Optimising the sustainable production of wood and non-wood products in small forest properties and development of new forest-based value chains

European forests belong to around 16 million owners, whereby about 60% of the forest area is privately owned, the majority being small properties, often lacking proper attention by their owners mainly due to fragmentation and non-profitability. Knowledge on small-scale private forest owners’ expertise, skills, motivations and needs to manage forests sustainably, including both traditional and non-traditional owner types, is limited.

Genuinely trans-disciplinary approaches in research and innovation are needed that combine the environmental and socio-economic dimensions and closely engage with broader stakeholder communities.

This topic addresses sustainable production potentials with a view to securing and promoting small-scale forest management for the sustainable use of wood and non-wood products, while fully respecting the cascading use principle and contributing to biodiversity objectives, including forest ecosystem restoration and protection.

Proposals will:

• Create a better understanding of the circumstances of small forest property owners and behaviour for both traditional and non-traditional owner types.
• Explore, analyse, and develop innovative forest management approaches, including silvicultural practices, carbon farming, digital tools (for example blockchain, robotics, AI or IoT/sensors), organisational, cooperation and business models, advisory services, education and training concepts, policy frameworks and social and institutional models that take into account different ownership types.
• Assess and develop innovative and tailored support structures, programmes and instruments, covering traditional and non-traditional owner types, considering size, geographical, professional and personal backgrounds, value orientations, age, gender, etc.
• Collect, analyse, and develop targeted approaches for activating and mobilising forest owners, particularly non-traditional, non-farm, absentee, urban or women as forest owners taking into consideration existing good practice guidance and examples.
• Define sustainable production potentials for wood and non-wood forest products through improved integrated management approaches.
• Develop new business models to promote the sustainable and value-added utilisation of damaged (burnt, broken, degraded conditions etc.) or infected wood (e.g. by bark-beetle, etc.) within strictly defined ecological thresholds and in line with the cascading use principle, forestry side streams and non-wood forest products (e.g. cork, etc.).
• Contribute positively to the UN and EU sustainability goals (climate, biodiversity, risks, income streams, ecosystem services etc.).
• Explore the role of social, economic, political, and institutional factors to improve political-institutional frameworks on different administrative levels.
• Engage small forest property owner types and all relevant actors in co-creation processes for developing viable measures and tools at local and European scale that contribute to increased awareness and motivation for ensuring sustainable use, restoration, and conservation of resilient small-scale private forest properties.
• Involve rural communities with a view to optimising the mobilisation of forest resources, improving land management practices, and reducing land abandonment in full respect of climate mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity protection and restoration objectives.
• Foster knowledge exchange and capacity-building.

The project must implement the multi-actor approach and ensure an adequate involvement of the primary production sector and the wider forest-based value chain.

Proposals may involve financial support to third parties e.g. to primary producers, academic researchers, start-ups, SMEs, and other multidisciplinary actors, to, for instance, develop, test or validate developed applications. A maximum of € 60 000 per third party might be granted. Conditions for third parties support are set out in Part B of the General Annexes. Consortia need to define the selection process of organisations, for which financial support may be granted. Maximum 20% of the EU funding can be allocated to this purpose. The financial support to third parties can only be provided in the form of grants.