"We need a larger variety in forest management strategies"

Could you provide a brief overview of your project – what are the main objectives and expected outcomes? 

"The main objective of E-Tools is to improve knowledge and decision support for alternative forest management strategies. This includes different forms of continuous cover forestry, but also adapted forms of rotation forest management (i.e. clear-cutting forestry) such as mixed forests. To do that, we look at planning tools used by forest owners and managers and explore how they should be improved to allow for a larger variation in forest management strategies and forest management objectives. We improve the growth functions for continuous cover forestry in the widely-used forest decision support tool, Heureka, and develop a simplified, web-based version of Heureka that allows forest owners and other interested parties to easily access decision support regarding the effects and benefits of adapted forestry methods. Finally, we also evaluate the long-term effects, benefits and challenges at the property and national level of a widespread implementation of alternative management strategies".

How does the research relate to the One Health concept?

"Forests cover 69 percent of the land area in Sweden. They are home for many species, are an arena for the traditional Sámi reindeer herding, are important for recreation and rehabilitation, and they provide a wide variety of ecosystem services such as clean water and air, berries and mushrooms. Forests are, of course, also an important source for a fantastic renewable material: wood. All these different forest values are ultimately affected by how we manage our forest ecosystems. In the past, management has focused on the fast production of conifer wood, which has led to the dominance of rotation forestry, often with monocultures of pine and spruce. Even though the consideration of other forest values than wood production has increased in the last decades and led to some adaptation of management practices, there remain large challenges to make forest management truly sustainable. For example, the environmental quality objective "Living forests" is out of reach with the current forest governance, and the trend is even negative. To have multifunctional forests, we need a larger variety in forest management strategies. Increasing the proportion of alternative management strategies, including continuous cover forestry, mixed forests and longer rotation periods, has the potential t o benefit the forest's ecological and social values and to make forests more resilient to climate change, thus also benefitting human health. However, there are many knowledge gaps on alternative management strategies, and with E-Tools we aim to contribute to filling these gaps".

What do you consider the key challenges and opportunities in your research area in relation to the forests and health?

"Climate change. We have already seen climate change impacts on the forest, with reduced tree growth and large spruce-bark beetle damages after the extreme summer of 2018. The Heureka forest decision support tool that is widely used in research, teaching and in the forest sector in general to produce long-term forest management scenarios and impact analysis is based on empirical tree growth functions. These models are thus limited in their ability to simulate climate change effects. How tree growth and survival is influenced by climate change affects all other forest values. Thus, we urgently need to improve Heureka’s capability to simulate the effects of climate change, both on the growth of trees, but also on tree mortality caused by damages that are expected to increase due to climate change. We have ongoing research projects dealing with this, but more efforts are needed. We also need better tools for assessing and communicating risks and uncertainties. Therefore, there is a large opportunity for future research!"