Europe’s forests face a critical challenge as fragmented information hinders effective monitoring and management. Existing data silos hamper comprehensive understanding, impeding evidence-based policies for climate and biodiversity. In this context, on the 1 January 2024, the EU-funded (Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment) MoniFun project aims to co-create a harmonised European forest multifunctionality monitoring system (EFMMS). This system will seamlessly integrate fragmented data, accommodating the diverse needs of stakeholders, policies, and society. Through collaborative efforts, experts will identify information requirements and forge harmonised indicators, laying the foundation for EFMMS. It ensures real-time monitoring and future ecosystem service forecasts.
The geoLab will be involved in multiple tasks of the MoniFUn project where a multi-actor approach will be use to co-create a blueprint for a harmonized European Forest Multifunctionality Monitoring System (EFMMS), consolidating currently fragmented information about the forest multifunctionality into a comprehensive, interoperable information system that integrates existing platforms and data sources, and fulfils the needs of diverse stakeholders, policies and society. First MoniFun will map the information needs of different stakeholders. Then experts in different fields of forest ,multifunctionality will co-develop these information needs into harmonized indicators and co-create a technical description of EFMMS and proposals for its permanent governance and funding. Smooth routines are developed and validated using datasets of project beneficiaries for (a) using of field plot data (e.g. from NFIs) with remote sensing data (e.g. Copernicus) for mapping of forest multifunctionality without compromising the confidentiality of the plot coordinates, (b) using artificial intelligence for real-time monitoring of rapid changes in forests, (c) producing harmonized statistical estimates with accuracy and granularity meeting the stakeholder information needs and (d) forecasting ecosystem services related to climate and biodiversity for various timespans to evaluate the effects of forest policies. The blueprint will respond to the urgent need for the development of European Forest Monitoring system and after being implement, support successful planning, implementation and evaluation of evidence-based policies, as well as mitigation and adaptation measures at the European level.
In the project, coordinated by LUONNONVARAKESKUS, Luke (FI), are involved AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS (ES), CONSIGLIO PER LA RICERCA IN AGRICOLTURA E L’ANALISI DELL’ECONOMIA AGRARIA (IT),Ústav pro hospodářskou úpravu lesů Brandýs nad Labem (CZ), FACHAGENTUR NACHWACHSENDE ROHSTOFFE EV (D), JOHANN HEINRICH VON THUENEN-INSTITUT, BUNDESFORSCHUNGSINSTITUT FUER LAENDLICHE RAEUME, WALD UND FISCHEREI (D), EUROPEAN FOREST INSTITUTE (FI), NIBIO – NORSK INSTITUTT FOR BIOOKONOMI (NO), STICHTING WAGENINGEN RESEARCH (NL), SVERIGES LANTBRUKSUNIVERSITET (SW), BUNDESFORSCHUNGS UND AUSBILDUNGSZENTRUM FUR WALD NATURGEFAHREN UND LANDSCHAFT (A), EIDGENOSSISCHE FORSCHUNGSANSTALT WSL (CH), Europea Environmental Agency (DE).
Stay tuned on project progress: https://www.monifun.eu