Are you curious about the opportunities of climate-smart forest management or would you like to get started, but need more information and practical examples? There are several opportunities to join the project and see the possibilities for yourself.

Sharing and transferring valuable knowledge is central to LIFE Climate Forest. Spread out over the project years, we organise several knowledge moments in which we work with owners, managers, policymakers and other stakeholders on climate forest management.

During these moments, managers and owners also get a real opportunity to look at the options for their specific situation together with the project team. We also pay attention to the translation into forest policy. After all, policymakers play an important role in developing the policy and management of the future.

Three-day courses for administrators

Meanwhile, we have already provided three successful courses for forest managers in 2023. These courses included forest soil, forest climate, resilient species and provenances. We concluded each course day with an excursion. A total of 150 forest managers participated from, among others, the Forest Groups, Staatsbosbeheer and provincial landscapes.

Mini-symposium for policymakers

The mini-symposium for policymakers will take place in Breda on 5 March 2024. During the symposium, four speakers will share new insights on climate forest management:

1. We start with Jan den Ouden (Wageningen University) introducing us to what climate forest management actually is and interpreting important principles like adaptation and mitigation for us.

2. With Ellen Desie (University of Leuven) and Leon van den Berg (Bosgroep Zuid Nederland), we then dive into the issues of forest growth and the importance of healthy soil for resilient forests.

3. Bart Muys (University of Leuven) then takes us through the results and insights gained in a recent project called climate trees, in which advice was drawn up for Flanders on how to deal with tree species in light of climate change.

Jan den Ouden concludes the lectures with the importance of ongoing forest rejuvenation for forest adaptability and the role of wildlife.

Harrie Hekhuis (Staatsbosbeheer) will introduce the day and guide the discussion throughout the day. We will conclude with a short excursion in the Mastbos where we will see and jointly discuss principles and challenges of climate forest management.