PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Climate Change is causing significant detrimental impacts on European forests that extend over 158 million ha, and cover 37.7% of the EU's territory. Among these effects are longer periods of drought, and higher risks of forest fires, tree diseases, and floods. In this scenario, the Iberian Peninsula is one of the areas with the highest incidence, with almost 13 million ha burned in recent decades. Likewise, alterations in the growth and mortality of some forest species associated with climate change have recently been detected in the Iberian Peninsula. In the northern fringe of the Iberian Peninsula, forests coexist with other land uses/vegetation cover in a mosaic structure, currently threatened by the increase in forest/shrub mass and the loss of pastures. Among the strategies to increase the resilience of forests to climate change, it is worth highlighting the implementation of territorial plans that contribute to the conservation of the landscape mosaic, thus providing different ecosystem services that help addressing the impacts of climate change.
OBJECTIVES
The general objective of LIFE SILFORE is to increase the resilience of Atlantic and sub-Atlantic agroforestry systems to climate change, with strategies linked to the multifunctional use of the territory and the promotion of functional (specific) and landscape biodiversity. This will be carried out by combining different silvopastoral management and pasture habitats managed at the agroforestry exploitation level, as an opportunity for their diversification and profitability. The strategies will be implemented both in publicly and privately owned territories, increasing their impact and future replication.
RESULTS
Expected results:
- Identification and demonstration of the silvopastoral techniques best suited to the particularities of Atlantic-Subatlantic areas.
- Design and demonstration on 117.8 ha (10 demonstrators) of integrated and coordinated silvopastoral models.
- Demonstration of the potential of different techniques to increase resilience to climate change.
- Increased knowledge of forest and land owners, farmers, ranchers and other agents in the rural environment on the application of silvopastoral techniques at plot and farm scale.
- Improved economic, social and environmental profitability of forests, and the incomes of people who live in rural areas.
- Replication and transfer of the project results on more than 500 ha before the end of the project.
