SUMFOREST

Basic Information

Description

The important climatic, environmental, socio-economic and land-use changes taking place at global, regional and
local levels, pose new challenges for meeting the multifunctional demands on European forest resources, and
for their sustainable management. In the European Union the formulation of forest policies is in the competence
of the Member States and although the Treaties of the EU make no provision for a common forest policy there
are a high number of EU policies and directives affecting European forests and the forest-based sector. Thus the
current forest policy environment is fragmented, complex and sometimes contradictory. Furthermore, European
forests consist of a wide diversity of forest ecosystems and tree species which provide different goods and
services that are affected differently by climate and land-use changes. Therefore, a proper understanding of such
regional differences is needed for the creation of mutual understanding on sustainable forest management (SFM)
and multifunctional forestry, providing a solid basis for policy decisions.
In this complex context, research-based information and knowledge should be the basis for developing adaptive
management tools and models, new innovation frameworks and coherent policies to ensure implementation of
SFM and thus the multifunctional role of European forests.
However, European forest research is – with only a few exceptions - still fragmented and enhanced co-operation
and coordination of research activities carried out at regional and national levels is urgently needed. In this
context, reinforcing scientific cooperation on European forests through a transnational ERA-NET, which will also
build new cooperation arrangements with EU neighbourhood regions, will reduce fragmentation and maximise
the impact of research activities on SFM and multifunctional forestry.However, European forest research is – with only a few exceptions - still fragmented and enhanced co-operation and coordination of research activities carried out at regional and national levels is urgently needed. In this context, reinforcing scientific cooperation on European forests through a transnational ERA-NET, which will also build new cooperation arrangements with EU neighbourhood regions, and similarly affected regions all over the world, will reduce fragmentation and maximise the impact of research activities on SFM and multifunctional forestry.

Main research priorities of the network

multifunctional forestry