On Friday, 18 June 2021 from 2 PM – 3:30 PM (CET), EFIMED will host an online seminar presenting and discussing the paper in progress “Managing Mediterranean forests for multiple ecosystem services: research progress and knowledge gaps”. Susanna Nocentini, along with co-authors Davide Travaglini and Bart Muys will present novel findings from their upcoming publication. Sven Wunder, EFI Principal Scientist, and Emin Zeki Başkent will moderate this engaging conversation with the researchers, which will be followed by an extensive discussion with participants.
About the paper
The Mediterranean region is known for its unique climate, distinct forest types, and diverse societies with profound historical and emotional linkages to the landscape. Yet, the ability of Mediterranean forests to continuously provide goods and ecosystem services to societies is being challenged by, for instance, climate and demographic changes. At the same time, other changes such as large spontaneous forest regrowth also provide opportunities.
How has recent research on forest management responded to this, and are there remaining knowledge gaps? This is the topic of a new paper being elaborated by Susanna Nocentini, from the Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry at the University of Florence, along with co-authors Davide Travaglini and Bart Muys. Although the importance of the multiple functions and ecosystem services that forests provide is being increasingly recognized, they argue that large research gaps in multi-functional management approaches and implementation remain. In the last decade, the literature has indeed become more specialized vis-à-vis forest management for specific products or environmental services. More spatial analysis is now being done. The literature also increasingly recognizes that tradeoffs exist within the ecosystem service bundle that forests can provide under different management regimes. Biodiversity loss is one red flag in the Mediterranean, including at landscape level outside of forests proper, but there is so far only scarce data to guide us.
On aggregate, many research gaps remain according to Nocentini and coauthors. Time-lags prevail, sometimes of substantial extent, between forest management and its effect on service provision. They advocate for a shift from deterministic management paradigms to an adaptable, flexible management approach for Mediterranean forests, which must be fully appreciated as complex socio-ecological systems.
Agenda
- 2:00 – 2:05 Introduction to the MFRA by Inazio Martínez de Arano (EFI)
- 2:05 -2:35 Presentation by Susanna Nocentini and Davide Travaglini (University of Florence)
- 2:35 – 2:45 Reflection led by Bart Muys (EFI, KU Leuven)
- 2:45 – 3:30 Open Q&A Discussion
About MFRA
The Mediterranean Forest Research Agenda (MFRA) 2020 helped guide advancements in research about new silviculture models and planning models for addressing multiple objectives and tools for optimizing multi-objective forest management and analyzing the trade-offs between various forest functions and conflicting goals. As we now plan for the next decade of Mediterranean forest research with the MFRA 2030, it is essential to understand the state-of-the-art in scientific literature dealing with forest management and multiple ES in Mediterranean forests, and what are the central priorities for future scientific research.
The seminar, along with the paper by Nocentini and colleagues, are key contributions to the new Mediterranean Forest Research Agenda (MFRA 2030). We have asked researchers, stakeholders, and other experts from across the EFIMED network to help us identify the key research challenges to be addressed over the next decade, which will be placed in the spotlight by the MFRA 2030.
The online seminar and the research presented by Nocentini and her team will help provide recommendations for practitioners, policymakers and researchers to improve the effectiveness of research efforts on tradeoffs for management of multiple ecosystem services, one of the central themes of the MFRA 2030.
Join us to hear these exciting insights on the management of forests for multiple ecosystem services in Europe’s Mediterranean region, and help us highlight the most salient research challenges to be tackled in the next decade of Mediterranean forest research!
These contributions from leading experts, as well as feedback from participants like you, will play a role in shaping the future of the Mediterranean Forest Research Agenda. To learn more about the new MFRA 2030, stay tuned on MedForest and follow @efimedfacility on Twitter, where we’ll be continually posting updates throughout this year.
