Publication for download
Research Brief: Decision Making Support Toolbox
Europe’s forests must deliver on climate mitigation, biodiversity protection, and sustainable wood supply — all under growing uncertainty. Two major research projects, LEARNFORCLIMATE and BIOCONSENT, developed a practical toolbox to support better forest policy and management decisions.
What’s in the toolbox?
Policy Driver Scenarios – Explore alternative futures (e.g. Biodiversity First, Multifunctionality First, Bioeconomy First) to test robust strategies under uncertainty.
Policy Maps – Visual tools to assess coherence across sectors and governance levels, revealing trade-offs and synergies.
Forest Owner Typologies – Behaviour-based categories that help tailor policies and incentives to different owner motivations.
Implementation Strategies – Comparing land sharing, land sparing, and TRIAD approaches, as well as low to high management intensity.
Forest Simulation Models – Long-term projections of forest growth, carbon storage, and ecosystem services under climate change.
The publication is available for download here.
Publication for download
Policy Brief: Learning to achieve Forest Policy Goals under Climate Change
A joint policy brief from LEARNFORCLIMATE and BIOCONSENT argues that Europe won’t meet forest biodiversity and climate goals with targets alone. Climate-driven disturbances are rising, while policy and practice change too slowly.
Key takeaways:
The European Green Deal boosted ambition, but results depend on member-state implementation and national politics.
National forest policies mostly shift incrementally; bigger changes happen after severe disturbances.
Countries respond differently to EU strategies based on dominant actor coalitions (production vs. environmental/multifunctional beliefs).
Forest owners/managers are decisive and highly diverse—one-size-fits-all policy doesn’t work.
Current willingness to change management is limited, so ecosystem services may be shaped more by climate impacts than by adaptation—unless incentives and information improve.
Policy coherence (across EU sectors and between EU and national laws) is a major bottleneck.
Collaborative learning helps, but only with inclusive processes, realistic topics, and support tools + funding.
Publication for download
New BIOCONSENT Publication: Hands-on Manual for Practitioners with Management Recommendations
We are pleased to announce the publication of the BIOCONSENT “Hands-on Manual for Practitioners with Management Recommendations”, developed as part of the project’s synthesis and dissemination activities.
The manual translates key BIOCONSENT findings into practical guidance for decision-makers and practitioners, including policymakers, forest owners, conservation managers, environmental NGOs and civil society actors. Its core objective is to support informed conservation and restoration efforts that help maximize synergies and minimize trade-offs between biodiversity conservation/restoration and key forest ecosystem services — including provisioning, regulating and supporting services.
By bringing together insights from across the project, the manual offers structured recommendations on how forest management and policy decisions can contribute to more sustainable socio-ecological forest systems. It is designed as an accessible, practice-oriented resource that bridges scientific findings and on-the-ground implementation.
The manual will be complemented by a forthcoming EU Policy Paper, further strengthening the project’s contribution to science–policy dialogue at the European level.
The publication is available for download here.
Publication for download
Report on improved and upscaled understanding of how behaviour and behavioural change can support transformation to more sustainable socio-ecological forest systems and better biodiversity status at multiple spatial levels
Despite ambitious policy targets at the global and EU levels, biodiversity is under increasing threat. Ambitious policy targets have been set to halt the loss of biodiversity. Still, effective implementation depends, among other factors, on supportive behavioural responses from forest owners and managers who must respond to multiple policy and socio-economic drivers, forcing them to make decisions and trade-offs while dealing with complexity and uncertainty.
Several forest models have recently been improved in representing the behaviour and behavioural change of forest owners and managers. Building on that, the current study aimed to examine how behaviour and behavioural change can support improvements in forest biodiversity status and, more generally, in more sustainable socio-ecological forest systems, including synergies and trade-offs, by quantitatively assessing the outcomes of selected policy and management scenarios.
Publication for download
Combating new challenges with old political solutions? Policy responses to climate change and climate-induced disturbances in European forests
This publication, first authored by Annica Sandström and recently published in Forest Policy & Economics, explores national regulatory policy responses to climate change–related forest disturbances, offering valuable insights into how policy frameworks are evolving to address increasing pressures on forest ecosystems. By analysing regulatory approaches across national contexts, the study contributes to a deeper understanding of governance mechanisms that support forest resilience and sustainable management under climate change
The full publication is available here.
Publication for download
Policy and driver scenarios of forest biodiversity conservation and restoration in Europe
This report examines the implications of the newly adopted EU Nature Restoration Regulation, which mandates the restoration of forest habitats and biodiversity across Europe. It explores how EU Member States can implement these policies, balancing ecological restoration with sustainable forest management. The report also assesses trade-offs and synergies between biodiversity, climate, and forestry objectives, providing scenario-based insights to guide decision-making.
Publication for download
Policy Maps of national forest biodiversity conservation and restoration related policy and implementation in Europe
This publication assesses the coherence between EU biodiversity conservation and restoration policies and national forest laws across the EU-27. Through in-depth coding of national legislation, the report analyzes the alignment of EU goals—such as those set by the European Green Deal, EU Climate Law, and EU Biodiversity and Forest Strategies to 2030—with national frameworks. The resulting policy maps provide valuable insights for decision-makers, highlighting synergies and gaps in forest policy implementation.
The full report is available here.
Publication for download
Report on Improved Forest models with enhanced representation of behavior and behavioral change of forest owners and conservation managers
Forest management decisions are shaped by many socio-ecological factors and result in different behavioural responses. The BIOCONSENT project aims to design an effective and integrated decision support tool.
This report aims to describe:
(1) the correlation between variables influencing forest management behaviour and the different agent typologies.
(2) how to improve the representation of behaviour and behavioural change of forest owners and conservation managers in biophysical forest models.
(3) further improvements made to forest models to simulate biodiversity outputs, as consequence of the implementation of different policy and management scenarios.