StrategyMedFor

Strategy for the Sustainable Management of Mediterranean Forests

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Project summary

The StrategyMedFor project gathers 7 partners in 6 countries of the Interreg Cooperation area (including 2 IPA countries) and associated institutions from the forest EU & international scene to protect, restore & valorise particularly the Mediterranean Forest Ecosystem.  The main goal is the development of a Strategy for Sustainable Management of Mediterranean Forests (SSMMF) targeted to each forest type & adapted to foreseeable climate scenarios, through the integration of new technologies & wide-Mediterranean data into a spatial context, combining geospatial data, remote sensing, GIS & climate modelling in the development of the Strategy. 

Scientific-sound recommendations about how & which forests to protect, restore or manage into resilience, specific tools such as thematic cartography about the status of forests in real time, & the priority areas for action are envisaged. 

Our role

The ETC-UMA will have two major roles in the project: as Lead Partner in charge of overall coordination and management; and as thematic leader of spatial analysis to understand the situation of the Mediterranean Forests (quality, status, impacts, etc.) and guide and support the delineation of the main objective of the StrategyMedFor project: the Strategy for Sustainable Management of Mediterranean Forests (SSMMF). The team will work closely with the rest of partners to define the criteria to generate new thematic cartography and to validate the new maps on the field.

Main outputs

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Strategy for Sustainable Management of Mediterranean Forests (SSMMF)

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Organisations cooperating across borders for the Sustainable Management of the Mediterranean Forest ecosystem

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Geospatial tools for the evaluation of Mediterranean forests status, identification of impacts on forests and actions to protect, restore or manage them

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Joint Development of action plans for forest sustainable management on test sites

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A 10-year (2026-2035) Strategy of the Medforval network of HEV Mediterranean forests updated by transposing the knowledge generated in WP1 and WP2

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Management plan for the Prespa transboundary area

More about it

Dania Abdul Malak

daniaabdulmalak@uma.es

Dania Abdul Malak is a senior environmental researcher and Director of the European Topic Centre at the University of Malaga (ETC-UMA). She has over 15 years’ experience in environmental assessment and management...

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Ana Isabel Marín

aimarin@uma.es

Ana (PhD) is an environmental researcher and GIS specialist at the European Topic Centre of University of Málaga. She holds a European-mention PhD in Environmental Science, an MSc in regional planning and a BSc in Environmental Sciences...

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Our partners

Istituto Oikos Onlus, Italy

National Center for Forest Owners (CNPF), France

International Association for Mediterranean Forests (AIFM), France

CIHEAM - Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (CIHEAM-MAICh), Greece

Public Institution Galicica National Park (PIGNP), North Macedonia

Faculty of Forestry, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

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Insights from the RESTORE4Cs Autumn School 2025: Bridging Science and Policy for an Enhanced Resilience of Coastal Wetlands

From 3 to 6 November 2025, experts, researchers, students as well as practitioners and decision makers from across Europe and beyond gathered at the ETC-UMA premises in Málaga, Spain, for the RESTORE4Cs Autumn School 2025: “Modelling, Policy and Practice for ...
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The European Topic Center of University of Malaga (ETC-UMA) is looking for an IVY volunteer!

The volunteer will support the Interreg project “StrategyMedFor“, under Interreg Euro-MED Programme. 🌲 The objective of StrategyMedFor is the development of a Strategy for Sustainable Management of Mediterranean Forests (SSMMF) targeted to each forest type & adapted to foreseeable climate ...
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RESTORE4Cs 2nd Policy Brief: Unlocking Potential of Coastal Wetlands in Europe: Integration into National Restoration Plans

The second RESTORE4Cs Policy Brief of RESTORE4Cs, “Unlocking Potential of Coastal Wetlands in Europe: Integration into National Restoration Plans“, highlights the critical role of National Restoration Plans (NRPs) under the EU Nature Restoration Regulation in enhancing the restoration and resilience of coastal wetlands. The brief outlines how ...
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Back in Lebanon with BioConnect: Witnessing nature protection and socioecological resilience in action

