well as the additional effects on water availability, increase numbers of pest and diseases, and the rise of detrimental effects of natural disasters (e.g. mega-fires).
On the other hand, forests have also been acknowledged as “stabilizing forces for the climate”. Thanks to their ecosystem services provision, shelters of flora and fauna biodiversity, and key role in the carbon cycle. Additionally, forests play a key role in sustaining sustainable livelihoods of many communities around the globe.
It becomes thus paramount to develop integrated tools, which can support the forestry sector in halting the loss and degradations of forests, as well as to reach a sustainable development for the sector. To this end, Tecnalia, The European Forest Institute, El Cubo Verde and Vizzuality are working together in a market study to assess the potential of forestry services based on the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) data available through its Climate Data Store (CDS). This initiative is organised within the framework of a Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) contract; C3S is one of the six services of the EU’s Copernicus Programme and is implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) on behalf of the European Commission.
The aim of this work is to unfold and explore the potential of C3S-based services for the forestry sector through an accurate analysis of the main forest users’ needs and requirements. To this end, partners will work closely with different type of users and stakeholders from small private holdings to large estate owned companies of the forestry sector including areas such as: forest genetic and restoration, forest management, disaster management, pest control and urban forestry. The final objective is to identify the requirements for the development of new tailor-made services for the forestry sector based on C3S data (historical climate data, seasonal forecasts and/or long-term projections).
If you would like to contribute to these initiatives and help define the evolution of C3S, please do not hesitate in doing so by filling in this on-line survey.
