Periodic Reporting for period 1 - INTERCEDE (InceNtivising fuTurE foRest eCosystem sErvices anD incomes in Europe)
Período documentado: 2024-03-01 hasta 2025-08-31
Europe’s forests are at a crossroads. For long, forests have been valued for their production of timber. Now they are increasingly being recognized for the broader ecosystem services they provide. These include, among others, carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation, recreation, and cultural heritage. However, the way forests are managed today often fails to reflect this shift in societal expectations, and the risk is that European forests underutilize their potential in delivering these ecosystem services. At the same time, climate change, biodiversity loss, and evolving public demands are placing unprecedented pressure on forest systems, which accentuates the critical gap between what forests are currently delivering and what society needs them to provide.
This is the starting point for the INTERCEDE project. It emerges from a growing recognition within European policy, particularly the EU Forest Strategy for 2030, that new tools are needed to realign forest management with public interest. These tools are known as Market-Based Instruments (MBIs), such as Payments for Environmental Services (PES). They have the potential to incentivize forest owners to manage their land in ways that support climate mitigation, biodiversity, and social well-being. However, despite their promise, MBIs remain underdeveloped and unevenly applied across Europe. There is a lack of coherent frameworks, robust evidence, and practical guidance to support their effective design and implementation.
INTERCEDE sets out to address this gap. It brings together researchers, policymakers, forest owners, and civil society actors to co-create solutions that are both scientifically sound and socially legitimate. The project will map existing MBIs, assess the supply and demand for forest ecosystem services under future climate and socio-economic scenarios, and develop a decision-support tools to guide policy and practice. Through a series of pilot cases and transdisciplinary stakeholder forums, INTERCEDE will test and refine new PES schemes, ensuring they are tailored to local contexts and capable of delivering real impact.
The expected outcomes of INTERCEDE are based on thorough analysis of the existing landscape of MBI and assessment of how they work. By improving the design and uptake of MBIs, the project aims to enhance the contribution of forests to EU climate goals and will support the EU’s biodiversity targets by making conservation more cost-effective and socially supported. It will also strengthen the economic resilience of forest owners, by diversifying income streams and promoting sustainable business models.
Intercede builds on a transdisciplinary framework where political science and governance studies inform the analysis of institutional frameworks and stakeholder dynamics, natural science models supply and underpin empirical evaluations, and economics guides the valuation of ecosystem services and the design of incentive mechanisms. Finally, sociology and participatory theory shape the project’s engagement strategies.
This is the starting point for the INTERCEDE project. It emerges from a growing recognition within European policy, particularly the EU Forest Strategy for 2030, that new tools are needed to realign forest management with public interest. These tools are known as Market-Based Instruments (MBIs), such as Payments for Environmental Services (PES). They have the potential to incentivize forest owners to manage their land in ways that support climate mitigation, biodiversity, and social well-being. However, despite their promise, MBIs remain underdeveloped and unevenly applied across Europe. There is a lack of coherent frameworks, robust evidence, and practical guidance to support their effective design and implementation.
INTERCEDE sets out to address this gap. It brings together researchers, policymakers, forest owners, and civil society actors to co-create solutions that are both scientifically sound and socially legitimate. The project will map existing MBIs, assess the supply and demand for forest ecosystem services under future climate and socio-economic scenarios, and develop a decision-support tools to guide policy and practice. Through a series of pilot cases and transdisciplinary stakeholder forums, INTERCEDE will test and refine new PES schemes, ensuring they are tailored to local contexts and capable of delivering real impact.
The expected outcomes of INTERCEDE are based on thorough analysis of the existing landscape of MBI and assessment of how they work. By improving the design and uptake of MBIs, the project aims to enhance the contribution of forests to EU climate goals and will support the EU’s biodiversity targets by making conservation more cost-effective and socially supported. It will also strengthen the economic resilience of forest owners, by diversifying income streams and promoting sustainable business models.
Intercede builds on a transdisciplinary framework where political science and governance studies inform the analysis of institutional frameworks and stakeholder dynamics, natural science models supply and underpin empirical evaluations, and economics guides the valuation of ecosystem services and the design of incentive mechanisms. Finally, sociology and participatory theory shape the project’s engagement strategies.
During the first reporting period, we established the Transdisciplinary forum and the two Forest Advisory Panels. These groups will be key to enable co-creation of tools and ensure relevance of INTERCEDE results for policy and practice.For the supply and demand of FES we prepared an EU-wide FES modelling, where spatial assessments of FES supply and demand where developed using advanced GIS, survey data, and machine learning techniques. We progressed towards valuation standards by producing a draft methodological checklist for economic valuation of non-marketed FES, supporting harmonized approaches across Europe. We initiated development of a preliminary decision support toolWe compiled and quality-checked a comprehensive database of 64 MBIs. We are advancing towards the development of a multi-disciplinary theoretical framework which will be used to evaluate current and emerging MBIs. Furthermore, we collected and analysed relevant policy documents that provide instruments to support Ecosystem Services provision. We have also conducted rigorous evaluation of PES-like instruments, including a quasi-experimental impact assessment of Finland’s METSO program.
During the first reporting period, INTERCEDE laid the foundations for several advances. Although most of the work completed so far has centered on developing the essential analytical and empirical frameworks, a few early results should be highlighted.
The level of detail in the EU-wide assessment of FES supply and demand being carried out by INTERCEDE already exceeds what is commonly available in the literature.
The draft methodological checklist developed during this reporting period also represents an early step toward consistent valuation of non-marketed FES across Europe. When finalized, it will support credible and comparable environmental valuations, which in turn are essential for creating well-designed MBIs.
Finally, the impact assessment of the METSO project brings early, preliminary evidence of biodiversity gains linked to voluntary conservation contracts. As many Member States consider expanding their use of voluntary conservation tools, evidence of actual biodiversity impact is essential in informing practical design considerations. While these initial findings are promising, however, they must be interpreted with caution. The work to date is based on a conference paper and has not yet undergone peer review, and thus research conclusions and their policy implications may evolve substantially through the review process.
This early achievements set the direction for further work to ensure successful uptake and long-term impact of MBIs that promote FES.
The level of detail in the EU-wide assessment of FES supply and demand being carried out by INTERCEDE already exceeds what is commonly available in the literature.
The draft methodological checklist developed during this reporting period also represents an early step toward consistent valuation of non-marketed FES across Europe. When finalized, it will support credible and comparable environmental valuations, which in turn are essential for creating well-designed MBIs.
Finally, the impact assessment of the METSO project brings early, preliminary evidence of biodiversity gains linked to voluntary conservation contracts. As many Member States consider expanding their use of voluntary conservation tools, evidence of actual biodiversity impact is essential in informing practical design considerations. While these initial findings are promising, however, they must be interpreted with caution. The work to date is based on a conference paper and has not yet undergone peer review, and thus research conclusions and their policy implications may evolve substantially through the review process.
This early achievements set the direction for further work to ensure successful uptake and long-term impact of MBIs that promote FES.