News & Events

After a worthy three-year-long work of the MANFRED partners, two videos are now available on-line that describe the context of action, the scientific methodology and the key findings of the project with regard to the Alpine Space forests and the potential impacts that climate change may trigger on them and their ecosystems.

The two videos have been produced by the French partner CEMAGREF (now IRSTEA) in two versions, one in French and the other one with English subtitles.

The first six-minutes video, titled “MANFRED Synthesis and Perspectives”, briefly contextualizes the job done by the 15 partners from Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia and Switzerland over the last two years and illustrates the main resuls and outcomes of the project, while the second, 27-minutes long video, titled “Adaptive management of protection forests”, provides an overview of the main findings from the research carried out during the transnational cooperation on forest adaptive management in light of the possible climate change impacts in the Alpine Space.

Very interesting, for instance, by means of interstecting the existing protection forest maps with the MANFRED-developed scenarios on future tree species distribution, the project has showed that it is likely that 25% of current non-protective forests in the Alps will have a protective function in the future.

Check these videos out!

The MANFRED “22nd Century Potential of Alpine Forests” Booklet is now available on the MANFRED Website.

The result of the effort of the three-year long cooperation carried out by the fiteen different partners from the six Alpine countries composing the MANFRED Partnership, the MANFRED “22nd Century Potential of Alpine Forests” Booklet resumes the scientific outputs and results of the work conducted throughout all the project’s Work Packages to assess the status of Alpine forests and to define management strategies for the adaptation of these extraordinary resources to the potential impacts of climate change.

To download the MANFRED Booklet, click here!

After a three-year long work of trans-alpine cooperation, the MANFRED Partnership gatheredto sum up, analyze and foster public debate on the results achieved with a Final Conference on 28th June 2012, at the Food and Agriculture Organization–FAO headquarters in Rome.

The conference “The Future Potential of European Mountain Forests: challenges and solutions between Green Economy and Climate Change”, was organized jointly by the Italian Ministry for the Environment, the Institute for Timber Plants and Environment of Turin, the Forest Research Institute of Baden-Wuerttemberg and the whole MANFRED Partnership, and was hosted and facilitated by the Mountain Partnership Secretariat - FAO.

The event dealt with the future of the European mountain forests as linked to the challenges of climate change and the opportunity of a green economy. Climate change isexpected of modifying their appearance and functions, especially in the Alpine region owing to land use changes, increase of pest infestations and extreme events.

What are then, in terms of eco-engineering and other interventions, the strategies that can help to sustainably adapt to those changes, taking note of the social and economic functions performed by mountain forests?

The Conference, attended by more than 70 participants from around and outside the Alps, enshrined the project results in the broader perspective of the approaches undertaken at the international level with regard to forest issues, also thanks to the participation of a high-level panel of speakers from international institutions involved in forestry.

To get more insights on the contents and the outputs of the event, click on each speaker’s presentation title below:

• Welcome statements of the organizers (Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea, FAO-Mountain Partnership Secretariat, Alpine Space Programme – Joint Technical Secretariat)

 

• The Mountain territories perspective for the implementation of the EU forest strategy (E. Borghi, President, Italian National Union of Mountain Towns and Communities, UNCEM)

 

• Background, goals and expectations from the MANFRED Project: management strategies to adapt Alpine Space forests to climate change (M. Hanewinkel, Swiss Federal Institute for Forests, Snow and Landscape Research – WSL / Forest Research Institute of Baden-Wuerttemberg)

 

• Mountain Forests in a Changing World (T. Hofer, FAO – Forest Assessment, Management and Conservation Division)

 

• Communicating climate change adaptation for the forest sector: The MANFRED experience between scientific and policy-making challenges (P. Angelini, Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea)

 

• Climate change, air pollution and mountain vegetation: impacts, scenarios and policy perspectives (A. Ballarin Denti, Working Group on Effects, UNECE-CLRTAP)

 

• The Alpine Convention “Mountain Forest Protocol” (F. Näscher, Liechtenstein Ministry for Environmental Affairs, Land Use Planning, Agriculture and Forestry, Liechtenstein Head of Delegation for the Alpine Convention)

 

• Climate and land use change scenarios for adaptation of mountain forests in Europe: a focus on the strategies adopted in the Alps and the Carpathians (R. Nowicki, Senior Inspector, Ministry for the Environment, Poland, Chair- Carpathian Convention Working Group on Sustainable Forest Management)

 

• Future climate and land use scenarios in the Alpine forests (N. Zimmermann, Swiss Federal Institute for Forests, Snow and Landscape Research, WSL)

 

• Adapting Alpine Forests to climate change – Risk assessment for abiotic and biotic hazards (H. Griess, Bavarian Forest Institute – LWF)

 

• Extreme events in Alpine forests: census and Web-Gis Platform (S. Oliveri, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Faculty of Brescia Department of Mathematics and Physics “N. Tartaglia”)

 

• Eco-engineering and natural risks mitigation in the Alps towards the adaptation to climate change (F. Berger, CEMAGREF)

 

• The MANFRED Results and guidelines to Adaptive management (R. Jandl, Austrian Federal Research and Training Centre for Forests, Natural Hazards and Landscape, BFW)

 

• Mountain forests and assessment of the ecosystem services: the MANFRED challenge to quantify the ozone removal by a high elevation mountain forest: a case study (G. Gerosa, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Faculty of Brescia Department of Mathematics and Physics “N. Tartaglia”)

 

• Highlights from the Rio+20 Conference: a focus on Mountain Forests and their functions (P. Soprano, Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea)
• Assessing the potential of European forests sector to meet emerging challenges: the UNECE/FAO European Forest Sector Outlook Study II 2010-2030 (D. Ellul, UNECE\FAO Forestry and Timber section)

 

These and other issues will be discussed during the Final Conference of the European Project Management Strategies to adapt Alpine Space Forests to Climate Change Risks (MANFRED), which will take place on 28 June 2012 on the premises of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in Rome (Italy).

