Transforming forest management for multiple ecosystem services and nature conservation via the integrative approach

The overall objective of TRANSFORMIT is to demonstrate and improve the effectiveness of integrative forest management (IFM) to combine productive forestry and biodiversity conservation by integrating existing practical and scientific knowledge, and to stipulate collaboration and mutual learning amongst science, policy and practice.

TRANSFORMIT will lay the basis for larger scale implementation of IFM through proactive engagement with well-established networks, such as the Integrate Network, and a corresponding Chinese consortium.

Capitalizing these networks, TRANFORMIT will (a) create a Stakeholder Engagement Platform for intensive collaboration, mutual learning and sharing of knowledge among conservation and forestry bodies, forest managers, forest owners, research institutions, certification bodies and other interested stakeholders to exploit synergies and minimise trade-offs in forest management, (b) promote IFM though the establishment of seven Living Labs that serve as role models to spread IFM across European regions, (c) create a set of practical IFM recommendations and evidence-based guidelines for upscaling and addressing multiple, possibly conflicting objectives of forest management, d) update, demonstrate and verify IFM actions to help achieve EU forest policy targets as part of the EU Green Deal, Biodiversity Strategy and the EU Forest Strategy 2030, (e) demonstrate approaches for the diversification of IFM methods and appropriate use with a strong involvement of practitioners, (f) demonstrate the active use of Decision Support Tools (DSTs) and forest modelling as well as innovative technologies to address effects of different forest management approaches on the provision of ecosystem services and effects of climate change on forests, (g) apply context-dependent and site-appropriate, participatory, multi-stakeholder and interdisciplinary methods.