Line of action:

Drivers of biodiversity loss

Status:

Finalizado

Execution date:

2023

End date:

2025

Total budget:

€196,209.71

Amount of aid from the Biodiversity Foundation:

€137,346.79

Center for Forestry Science and Technology of Catalonia - CTFC

Spain has extensive experience in forest restoration and adaptation, but this knowledge is dispersed, making it difficult to learn from the success and failure of past experiences.

The entity also points out that, in addition, there is still no clear definition of what constitutes a success story in this context. This study will directly address these limitations by developing indicators of success, documenting and evaluating the various and multiple past initiatives. The initiative aims to synthesize all the information gathered and analyze the success factors, in order to develop and disseminate a series of recommendations that gather the lessons learned to try to minimize errors and optimize forest adaptation to climate change in Spain. To this end, participatory, inclusive and innovative methods will be used, such as the Delphi method, which promotes consensus in the analysis of information and coordination between Administrations, entities and other key agents, as well as the transfer of information to society.

The general objective of this project is to collect and synthesize knowledge on the adaptation and restoration of forest ecosystems from the large number of past and ongoing projects and initiatives throughout Spain, in order to analyze the ecological, social, economic and political factors that promote success in measures to combat desertification and adapt to climate change.

To achieve this general objective, we will first try to define indicators of success in forest restoration and adaptation, and then compile and synthesize the scattered but valuable information and results obtained over decades in Spain, and evaluate the common factors that determine success or failure in these projects.

Special emphasis will also be placed on the participation of experts and the dissemination of results to promote coordination and exchange between Administrations, managers and other actors involved in forest restoration and adaptation in Spain, as well as to facilitate the transfer of information to society in general and to the rural population in particular.

• Bibliographic review of publications that address the issue of success in ecosystem restoration and adaptation initiatives.
• Definition of success indicators adapted to the Spanish casuistry.
• Online search and cataloguing of restoration and adaptation projects and activities in Spain funded by the European Union and the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO).
• Identification and cataloguing of unpublished initiatives through the expert knowledge and networks of the project’s collaborating personnel and the entities supporting the proposal.
• Development of a questionnaire to characterize and evaluate the success of the initiatives.
• Identify, select, and engage experts for collaboration
• Workshop I with experts to present the Delphi method and the questionnaire developed.
• Analysis of the first questionnaire and subsequent elaboration of the second (following the aforementioned Delphi method).
• Based on these results, a second, more specific questionnaire on the success of restoration and adaptation activities will be developed and fed back to the same experts during Workshop II.
• Workshop II with experts to present the results of the first questionnaire and circulate the second.
• Analysis, harmonization and synthesis of the information gathered.
• Based on the results and conclusions of the analysis, recommendations and guidelines will be drafted to promote success in future adaptation initiatives. These recommendations will be included as part of the final report that will be sent to all participants, as well as to the Administrations and other actors involved in the Spanish forestry sector.
• Dissemination and communication of the project.

• The knowledge generated in forest restoration and adaptation ( RAF) initiatives in Spain has been compiled and synthesized, in order to identify the factors that determine their success and propose solutions to improve the effectiveness of future interventions.
• A rigorous methodological approach has been combined with a participatory strategy that has involved more than 60 experts and 46 collaborating entities.
• 382 projects and initiatives developed in Spain between 1990 and 2024 have been catalogued, characterised according to key variables such as objectives, causes of degradation, type of intervention and sources of funding. This information has been made available to the public through an open repository and an interactive online viewer, tools that facilitate consultation and analysis by administrations, managers and the scientific community.
• Significant progress has been made in defining the concept of forest restoration and in identifying indicators of success adapted to the Spanish context. Through the review of 95 scientific publications and the application of the Delphi method in participatory workshops, a list of 22 indicators that integrate ecological, social, economic and political dimensions has been agreed upon.
• 45 key challenges have been identified that limit the success of forest restoration in Spain, mainly related to the lack of stable funding, institutional fragmentation and excessive bureaucracy. Faced with these challenges, the project has proposed concrete solutions, such as the creation of more effective governance mechanisms, incentives for forest owners and the simplification of administrative procedures.