Severe droughts are predicted to increase in intensity and frequency, leading to unprecedented ecological and economic risks for forest health and productivity. There is an urgent need to adapt forest management to the anticipated uncertain future climatic conditions to limit impacts for ecosystems and economy. Such adaptation plans hinge on a deep understanding of the complex mechanisms regulating forest ecosystem responses, including tree mortality related to drought. We will examine the interactive effects of drought and tree population density on the resistance and resilience of tree growth, and the ecophysiological mechanisms contributing to the drought response of Norway spruce (Picea abies) and silver fir (Abies alba), two keystone species for European forestry. The results will serve as input for economic risk assessments of these two tree species under different management and climate-change scenarios. We will implement a novel and interdisciplinary research approach by combining growth and yield analyses, dendrochronology, and ecophysiological mechanistic modeling, converging into an economic riskassessment at different spatial (tree- to regional-level) and temporal (intra-annual to decadal) scales. The study will take advantage of a large dataset from long-term experimental management stands in Baden- Württemberg, Germany, and will be complemented with sites in France and Switzerland – together an outstanding dataset for Central European forests. The outcomes of this powerful framework will contribute to developing efficient management policies for adapting Norway spruce and silver fir forests to increasing drought-related risks. This may be also validated in other forest ecosystems across Europe. The project will be managed by experienced researchers from the NFZ.forestnet, and will connect six research institutions from Zürich (CH), Freiburg (D), and Nancy (F), to a strong scientific network with wellestablished stakeholder contacts in Central Europe.

Reaching net zero Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 is key to limit global warming to 1.5 °C and achieve the targets set out in the Paris Climate Agreement. Mitigation approaches such as renewable energy sources, improved energy efficiency and forest preservation, need to be combined with active carbon dioxide (CO2) removal (CDR). Low-cost nature-based solutions need to be identified, assessed and promoted on a large scale for both CO2 sequestration and biodiversity conservation. WILDCARD will, for the first time in Europe, assess the overall potential impact of natural rewilding of abandoned agricultural land and proforestation on carbon sequestration and biodiversity at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Combining field observations, remote sensing, and vegetation modelling with economic, societal and political analyses, WILDCARD will inform national and European policy makers on the contribution potential of nature-based solutions to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. The project will investigate the regulatory, cultural and economic barriers to natural rewilding and proforestation, and identify which social innovation mechanisms, models and incentives can better support our CDR approach. WILDCARD will use a dedicated cross-scale analysis, linking site-based in-depth knowledge on rewilding impacts and socio-economic consequences to a European-scale assessment, embedded in the current EU policy context and informed by global scenarios from IAMs and ESMs. The final project’s aim is to offer concrete and realistic policy options aimed at enhanced uptake of rewilding as a significant solution to achieve global climate objectives.

The objective of InnoForESt is to spark a transformation of the European forest sector by stimulating innovations for the sustainable supply and financing of forest ecosystem services. The project will support the governance of viable innovations and a multi-actor network by building on pioneer policy tools and business models, by establishing new alliances, and by involving key stakeholders from forest and forest-related policy, administration and business. InnoForESt will establish six real world pilots that represent a range of successful coordination approaches and business models. The project will facilitate the transfer and up-scaling of existing niche models identified and the development of new innovations, to demonstrate the feasibility of alternative income streams from a diverse set forest ecosystem services. The case study regions represent a variety of biophysical conditions and institutional settings across Europe. The core elements of InnoForESt are: (i) multi-actor networks, (ii) digital and p