Project Objectives

Sustainable forest management reconciles environmental, economic and social aspects as well as the production of wood. The production of different wood products  (timber, industrial wood, energy wood) remains one of the main economic objectives for forest owners. However, the forest fulfils many other functions such as water quality, carbon sequestration, carbon storage, biodiversity, recreation, regulation of the temperature, etc. Taking into account this multifunctionality makes its management challenging. The objective of the project is to understand the expectations and issues of the different forest stakeholders, and to propose an approach allowing their cohabitation.
A methodology will be elaborated with the participation of rural and urban actors in order to develop an innovative forest management strategy ensuring the complementarity of forest functions.

EIFER’s Contribution

• Survey conduction with forest stakeholders (incl. communities and the general public), using a geographic information system (GIS) developed at EIFER.
• Contribution to the analysis of the state of the art of the services and uses of the forest
• Elaboration of the methodology and communication with project partners, their networks and other audiences (scientific, professional and public).
• Development of an online platform to share information and to communicate about the living labs
• Contribution to the definition of the governance and the functioning of the living labs