Periodic Reporting for period 3 - RESONATE (Resilient forest value chains – enhancing resilience through natural and socio-economic responses)
Período documentado: 2024-04-01 hasta 2025-03-31
The overarching goal of RESONATE was to generate knowledge and practices to guide decision-making towards enhancing resilience of forests and forest value chains in response to four resilience challenges: i) changing suitability of tree species due to climate change; ii) increased risks of forest disturbances; iii) changing societal demand on forest products and ecosystem services; iv) biodiversity decline. With an integrated resilience and vulnerability assessment, RESONATE investigated how past and current site factors and management affect forest resilience in different forest types and management systems across Europe. Scenario analysis, foresight studies, and policy analysis were carried out to elaborate future-oriented response strategies to enhance forest and forest value chain resilience. RESONATE delivered meaningful and understandable recommendations and decision support relevant for policy makers, practice and the general public.
RESONATE carried out extensive reviews of the state-of knowledge related to forest resilience assessments and the effectiveness of resilience enhancing measures. The methodology for an Operational Resilience Framework, ORF developed a harmonised and widely applicable methodology at varying scales from local to the continental level. RESONATE improved the disturbance evidence gathered from ground based and remote sensing derived data and projected disturbance hotspots into the future to generate state-of-the art disturbance scenarios. RESONATE selected nine case studies to analyse management traditions and societal demands for ecosystem services across Europe using existing and regionally validated forest simulation models. In addition, the EFISCEN-space model projected forest resource development and wood utilisation for 17 countries in Europe.
RESONATE highlighted that enhancing forest resilience requires the need to embrace diversity holistically. Forests with varied tree species and functional traits are better equipped to withstand and recover from disturbances like storms and pests. Natural disturbances can boost biodiversity when fallen trees and deadwood are retained as habitats. The analysis of silvicultural options to enhance forest resilience revealed evidence of management effects on resilience in the future. The projection of future disturbance risks showed a drastic increase in wildfire disturbances under the expected changes in climatic conditions and extreme events.
RESONATE investigated social-ecological forest resilience in European forests with a specific focus also on forest value chain resilience. Forest sector stakeholders have identified fewer adaptation pathways for harvest operations and the wood industry compared to forest management. Climate change and increasing forest disturbance risks require not only changes in forest management, but adaptation is equally necessary in forest value chains. Balancing forest management, industry, and consumer needs in a changing landscape was identified as a major challenge in RESONATE. RESONATE research suggests investing in efficient technologies to help process diverse wood assortments as a crucial step towards more resilient value chains. Flexible harvesting, enhanced logistics, and increased storage capacities can mitigate post-disturbance wood surges.
However, there is no one size-fits-all measure to enhance social-ecological resilience in forest systems. RESONATE analysis emphasised that there could be multiple trade-offs between measures enhancing resilience in forest management and in the wood industry. Generally, there has been a notable lack of integrative approaches that encompass both forest management and the wood processing industry. Enhancing resilience in forest management requires diversifying forest structures and adapting to climate change with higher shares of hardwood species. This leads to higher diversity of wood assortments, which strongly conflicts with current preferences in the forest industry towards efficient processing of high volumes of softwood supply. Forests, wood industries and society are interconnected, and the interplay of all drivers, actors, risks and potential solutions must be addressed from a systems point of view to enhance climate resilience of Europe’s entire forest value chains.
RESONATE carried out numerous targeted dissemination and communication activities (including scientific presentations and publications, social media postings, videos, etc.) and successfully achieved its key performance impact indicators.
RESONATE highlighted that enhancing forest resilience requires the need to embrace diversity holistically. Forests with varied tree species and functional traits are better equipped to withstand and recover from disturbances like storms and pests. Natural disturbances can boost biodiversity when fallen trees and deadwood are retained as habitats. The analysis of silvicultural options to enhance forest resilience revealed evidence of management effects on resilience in the future. The projection of future disturbance risks showed a drastic increase in wildfire disturbances under the expected changes in climatic conditions and extreme events.
RESONATE investigated social-ecological forest resilience in European forests with a specific focus also on forest value chain resilience. Forest sector stakeholders have identified fewer adaptation pathways for harvest operations and the wood industry compared to forest management. Climate change and increasing forest disturbance risks require not only changes in forest management, but adaptation is equally necessary in forest value chains. Balancing forest management, industry, and consumer needs in a changing landscape was identified as a major challenge in RESONATE. RESONATE research suggests investing in efficient technologies to help process diverse wood assortments as a crucial step towards more resilient value chains. Flexible harvesting, enhanced logistics, and increased storage capacities can mitigate post-disturbance wood surges.
