PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The Mediterranean region hosts a great diversity of forest habitats, but they are under threat. The Mediterranean region of Spain hosts 22 habitat types of Community interest, of which 77% have an ‘unfavourable’ conservation status. The main problems for the Mediterranean forest habitats in Spain and France are the abandonment of rural communities and the use of forests for wood production exclusively. In this sense, forest areas with a specific planning instrument only represent around 13% of Spanish forests, and the applied management usually does not include criteria for biodiversity conservation and adaptation to climate change, or does so in a very limited way. To reverse this situation, it is essential to develop new models for forest management that integrate the objectives of biodiversity conservation, adaptation to climate change and the provision of ecosystem services, both in the management models themselves and in forest planning.
OBJECTIVES
The main objective of the BIORGEST project was to improve the biodiversity of Mediterranean forests. This was achieved by integrating specific measures and innovative practices into forest planning and management instruments, and through new financing and compensation mechanisms. It was, therefore, intended to reconcile the improvement of biodiversity with the economic sustainability of forest management, also ensuring forest resilience and therefore the ability of habitats to adapt to climate change. The project's objectives were in line with the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2020, objective 3 ("Increase the contribution of agriculture and forestry to maintaining and enhancing biodiversity"), the EU Strategy of Adaptation to Climate Change 2013-2020; the EU Communication on Green Infrastructure, and the EU Forest Strategy.
RESULTS
The project was successfully completed achieving its objectives and expected results. The challenge of LIFE BIORGEST was to generate much more comprehensive and unifying technical prescriptions for the incorporation of biodiversity conservation into multifunctional management, in a way that had not been addressed to date in the region. The aim was to cover all phases of the forest management and planning process and propose specific measures, such as, retaining large trees or trees with cavities, creating deadwood and performing selective thinning and clearing to enhance habitat heterogeneity, eliminate competition for endangered plant species and improve the habitats for wildlife. For those cases above, the project has developed guidelines and models. Furthermore, the Potential Biodiversity Index (PBI) has been adapted and calibrated to Mediterranean areas, particularly in Catalonia (PBI v3.0). It has also demonstrated its robustness as a diagnosis tool.
As a result, there was a direct improvement of biodiversity in more than 455 ha (208 foreseen) of representative Mediterranean pine and oak forests. These included the habitat types of Community interest ‘Quercus ilex and Quercus rotundifolia forests’, ‘Mediterranean pine forests with endemic Mesogean pines’, ‘Quercus faginea and Quercus canariensis Iberian woods’ and ‘Quercus suber forests’, in Catalonia (Spain) and Occitanie (France). Direct monitoring of impact was carried out in nearly half of them, and in all cases, structural heterogeneity increased, interspecific competition was reduced, and specific diversity was maintained or enhanced. Similarly, vulnerability to crown fire was reduced in almost all stands and biodiversity carrying capacity has remained stable in 40% of the stands and improved in 40% of them. Of these, a total of 49.97 ha was prepared for natural evolution. In this area, biodiversity was conserved and processes associated with natural dynamics were accelerated. Overall, the activities carried out in all stands make the forests more resilient to climate change (competence was reduced, an increase in blue water was noted, etc.).
The project had a high policy relevance in Catalonia. Involving researchers, practitioners / forest owners, and regional administration, the project demonstrated how to implement forest management practices which enhance biodiversity in different types of Mediterranean forests and under a variety of situations. As a result, a working group was set up among different forest policy making bodies to reach a consensus of the best measures in support of biodiversity that should be considered when modifying forest management instruments.
Policy impact was already achieved as beneficiary Centre de la Propietat Forestal approved in 2023 a financial instrument for rewarding forest owners the loss of income caused by the integration of biodiversity promotion practices. Furthermore, the modification of both the regional order regulating forest management instruments and of the widely used Sustainable Forest Management Guidelines of Catalonia (ORGEST) to integrate biodiversity conservation is ongoing and practical results are expected in a near future.
