European Commission funding to enhance science-based knowledge on EU forests

Deadline: 06-Oct-21

The European Commission (EC) is pleased to launch a call for proposals for Enhancing science-based knowledge on EU forests’, including old-growth forests, capacities to mitigate climate change to increase the science-based knowledge for an efficient implementation of good management practices that ensure the multiple functions of various forest types in Europe and to increase forest carbon stocks in the short-, medium-, and long-term.

• Contribute to a better understanding of favourable management practices for both soil and vegetation, within-species genetic diversity upon, species selection and rotations to enhance and climate-proof forest carbon stocks (considering both in situ carbon sequestration and carbon storage in long-lived wood products) and sinks, while considering the broad range of other forest values and ecosystem services.
• Consider the dynamics of the carbon stored in the different pools (above-ground biomass, below-ground biomass, deadwood, litter, soil organic carbon fractions, harvested wood products) under different forest management regimes and at different scales (EU-wide, national, local) to identify possible adaptations to current European models of sustainable forest management, so that the forest-based sector can optimise climate action, and to facilitate the monitoring and reporting of GHG emissions.
• Improve the integration of European forests, including forest practices, in global and regional climate modelling.
• Contribute to progress in the certification and authenticity verification of carbon removals that are nature-based (i.e. through forest protection, afforestation and sustainable forest management) or through the forest biomass used for longer-lived and higher-substitution products.
• Design and monitor the efficacy of forest-based mitigation plans, combining the growing potential of satellite-based remote sensing with surface monitoring.
• Develop recommendations for up-take in practice, including specifying which silvicultural measures to apply to which types of forest in order to maximise their mitigation potential while ensuring the provision of other ecosystem services, under the current and future climate, while fully respecting ecological principles favourable to biodiversity and soil conservation.
• Analyse socio-economic aspects of forest-based mitigation strategies, including forest managers’ and users’ perception and factors influencing their decision making such as consumer choices, sectorial integration and international/domestic competition.
• Improve knowledge on the environmental integrity, the social acceptability and the economic feasibility of forest-based mitigation actions such as afforestation, reforestation, forest restoration, forest protection, sustainable forest management and enhanced wood harvest and use, especially for long-lived products.

Funding Information

The check will normally be done for the coordinator if the requested grant amount is equal to or greater than EUR 500 000, except for:

• public bodies (entities established as a public body under national law, including local, regional or national authorities) or international organisations; and
• cases where the individual requested grant amount is not more than EUR 60 000 (lowvalue grant).

Expected Outcomes

• Forest managers adapting to sustainable management practices in view of climate change, bioeconomy, genetic diversity and biodiversity objectives;
• Improved knowledge on scenarios and sustainable pathways for forestry and the forest-based sector including measures and management strategies taking into account regional differences in Europe and changes in species composition;
• Increased forest-based carbon removals through forest management practices and uses of long-lived wood products;
• Better understanding on how forest management impacts carbon sequestration in comparison to non-managed forests;
• Pathways to achieve the ambition of the Paris Agreement ambition to limit climate warming;
• Transfer of knowledge from science to practice (good practice).

Eligibility Criteria

• the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions;
• the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States;
• eligible non-EU countries:
  • countries associated to Horizon Europe;
  • low- and middle-income countries.

Legal entities which are established in countries not listed above will be eligible for funding if provided for in the specific call conditions, or if their participation is considered essential for implementing the action by the granting authority.

For more information, visit https://bit.ly/2SGMlmY