Innovative spatial FORest PLANning for supporting resilient multifunctional forest management

Project objective: To sustain multiple functions of European forests, novel tools are needed to include ecosystem services and different aspects of biodiversity in forest planning. The proposed project IFORPLAN is innovative as it will first develop a conceptual framework for effective forest zonation methods which will improve the capacity of management to sustain multifunctional forests across European countries. It will i) define a comprehensive set of criteria and indicators for forest zonation that are both scientifically sound and practically implementable by practitioners; ii) test various methods for assessing ES supply, demand and flow; and iii) define climate smart management strategies and test their effectiveness in supplying ES in the selected zones. The evaluation of the effectiveness of zonation and management involves a participatory assessment of modelling results that could well be acceptable from both a scientific point of view and the expectations of practitioners.