Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SUPERB (Systemic solutions for upscaling of urgent ecosystem restoration for forest related biodiversity and ecosystem services)
Berichtszeitraum: 2021-12-01 bis 2023-05-31
While there is widespread awareness of the role forests can play to conserve and restore biodiversity and halt climate change, much more actions are needed on the ground to ensure the long-term thriving of forests in Europe. A series of political commitments at the European level are already in place, e.g. the EU Green Deal, Biodiversity & Forest Strategy, and the upcoming Nature Restoration Law. Yet, in many places, a transformative change is still needed on the ground to better support our forests in providing us with a diversity of their valuable ecosystem goods and services also in times of global change.
SUPERB, an initiative led by the European Forest Institute and co-coordinated by Wageningen Environmental Research, is revolutionizing forest restoration in Europe. With 36 partners spread across 16 countries, it is making a significant impact by restoring thousands of hectares of forest landscape. The key to its success lies in the seamless integration of practical and scientific knowledge, creating a synergistic approach that translates knowledge into restoration efforts carried out in a sustainable and impactful manner.
SUPERB is centred around executing concrete restoration actions in 12 large-scale demonstration areas strategically located across 13 different countries. These demo areas have been chosen to showcase the diverse stressors impacting European forests and the wide range of restoration actions necessary. Moreover, they take into account the entire socio-ecological system, considering the various needs of people for ecosystem goods and services.
A key focus of SUPERB is to secure increased and more effective sustainable financing for cost-effective forest restoration activities. To achieve this, we collaborate closely with local communities, landowners, and other partners. Through these partnerships, we demonstrate best practices for restoring various forest types while gathering practical and scientific knowledge on both successful forest restoration techniques and sustainable financing models. Another key focus is to develop novel monitoring techniques as well as the mechanisms to assure long term maintenance of the restoration activities. Both are often lacking in practice, but are quired for long term success and for attracting investors. All this valuable information will be made easily accessible on our stakeholder-targeted online Forest Ecosystem Restoration Gateway. By engaging with many actors, including our 90 regional to international associate project partners, we will create a large and powerful multi-stakeholder network and movement for the development, uptake, and upscaling of transformative forest restoration approaches and actions.
Our ultimate goal is to create an enabling environment for future-oriented forest restoration, which includes essential climate change adaptation measures, often referred to as "prestoration," at different scales. By combining hands-on restoration efforts, knowledge-sharing, and sustainable financing strategies, SUPERB aims to lead the way in promoting the restoration and resilience of European forests.
SUPERB, an initiative led by the European Forest Institute and co-coordinated by Wageningen Environmental Research, is revolutionizing forest restoration in Europe. With 36 partners spread across 16 countries, it is making a significant impact by restoring thousands of hectares of forest landscape. The key to its success lies in the seamless integration of practical and scientific knowledge, creating a synergistic approach that translates knowledge into restoration efforts carried out in a sustainable and impactful manner.
SUPERB is centred around executing concrete restoration actions in 12 large-scale demonstration areas strategically located across 13 different countries. These demo areas have been chosen to showcase the diverse stressors impacting European forests and the wide range of restoration actions necessary. Moreover, they take into account the entire socio-ecological system, considering the various needs of people for ecosystem goods and services.
A key focus of SUPERB is to secure increased and more effective sustainable financing for cost-effective forest restoration activities. To achieve this, we collaborate closely with local communities, landowners, and other partners. Through these partnerships, we demonstrate best practices for restoring various forest types while gathering practical and scientific knowledge on both successful forest restoration techniques and sustainable financing models. Another key focus is to develop novel monitoring techniques as well as the mechanisms to assure long term maintenance of the restoration activities. Both are often lacking in practice, but are quired for long term success and for attracting investors. All this valuable information will be made easily accessible on our stakeholder-targeted online Forest Ecosystem Restoration Gateway. By engaging with many actors, including our 90 regional to international associate project partners, we will create a large and powerful multi-stakeholder network and movement for the development, uptake, and upscaling of transformative forest restoration approaches and actions.
Our ultimate goal is to create an enabling environment for future-oriented forest restoration, which includes essential climate change adaptation measures, often referred to as "prestoration," at different scales. By combining hands-on restoration efforts, knowledge-sharing, and sustainable financing strategies, SUPERB aims to lead the way in promoting the restoration and resilience of European forests.
