Can natural forest expansion contribute to Europe's restoration policy agenda? An interdisciplinary assessment
Frei, Theresa (European Forest Institute)
Espelta Morral, Josep Maria (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Górriz-Mifsud, Elena (Forest Science and Technology Center of Catalonia)
Hampe, Arndt (University Bordeaux)
Lefèvre, François (National Research Institute for Agriculture)
Martín-Forés, Irene (The University of Adelaide)
Winkel, Georg (Wageningen University)

Date:	2023
Abstract:	Natural forest expansion (NFE), that is, the establishment of secondary forest on non-forested land through natural succession, has substantially contributed to the widespread expansion of forests in Europe over the last few decades. So far, EU policies have largely neglected the potential of NFE for meeting policy objectives on restoration. Synthesising recent interdisciplinary research, this paper assesses the challenges and opportunities of NFE in view of contributing to European forest and ecosystem restoration. Specifically, we discuss the potential for supporting climate change mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity conservation, and forestry and economic use, summarize the current knowledge about societal perceptions and the policymaking on NFE, and make policy recommendations to better use the potential of NFE. We conclude that NFE has the potential to contribute to the European restoration policy agenda if local contexts and possible trade-offs are properly considered.
Grants:	European Commission 101081251
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article de revisió ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	EU policy ; Forest policy ; Forest regrowth ; Land abandonment ; Natural succession ; Passive restoration
Published in:	Ambio, Vol. 53 (September 2023) , p. 34-45, ISSN 1654-7209

DOI: 10.1007/s13280-023-01924-2
PMID: 37775713

12 p, 395.4 KB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > CREAF (Centre de Recerca Ecològica i d'Aplicacions Forestals)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles