Kind of wood concerned
All wood produced in the forest system (trunk, branches, roots).
Sustainability Potential
Improves forests resilience to wildfires, water scarcity, environmental degradation and other effects induced by climate change
Impact on environment & biodiversity
- Demonstration and replication of a successful, innovative forest management scheme at a watershed scale. At the beginning it will be applied at sub catchment level in Spain (415 hectares), then at catchment level in Germany, Portugal and Spain (7,824 hectares) and finally it will be further expanded up to 350,000 hectares within five years from the project completion.
- Reinforcement of mechanisms to develop climate change adaptation measures in rural areas and to ensure its socioeconomic sustainability;
- Increased water reserves of 45-200 l/m²/year and increased water availability downstream, leading to a reduction in energy extraction costs to 5 W/hm;
- Increased sustainable biomass production for bioenergy uses, between 10 and 15 t/ha year, including both forest and agricultural residues traditionally burned and usually the cause of wildfires.
- Reduced fire hazards by 30%, protecting rural populations currently residing in risk areas
- Increased resilience of 25% of forest areas to withstand droughts, pests and disease outbreak.
Ease of implementation
It is not easy to use, but we are developing user guides to make it easier.
Economic impact
The tool is free, so the economic impact is positive as you provide a very powerful management tool at 0 cost.
Job effect
The management that is proposed always generates jobs to carry it out.
Income effect
If the management objective is to maximise productivity, revenues will also be maximised.
Specific knowledge needed
Knowledge of Geographic Information Systems is necessary to be able to prepare the input data for the tool.
Exploitation potential
High, as it is based on mechanistic modelling it can be applied in any climatic region. Furthermore, by including a wide range of ecosystem services, it can meet the needs of different types of forest management.
Key prerequisites
Input data for the chosen mechanistic model.
Decision variables.
Constraints to be applied.