However, there is no one size-fits-all measure to enhance social-ecological resilience in forest systems. RESONATE analysis emphasised that there could be multiple trade-offs between measures enhancing resilience in forest management and in the wood industry. Generally, there has been a notable lack of integrative approaches that encompass both forest management and the wood processing industry. Enhancing resilience in forest management requires diversifying forest structures and adapting to climate change with higher shares of hardwood species. This leads to higher diversity of wood assortments, which strongly conflicts with current preferences in the forest industry towards efficient processing of high volumes of softwood supply. Forests, wood industries and society are interconnected, and the interplay of all drivers, actors, risks and potential solutions must be addressed from a systems point of view to enhance climate resilience of Europe’s entire forest value chains.
RESONATE carried out numerous targeted dissemination and communication activities (including scientific presentations and publications, social media postings, videos, etc.) and successfully achieved its key performance impact indicators.
The Operational Resilience Framework presents a novel conceptualization and unified terminology for resilience-related concepts. It allows assessing and managing forest socio-ecological systems in response to ecological and socio-economic disturbances or stressors.
The Resilience Dashboard provides a new tool for decision-makers to prioritize actions aiming to promote the resilience of forest social-ecological systems.
The European Forest disturbance map has been updated, and the accompanying agent attribution was improved to represent the most recent large-scale natural disturbance events.
The Integral Projection Model approach and accompanying open-access R package to assess resilience in monospecific and mixed stands was further developed and enables to assess biodiversity impacts as important component of resilience assessments.
The economic analyses is a pioneering forest value chain resilience assessment approach. It is based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses of data gathered from forest value chain exemplars in the Case Study regions. The perception and current management of forest-based value chains was investigated to generate new evidence which short- and long-term management options have an impact on value-chain resilience.
Conceptualising how to quantify society’s resilience in a resilience demand ladder is a novel approach, potentially allowing us to address and monitor demand resilience progress (and regress) more systematically.
A novel neural network approach was used to project climate change and disturbance impacts on European forests in a coupled modelling system, with specific focus on the resulting biodiversity impacts.
The policy map provides a good understanding of how policy domains around forest-based value chains interact with different policy instruments related to forest resilience.
Dissemination activities will continue beyond the RESONATE lifetime. Several additional scientific publications are planned and project results will be further disseminated in forthcoming conferences and the Learning Modules will be widely shared for teaching purposes inside and outside of RESONATE.
Recommendations developed in RESONATE have great potential to trigger changes in forest management and value chain decision making, with related impacts to be expected during the coming years.
RESONATE concepts, approaches and solutions can be exploited in further development, testing and application of social-ecological forest system decision support practice. The disturbance scenario data are openly available for wider use with other forest simulation models.
RESONATE developed several forest and market modelling approaches, which will be applied in follow up studies and improved decision support in and beyond the case study regions.
The Resilience Dashboard provides a new tool for decision-makers to prioritize actions aiming to promote the resilience of forest social-ecological systems.
The European Forest disturbance map has been updated, and the accompanying agent attribution was improved to represent the most recent large-scale natural disturbance events.
The Integral Projection Model approach and accompanying open-access R package to assess resilience in monospecific and mixed stands was further developed and enables to assess biodiversity impacts as important component of resilience assessments.
The economic analyses is a pioneering forest value chain resilience assessment approach. It is based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses of data gathered from forest value chain exemplars in the Case Study regions. The perception and current management of forest-based value chains was investigated to generate new evidence which short- and long-term management options have an impact on value-chain resilience.
Conceptualising how to quantify society’s resilience in a resilience demand ladder is a novel approach, potentially allowing us to address and monitor demand resilience progress (and regress) more systematically.
A novel neural network approach was used to project climate change and disturbance impacts on European forests in a coupled modelling system, with specific focus on the resulting biodiversity impacts.
The policy map provides a good understanding of how policy domains around forest-based value chains interact with different policy instruments related to forest resilience.
Dissemination activities will continue beyond the RESONATE lifetime. Several additional scientific publications are planned and project results will be further disseminated in forthcoming conferences and the Learning Modules will be widely shared for teaching purposes inside and outside of RESONATE.
Recommendations developed in RESONATE have great potential to trigger changes in forest management and value chain decision making, with related impacts to be expected during the coming years.
RESONATE concepts, approaches and solutions can be exploited in further development, testing and application of social-ecological forest system decision support practice. The disturbance scenario data are openly available for wider use with other forest simulation models.
RESONATE developed several forest and market modelling approaches, which will be applied in follow up studies and improved decision support in and beyond the case study regions.