The conference is organized by the MANFRED project partners in cooperation with the Mountain Partnership Secretariat. The event aims at exploring future scenarios for European mountain forests as linked to the challenges posed by climate change and the opportunities presented by a green economy.
MANFRED, launched in the framework of the European Territorial Cooperation Programme “Alpine Space 2007-2013” to implement the Alpine Convention Protocol on “Mountain Forests”, aims at defining adaptation strategies for the alpine forests, in light of the potential impacts and hazard factors connected to climate change.

To learn more on forests in mountain areas, please register here by 20 June and join us on 28 June in FAO, Austria Room.

Have a look to the programme with details on each speech!

Logistic information and a list of hotel are also available.

For more information: info[@]manfredproject.eu

MORNING SESSION
(Chair, R. Canullo, ICP Forests co‐chairman Expert Panel on Biodiversity and Ground Vegetation)

• 9:30 – 10:00 Registration of participants

• 10:00 – 10:15 Welcome statements of the organizers (FAO-Mountain Partnership, Alpine Space Programme – Joint Technical Secretariat, UNEP-Interim Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention, Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea, Forest Research Institute of Baden-Wuerttemberg)

• 10:15 – 10:45 Background, goals and expectations from the MANFRED Project: management strategies to adapt Alpine Space forests to climate change (M. Hanewinkel, Swiss Federal Institute for Forests, Snow and Landscape Research – WSL / Forest Research Institute of Baden-Wuerttemberg)

• 10:45–11:05 Presentation of the Report “Mountain Forests in a Changing World” (T. Hofer, FAO – Mountain Partnership)

• 11:05 – 11:30 Coffee Break

• 11:30 – 11:50 The MANFRED experience in communicating needs and challenges for the forest sector in a dynamic future: a scientific challenge, a political issue (P. Angelini, Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea)

• 11:50 – 12: 10 Air pollution and mountain vegetation: current knowledge, future scenarios and policy perspectives (A. Ballarin Denti, Working Group on Effects, UNECE-LRTAP)

• 12:10 – 12:50 Regional Approaches to implement sustainable forest management in the mountains of Europe:
12:10 – 12:30 The Alpine Convention “Mountain Forest Protocol” (F. Näscher, Liechtenstein Ministry for Environmental Affairs, Land Use Planning, Agriculture and Forestry, Liechtenstein Head of Delegation for the Alpine Convention)

12:30 – 12:50 Protocol on “Sustainable Forest Management” to the Carpathian Convention (R. Nowicki, Senior Inspector, Ministry for the Environment, Poland, Chair- Carpathian Convention Working Group on Sustainable Forest Management)

• 12:50 – 13:10 Future climate and land use scenarios in the Alpine forests (N. Zimmermann, Swiss Federal Institute for Forests, Snow and Landscape Research, WSL)

• 13:10 – 14:30 Lunch

AFTERNOON SESSION
(Chair, Marc Hanewinkel, Swiss Federal Institute for Forests, Snow and Landscape Research – WSL / Forest Research Institute of Baden-Wuerttemberg)

• 14:30- 14: 50 Adapting Alpine Forest to climate change – Risk assessment for abiotic and biotic hazards (H. Griess, Bavarian Forest Institute – LWF)

• 14:50 – 15:10 Extreme events in Alpine forests: census and Web-Gis Platform (S. Oliveri, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Faculty of Brescia Department of Mathematics and Physics “N. Tartaglia”)

• 15:10 – 15:30 Eco-engineering and natural risks mitigation in the Alps towards the adaptation to climate change (F. Berger, CEMAGREF)

• 15:30 – 15:50 The MANFRED Results and guidelines to Adaptive management (R. Jandl, Austrian Federal Research and Training Centre for Forests, Natural Hazards and Landscape, BFW)

• 15:50 – 16:10 Coffee break

• 16:10 – 16:30 Mountain forests and assessment of the ecosystem services: The MANFRED challenge to quantify the ozone removal by a high elevation mountain forest: a case study. (G. Gerosa, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Faculty of Brescia Department of Mathematics and Physics “N. Tartaglia”)

• 16:30 – 16:50 Highlights from the Rio+20 Conference: a focus on Mountain Forests and their functions (P. Soprano, Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea)

• 16:50 – 17:10 Assessing the potential of European forests sector to meet emerging challenges: the UNECE/FAO European Forest Sector Outlook Study II 2010-2030 (D. Ellul, UNECE\FAO Forestry and Timber section)

Download the pdf version