SUPERB has successfully completed its initial 18 months of project implementation and is making steady progress. Currently, all Work Packages (WPs) are actively underway. Notably, 12 large-scale restoration demo sites have been established, and stakeholder mappings have been conducted at different levels. We actively pursued public engagement through different events and workshops, and use of social media based on comprehensive communication and dissemination plans and an analysis exploring online issues and debates emerging around forest restoration in the demos and beyond. .
SUPERB conducted systematic scientific reviews to identify knowledge gaps and started collecting practical knowledge on restoration and adaptation practices through questionnaires and workshops, involving national experts. Significant strides were made in sustainable finance with the development of a data collection protocol and both engaging interviews and targeted meetings with stakeholders in the sustainable finance domain. Additionally, in-depth studies on governance conflicts and regional surveys within selected demo areas were carried out.
On the ground, restoration measures have commenced, monitoring campaigns have started, detailed workplans elaborated, data gathered for modelling and stakeholder workshops for each demo area were successfully organized. Furthermore, samples were collected from the demo sites to assess the restoration effects on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Currently, restoration upscaling plans have been formulated, and the blueprint for the Forest Restoration Gateway, an online platform gathering extensive knowledge on forest restoration has been outlined.
The collective endeavors of the SUPERB project are driving substantial advancements in forest restoration practices and financing, effectively engaging stakeholders, and nurturing an environment conducive to sustainable and impactful restoration efforts.
SUPERB conducted systematic scientific reviews to identify knowledge gaps and started collecting practical knowledge on restoration and adaptation practices through questionnaires and workshops, involving national experts. Significant strides were made in sustainable finance with the development of a data collection protocol and both engaging interviews and targeted meetings with stakeholders in the sustainable finance domain. Additionally, in-depth studies on governance conflicts and regional surveys within selected demo areas were carried out.
On the ground, restoration measures have commenced, monitoring campaigns have started, detailed workplans elaborated, data gathered for modelling and stakeholder workshops for each demo area were successfully organized. Furthermore, samples were collected from the demo sites to assess the restoration effects on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Currently, restoration upscaling plans have been formulated, and the blueprint for the Forest Restoration Gateway, an online platform gathering extensive knowledge on forest restoration has been outlined.
The collective endeavors of the SUPERB project are driving substantial advancements in forest restoration practices and financing, effectively engaging stakeholders, and nurturing an environment conducive to sustainable and impactful restoration efforts.
Forest restoration is a comprehensive endeavor that goes beyond restoring the structure, composition, and functionality of forest habitats; it also encompasses the social, governance, and financial components to foster sustainable, long term and inclusive initiatives benefiting both nature and communities. Only if the surrounding pressures and soc economic circumstances change, then only can restoration be successful.
SUPERB is driving transformative change towards large-scale restoration by linking practical and scientific knowledge to synergistically transform it into action and building a robust multi-stakeholder network. Based on sound scientific data collected, analyzed, and gathered from our own fieldwork in the demos and beyond, SUPERB is at the forefront in preparing tools to address the challenging environment that European forests are facing in times of climate change and disturbances, including the provision of insights to the upcoming Nature restoration law.
Instead of looking backward, SUPERB's restoration measures focus on establishing resilient ecosystems adapted to climate change, employing a "prestoration" approach. Forest restoration contributes to economic development, social inclusion, climate mitigation, and biodiversity conservation. Through public-facing communication and engagement activities, we aim at presenting vulnerable communities' voices , encourage increased societal awareness and action to invest in and promote nature conservation collaboratively. SUPERBadvocates for significantly enhancing restoration efforts within the Green Deal framework and plans to train diverse relevant stakeholders based on monitoring results to strengthen ecosystem resilience.
SUPERB is driving transformative change towards large-scale restoration by linking practical and scientific knowledge to synergistically transform it into action and building a robust multi-stakeholder network. Based on sound scientific data collected, analyzed, and gathered from our own fieldwork in the demos and beyond, SUPERB is at the forefront in preparing tools to address the challenging environment that European forests are facing in times of climate change and disturbances, including the provision of insights to the upcoming Nature restoration law.
Instead of looking backward, SUPERB's restoration measures focus on establishing resilient ecosystems adapted to climate change, employing a "prestoration" approach. Forest restoration contributes to economic development, social inclusion, climate mitigation, and biodiversity conservation. Through public-facing communication and engagement activities, we aim at presenting vulnerable communities' voices , encourage increased societal awareness and action to invest in and promote nature conservation collaboratively. SUPERBadvocates for significantly enhancing restoration efforts within the Green Deal framework and plans to train diverse relevant stakeholders based on monitoring results to strengthen ecosystem resilience.