The new project, of which Oikos is a partner, presented at the Medforval Annual Meeting
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 showcase its progress.
Istituto Oikos and CIHEAM-MAICh, key partners in the StrategyMedFor project, represented the initiative at the meeting. They delivered a presentation that provided an overview of StrategyMedFor's goals and achievements to date. A particular focus was placed on the initial phase of the project that establishes a preliminary conceptual framework. This framework includes a critical set of criteria and indicators designed to improve management practices for Mediterranean forests.
Moreover, an overview of the project activities that directly involve the network such as the application of the indicators developed to each of the Medforval member sites to highlight impacts, fragmentation, connectivity & climate scenarios locally was provided.
By fostering collaboration and knowledge exchange with key stakeholders like those assembled at Medforval, StrategyMedFor is building momentum towards its objective of developing a sustainable management strategy for Mediterranean forests. This strategy will be tailored to address the specific needs of various forest types and will account for foreseeable climate scenarios.
About StrategyMedFor
Despite the increase in Mediterranean forest cover in recent decades, these forests are not in good condition and require urgent action to increase their resilience to climate change and restore their biodiversity. According to recent studies, the Mediterranean basin is the second most affected region in the world by climate change. This will have an impact on the quality, integrity, distribution and cover of forest species, which will in turn impact the livelihoods of local communities. The StrategyMedFor project aims to develop a targeted Strategy for Sustainable Management of Mediterranean Forests for each forest type, adapted to foreseeable climate scenarios, thus contributing to their restoration and conservation. The project is scheduled to last for 2.5 years, from January 2024 to September 2026.
Despite the increase in Mediterranean forest coverage in the last decades, these forests are not in a good condition and require an urgent action to increase their resilience to climate change and to re-establish their biodiversity. The Interreg Euro-MED StrategyMedFor project aims to develop a 10-year Strategy for the Sustainable Management of Mediterranean Forests that will integrate new technologies and Mediterranean-wide data to guide forest management purposes. This forward-thinking plan will be tested in three pilot sites allowing for adaptation and refinement before wider implementation.
Stay tuned for further updates on StrategyMedFor's progress as the project unfolds!
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