TAMERS

Velux Stiftung

Budget: 320K CHF

Time frame: 01 July 2024 - 30 June 2027

Collaborators:

Prof Dr Jürgen Bauhus (Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Germany)

Prof Dr Anastazija Dimitrova (Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, North Macedonia)

Dr Alex Giurca (EFI, Germany)

Dr Maria Hällfors (SYKE, Finnland)

Robert Jenni (FOEN, Switzerland)

Summary:

Assisted migration - the translocation of forest tree species and provenances – has a long tradition in forestry. With the recent dramatic forest die-back events, especially following the 2003, 2015, 2018 and 2022 heat waves, assisted migration has been proposed as a climate change adaptation strategy and it has also been included in the New EU Forest Strategy 2030. Most European countries have already started to perform assisted migration trials and some even started to implement assisted migration strategies at local scales. However, assisted migration research and actions are not coordinated at the European scale, often do not involve researchers and different stakeholders, and are often not aligned with the preparedness of the forestry community in the country. These issues stem from differences in the forestry tradition and ownership, the importance of forestry in the economy, and attitudes towards the perceived definition of assisted migration across countries.

The aims of this project are (1) to clarify the definition of assisted migration using an interdisciplinary approach involving principles from forestry, ecology, evolution and social science, (2) to identify country-specific resistance and gaps in knowledge transfer by assessing the role of information flow and trust between scientists and practitioners, and (3) to develop recommendations for communicating assisted migration actions at the European scale. To achieve these aims, we will implement a three year longitudinal case-control experiment using surveys. The case group will involve 500 foresters from across Europe that take part in a simulated assisted migration experiment in the framework (MyGardenOfTrees). The control group will involve independently recruited foresters and forest scientists.

Our results will be communicated not only in scientific journals but also at the pan-European level, via active collaborations with representatives of International Organizations, European Forest Institute and ForestEurope.