The diverse research and expertise of the Climb-Forest project was showcased during a session at the European Geological Union General Assembly on 4th May 2026. The session was convened by a team led by Holger Lange, Forest Management, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, Norway.
“Being Climate- and Biodiversity-smart: pathways for sustainable and resilient forestry and implications for ecosystems, hydrology, and society” brought together researchers and scientists to demonstrate how their research can pioneer approaches to addressing the unprecedented challenges facing forests worldwide.
Forests provide critically important ecosystem services ranging from carbon storage and flood management to maintaining biodiversity and providing clean air all of which are vital to mitigating and adapting to climate change and the biodiversity crisis. Intensifying disturbances including weather related events such as storms and droughts and climatic changes which increase fire outbreaks, pests and diseases is putting pressure on these vital ecosystem services.
Mitigation measures aimed to combat these pressures such as afforestation, forest restoration, forest protection and innovative forest management have been promoted, but their efficiency and impact on ecosystem services are ambiguous and are location dependent. Growing evidence indicates a decrease in the carbon sink strength and storage capacity of forest ecosystems in recent years. Furthermore, forest management strategies primarily optimized for climate change mitigate might, in certain contexts, conflict with biodiversity conservation objectives, and vice versa. Thus, identifying pathways for sustainable and resilient forestry is a multi-disciplinary and multi-actor task and needs an understanding of the biophysical, social, ecological, economic, and governance implications.
Within the European policy context these issues are central to the European Green Deal Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health strategy and are also at the heart of the Climb-Forest project.
This session provided an opportunity to learn and understand how to design and implement climate- and biodiversity-smart forestry, aiming for long-term sustainability and multifunctionality. We are covered the following topics:
- management history, biomass production, carbon gains and losses
- biogeochemical and biophysical properties of forest stands
- interactions with atmospheric chemistry, e.g. aerosols and BVOC production
- bioeconomic aspects and wood production
- scenarios for alternative future forest management
- Modelling past and future climate impacts on forests and the delivery of different ecosystem services under different mitigation measures
- Insights, tools, and practices enabling the successful implementation of mitigation measures and enhancement of social-ecological systems’ resilience
- Governance or agent-based models to improve the societal and environmental benefits of mitigation measures
- The implications of forest-based mitigation measures on enhancing forest resilience against major disturbances and extreme events
- Methods and tools for decision and adaptation support in the forestry, considering multiple stakeholders and multifunctional perspectives