None
Medforval and Istituto Oikos have just published a new survey on Forest and Landscape Practices in the Mediterranean describing 8 practices in 5 countries:
Spain: Abies pinsapo landscape (Andalusia) and Mosaico project (Extremadura)
Italy: Insubria ecological corridor between the Alps and the Lower Ticino Valley (Lombardy) and Aterno Valley (Abruzzo)
Greece: Juniperus coastal dunes (Crete and the South Aegean)
Turkey: Murat River Watershed
Morocco: Mountain forests (Ifrane) and Sylvopastoral Ecosystems (entire country).
The survey outlines the extent to which FLR is being implemented in the Mediterranean, and aims to encourage further adoption of FLR in the region, providing practical examples and ideas. It demonstrates that several of the practices can rightfully be defined as FLR, even if they do not explicitly call themselves so. Acknowledging this work as FLR means that it can be capitalized upon, and the role of FLR in addressing much needed restoration and strengthening of ecological and social systems can be addressed. The survey confirms the relevance of declaring 2021-2030 the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (UN-DER). Indeed, our findings point to the need to broaden our understanding of FLR and focus on Mediterranean FLR efforts, overcoming the hesitation that some feel about embarking on FLR processes. FLR is still largely unknown and often intimidating, and information on interesting practices that contribute to FLR implementation needs to be circulated and better known.
The survey is an output of the MAVA-funded project “Mediterranean Knowledge on Forest and Landscape Restoration”, led by Al Shouf Cedar Society with Medforval and Oikos as partners. This and other outputs form a package of tools on FLR in the Mediterranean: this survey of FLR practices in the Mediterranean (2021), presentations on FLR and the best practices in the Shouf Biosphere Reserve in Lebanon (2020), the Forest and Landscape Restoration Guidelines of the Shouf Biosphere Reserve (2019) and their abridged version in English (2020) and Arabic (2021), and video clips showing implementation of FLR on the ground in the Shouf Biosphere reserve (2019, 2020).