Representatives of the nine partners involved in the SocialForest project, which focuses on finding solutions to combat the effects of climate change on forests in southern Europe, held a meeting in Portugal in early April to share updates on the research they are conducting.
The main conclusion reached by the working group—comprising partners from Spain, France, and Portugal—is that managed forests show greater resilience to the adverse effects of climate compared to those left in a state of abandonment. This adaptive capacity improves with the introduction of silvicultural activities and grazing, making both measures effective in mitigating the impact of climate anomalies such as drought, fires, or pests on these ecosystems.
The working sessions also served to observe on-site experiences in the Noudar Nature Park (Alentejo, Portugal). Visits included holm oak pastures (dehesas) that have lost part of their traditional management and are now showing signs of tree dieback.
Within the SocialForest project, a network of pilot sites is being used to analyze the resilience levels of representative forests in southern Europe to typical climate change events such as droughts and rising temperatures. Additionally, the project evaluates how management practices affect the conservation of ecosystem services and forest resilience.
Based on this data, SocialForest aims to establish a common strategy to ensure the conservation of southwestern European forests in the face of climate change effects.
Specifically, the forest types under study include dune pine forests with stone pine and/or maritime pine (Pinus pinea and/or Pinus pinaster) in France; evergreen holm oak dehesas (Quercus spp.) in Portugal; and Mediterranean pine forests with endemic mesogean pines and endemic juniper forests (Juniperus spp.) in Spain.
Each country has developed integrated plans tailored to its specific ecological, climatic, and socioeconomic contexts, but all partners share a common goal: to promote forest management, as it has been shown to improve resilience and ecosystem regeneration. It is worth noting that proper forest conservation ensures a safe environmental setting and a promising future for rural areas.
This search for common policies to be applied in the forests of southern Europe is participatory and inclusive. Its bottom-up development allows forest managers and landowners to make decisions based on scientific evidence provided by reputable entities using cutting-edge technology. The SocialForest project thus contributes to strengthening forest resilience in the face of current and future climate challenges.
An Interreg SUDOE Project
The SocialForest project, which aims to combat the impact of climate change in forest areas of the SUDOE space, is co-financed by the Interreg Program through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and is part of the Interreg SUDOE 2021–2027 program.
It includes nine partners from Spain, Portugal, and France:
Comunidad Autónoma de la Región de Murcia, Consejería de Medio Ambiente, Universidades, Investigación y Mar Menor, Dirección General de Patrimonio Natural y Acción Climática; Associação para o Estudo e Defesa do Património Natural e Cultural do Concelho de Mértola; Universitat Politècnica de València, Departamento de Ingeniería Hidráulica y Medio Ambiente; INRAE Centre Nouvelle-Aquitaine-Bordeaux, UMR 1391 ISPA; Asociación Forestal de Soria (ASFOSO); Université Toulouse III – Paul Sabatier, Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, laboratoire Géosciences Environnement Toulouse, UMR 5563; Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha, Consejería de Desarrollo Sostenible, Dirección General de Medio Natural y Biodiversidad; EDIA-Empresa de Desenvolvimento e Infra-estruturas do Alqueva, y Xylofutur.
