Progetto MENFRI

27 Febbraio 2014

Mediterranean Network

of Forestry Research

and Innovation

Mediterranean Network of Forestry Research and Innovation

MENFRI is a dialogue and action platform in forestry, encouraging scientific and technological collaboration within the Mediterranean

THE CHALLENGE

The Mediterranean Region will become one of the most vulnerable areas to global change. While in European Mediterranean countries land abandonment is promoting new unmanaged forest cover, increasing fire and pest risks, in the south of the basin, forest intensification results in the threat of desertification.

Forest management strategies must promote mitigation of global change effects and guarantee the sustainable use of ecosystem goods and services, all in order to achieve a resource efficient, low-carbon economy.

Spatial analysis tools from the north of the Mediterranean could help stopping deforestation while obtaining economic benefits of landscape management in the south, and traditional knowledge from the south may help decreasing land abandonment in the north by developing eco-innovative business.

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

MENFRI will become a dialogue and action platform in forestry, encouraging scientific and technological collaboration within the Mediterranean.

The main goal of the project is therefore to create a favourable environment for the development of forestry as an innovative and job creating business sector in this region while facing climate change.

The project will help bridging the gap between research and innovation by improving performance in managing, transferring and using the knowledge resulting from ecological research and forest management and by better aligning both research and economic objectives to societal needs.

WORK PACKAGES

WP1. Management of the project and coordination with INCO-R2I community

WP2. Mediterranean assessment of forest spatial analysis resources and tools

WP3. Mediterranean assessment of traditional management strategies and techniques

WP4. Mediterranean assessment of the forestry sector and network establishment

WP5. Training and exchange of best practices

WP6. Dissemination and exploitation of knowledge and interface of EC

EXPECTED RESULTS

Elaboration of a Spatial Information Toolkit
Elaboration of a Traditional Management Compilation Toolkit
Organisation of visits and courses on forest business, spatial resources, traditional initiatives, business innovation, COSME & Horizon 2020
Organization of a brokerage event
Elaboration of a Mediterranean R2I Forestry Policy Guide
Conference in the European Parliament