As part of ETC-UMA’s role as the external evaluator for the EU-funded BioConnect project, the Centre’s Director, Dania Abdul Malak, carried out a site visit to Lebanon from July 8 to 12 to assess the project’s progress in its third ...
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Boosting Climate Resilience: Wetland4Change Project Advances Flood Management Solutions for Mediterranean Coastal Zones

The Mediterranean coastal zone´s combination of multiple severe climate hazards – rising temperatures, water scarcity, sea-level rise, and extreme weather events – makes it a hotspot for highly interconnected climate risks for the ecosystems and societies.  Recent catastrophic floods in ...
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RESTORE4Cs 1st Policy Brief: How can coastal wetlands help achieve EU climate goals?

The first RESTORE4Cs Policy Brief of RESTORE4Cs, “How can coastal wetlands help achieve EU climate goals?“, highlights the importance of European coastal wetlands for reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions. The key messages of the first RESTORE4Cs Policy Brief include: Coastal wetlands are important natural carbon stores, ...
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Mapping the Impact of Blue Tourism in the Mediterranean

The IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation with the support of ETC-UMA in the framework of the Blue Tourism Initiative, has released a comprehensive report entitled “Mapping the Impact of Blue Tourism in the Mediterranean: Vulnerability Assessment of Coastal and Marine ...
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StrategyMedFor Presented at Annual Medforval Meeting 2024

StrategyMedFor was prominently featured at the Annual Medforval Meeting 2024, held from June 5-7 in Fontecchio, Italy. The event brought together 25 practitioners  from national parks and natural reserves across 9 Mediterranean countries, providing a valuable platform for StrategyMedFor to ...
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Celebrating leadership in environmental management: an interview with Dania Abdul Malak

From designing integrated ecosystem assessments in Europe and the Mediterranean to transforming outcomes into evidence-based recommendations for regional stakeholders, the European Topic Centre on Spatial Analysis and Synthesis (ETC-UMA) stands as a flagship for territorial cooperation. At the forefront of ...
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Save the date! Unlocking solutions for coastal conservation in Europe

How can coastal wetlands respond to major European Union objectives such as climate neutrality, biodiversity protection, and pollution reduction? What key role do coastal wetlands play in achieving EU commitments for climate mitigation and biodiversity conservation? The European Topic Centre ...
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Towards a Strategy for the Sustainable Management of Mediterranean Forests (StrategyMedFor)

The StrategyMedFor project, co-financed by the Interreg Euro-MED programme, was launched at the University of Malaga during a two day meeting that took place on March 18 and 19, 2024. The European Topic Centre on Spatial Analysis and Synthesis (ETC-UMA), ...
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Collaborative science for forests by ETC-UMA showcased in Slovenia during the COP23

As UNEP MAP partner organization, ETC-UMA recently engaged in the organization of a session with Mediterranean institutions under the topic of climate change, entitled: From COASTAL to FOREST ecosystems: Mediterranean Nature-based Solutions to tackle climate change and ensure the Resilience ...
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Tools for conserving the Spanish coast

On the initiative of the Instituto Universitario Hábitat Territorio y Digitalización (iHTD) of the University of Malaga, around 70 representatives of Spanish public administrations, researchers, architecture and environmental science players and civil society signed up to the second debate on ...
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GreenEye System: a cloud-based system to monitor wetlands in Andalusia

Developed in the frame of the LifeWatch INDALO project cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for the study of biodiversity and global change in Andalucia, GreenEye System, this new cloud-based monitoring system, provides useful tools for wetlands’ assessment, ...
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Looking back and forth to Mediterranean Forests

Timely published to enrich the knowledge available to fight fires and climate change challenges after an extremely hot summer, the proceedings of the Seventh Mediterranean Forest Week “Forest and Ecosystem Restoration for the next Mediterranean Generations” held from 21 to ...