FORWARDS will prototype The ForestWard Observatory to provide (a) timely and detailed information on European forests’ vulnerability to climate change impacts, (b) science-based knowledge to guide management using the principles of climate-smart forestry, ecosystem restoration, and biodiversity preservation (CSF & Restoration), and (c) stakeholder engagement and public participation in decision-making processes. We capitalize on data from existing networks (e.g. ICP Forests) and expand this with a Network of Pilot sites through 5 FORWARDS Demo cases plus ~50 trials established via grants to third parties. We will reconcile the current divide between forest information obtained from the ground and remote sensing by incorporating the concept of Monitoring Supersites and novel approaches to more comprehensively characterize cause-effect relationships of forest disturbances. Tools for European-wide forward-looking and spatially explicit projections on forests as well as regionalized CSF & Restoration trajectories will be developed jointly with stakeholders to evaluate synergies and trade-offs of conversion and restoration activities. These will be used to provide good practice guidance on effective CSF & Restoration management practices. The ForestWard Observatory will be constructed under the principle of co-design to address the information needs by users and stakeholders. FORWARDS interacts with several established networks on CSF & Restoration and effectively utilizes five dedicated grant calls to implement forest observations and test CSF & restoration measures. The ambition is for The ForestWard Observatory to become a long-lasting legacy of FORWARDS, which supports decision making across scales to boost the uptake of good CSF & Restoration management practice throughout Europe (local scale for management practice), while efficiently informing about climate change and disturbance impacts and resilience of European forests (regional to EU scale for policy making).

Precise information on the current status of forests is required to forecast forest management effects which allows informed policy decisions. To inform and support the implementation of these policy objectives, PathFinder will develop and demonstrate an innovative integrated forest monitoring and pathway assessment system. This system, for the first time, will allow a consistent EU greenhouse gas reporting of the LULUCF sector, but, at the same time combine such monitoring capability with advanced pathway assessment to help plan the essential policy and implementation steps towards achieving the policy targets. The continuous monitoring of forests facilitates controlling of target achievement and possibly adjustment of pathways. PathFinder goes beyond the state-of-art by the most efficient, combined use of field and remotely sensed data for high-resolution mapping and precisely estimating forest attributes. The cooperation of the largest forest monitoring organizations operating in the EU, i.e., national forest inventories (NFIs) and the network installed under ICP Forests, provides a rich data base of harmonized ground truth information which will be complemented by an innovative field survey of consistently assessed field monitoring sites. Advanced measurement devices will provide an audio-visual digital twin including genetic properties of the consistently monitored forest for maximum transparency and interoperability of new data. The analysis of combined databases will improve our understanding of fluxes among C pools. The precise forest information of the monitoring system will feed into a new scenario framework that forecasts future forest scenarios and outcomes of forest management alternatives. The scenarios facilitate trade-off analysis of forest ES and are potential alleys in the pathway assessment. The pathway assessment is a co-creation activity in which novel monitoring and scenario studies are integrated with EU-level stakeholder visions and knowledge

Advance_eLTER marks a crucial step in building the distributed European Research Infrastructure of Long-Term Ecosystem Research sites and socio-ecological research platforms (eLTER RI) to provide highest quality data and services complementary to the European and global environmental RIs. The project will conduct important conceptual work and preparatory steps towards enabling European-scale investigation of the “Critical Zone”, major ecosystems and socio-ecological systems, targeted at supporting knowledge-based decision making at various levels concerning ecosystem services and biodiversity. The review of the eLTER ESFRI proposal submitted by Germany in March 2015 noted the HIGH to VERY HIGH scientific value and necessity of the eLTER RI and was designated as an ‘Emerging’ ESFRI RI. The objectives of Advance_eLTER are firmly anchored in the strategic long-term goals of the eLTER RI, but strictly focus on the challenges identified by the ESFRI review: ● Detailed design study (WP1), including an in-depth analysis of the scientific questions driving the eLTER RI physical site network design and instrumentation; ● Prioritization of eLTER services for key user groups (WP2), and a plan for eLTER RI services at all service provider levels (central, cross-site, individual site); ● Cost analysis and Business plan, for the future eLTER RI operation (WP3); ● Organisational framework of eLTER RI (WP4), comprising the development of a robust governance scheme, enabling shareholder negotiations and identifying the most suitable legal framework; ● Consulting, communication and team-building (WP5), advancing the national eLTER ESFRI processes, specifying the role of eLTER in the environmental RI landscape and developing staff capacity for the eLTER ESFRI process. Advance_eLTER will closely cooperate with all LTER related processes and projects and will result in a 2017 eLTER ESFRI proposal.

The overarching objective of OneSTOP is to pioneer an innovative and joined-up approach to biosecurity for terrestrial invasive alien species, strengthening the interconnections between animal, plant, human and environmental health. OneSTOP aims to harness current technologies and citizen science, while overcoming challenges posed by dispersed and fragmentary processes, policies, and knowledge, to deliver methods for identification, early detection and surveillance of invasive alien species. OneSTOP aims to achieve transformative results to minimise the introduction, establishment and spread of invasive alien species by integrating cutting-edge detection methods, underpinned by prioritisation and robust models, alongside stakeholder engagement to inform harmonised policies and facilitate knowledge exchange. The outcomes will be relevant for invasive alien species policy, noting the importance of enhancing collaboration and coordination across local, national, and regional scales, recognising that geographic boundaries do not confine the impact of these species. By adopting a holistic and interconnected approach, OneSTOP seeks to establish a strategy to achieve rapid and transformative progress in detecting, eradicating and controlling invasive alien animals and plants, ultimately contributing to a more secure and resilient environment. Throughout, OneSTOP is based upon the strategic actions recommended for integrated governance of biological invasions in the recently published IPBES Thematic assessment report on invasive alien species and their control (IPBES 2023).