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), lead partner, hosted the kick-off meeting, which proved highly productive and marked both the setting of the Steering Committee and the commencement of the project’s activities. This two-day meeting served to set and agree on the main strategies to use during the project implementation, scheduled to last for 2.5 years, from January 2024 to September 2026.
Mediterranean forests are renowned for their rich biodiversity and the vital ecosystem services they provide. Nevertheless, these important natural resources are facing many direct and indirect pressures, which increase their vulnerability to the impacts of disturbances and the degradation of their ecosystem functions. Despite their increased coverage in the last decades, the condition of Mediterranean forests is not good enough, requiring urgent action to increase forest biodiversity´s resilience to global change through improved management.
The newly launched StrategyMedFor will contribute to the conservation and enhancement of Mediterranean forests, addressing the needs and knowledge gaps in strategies and action plans for their sustainable management. The project aims at developing a Strategy for Sustainable Management of Mediterranean Forests (SSMMF) targeted for dominant forest types in the regionand adapted to foreseeable climate scenarios.
ETC-UMA has an extensive background in forest research including the design and application of common approaches to forest data collection, thematic indicators’ development and integrated monitoring and assessments. In the frame of StrategyMedFor, ETC-UMA is integrating new technologies and geospatial solutions to guide through evidence the SSMMF. ETC-UMA has a long track record in geospatial mapping and analysis of forest ecosystems. It aims at enriching such development with climate modeling and scenario developments to guide management efforts in the region. A wealth of resources and available evidence to support the StrategyMedFor is available in the Mediterranean Biodiversity Protection Knowledge Platform.
Moreover, the project’s outcomes will not only provide a common strategy and framework but, through collaborative efforts with partners, the project endeavors the establishment of a reliable database covering the entire Mediterranean basin, thereby advancing collective knowledge and fostering better-informed decision-making. This initiative focuses on creating fundamental information about forest locations and conditions across the Mediterranean, where by bridging available data with information gaps, the project seeks to foster a comprehensive understanding of forest status across the Mediterranean basin.
The StrategyMedFor project fosters collaborative efforts between 7 main partners from 6 countries of the Interreg MED cooperation area as well as relevant associated partners from the EU and international forest scene. ETC-UMA’s team will continue to work towards the success of this cooperative synergies, providing its expertise in the development of environmental knowledge to support evidence-based policy and decision-making.
More info:
Links:
Mediterranean Biodiversity Protection Knowledge Platform: https://biodiversity.uma.es/
StrategyMedFor project: https://www.etc.uma.es/strategymedfor/