LIFE METROFOREST is an innovation project aimed at improving agroforestry management planning instruments with the objective of restoring nature and enhancing the resilience of forest systems to climate change in metropolitan environments. EFUF is proud to be part of the consortium.

The Serra de Collserola Natural Park is proposed as a testing ground: a territory of more than 8,000 hectares located within the metropolitan area of Barcelona, representing a singular situation that nevertheless concerns many territories of the European Union. These are Mediterranean forests, more vulnerable to climate change, where management is more urgent yet less profitable from a traditional perspective. Many of these forests are part of the Natura 2000 network and therefore of high natural interest. They are largely privately owned, which fragments ownership and makes it difficult to make strategic decisions. Finally, they are peri-urban forests, which increases anthropogenic pressure but also social interest, requiring reconsidering the prioritisation of ecosystem services over conventional forest management.

To address these management challenges, the LIFE METROFOREST project proposes the development of innovative planning instruments:

• An advanced digital multi-criteria tool (EMC), based on Geographic Information Systems, to enable agile, objective, data-based, and adaptive decision-making.
• A management strategy at the scale of the range or natural space, focused on ecosystem services, which defines management priorities in a territorialized way, allowing to overcome a traditional farm-based forest management and with the conventional parameters of silviculture.
• An agroforestry management and nature restoration planning instrument at farm level, in line with the range strategy, which allows the identification of opportunities, the cost-benefit analysis and prioritisation of actions, and links them to authorisation procedures and public–private collaboration.

The proposed analysis and diagnosis tools aim to facilitate private agroforestry planning and implementation and coordinate public intervention within a large-scale territorial co-management framework. In summary, the project proposed a new paradigm that, considering the limited economic resources, allows for efficient planning, facilitates access to financing instruments, prioritizes investments, and aligns public and private actions with a common strategy.

The European Forum on Urban Forstry is a proud member of the project consortium. Our contribution lies in the internationalisation of the project results, and the organisation of three webinars.

Project details

EFUF members involved: Jerylee Wilkes-Allemann, Mariateresa Montici, Simone Borelli, Rik De Vreese