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Resilient Future Forests Lab

Strengthening the science-practice linkage


The Resilient Future Forests Lab (RFFL) is a global network of demonstration and research plots that cover large gradients of climatic and socio-economic condition. The RFFL network provides the foundation for transforming forests, landscapes, and land use to enhance provision of ecosystem services while providing greater resilience and adaptation under future conditions.

The RFFL is a vehicle for science-society and science-practice interactions to promote more productive and sustainable forms of landscape management, by engaging with stakeholders from the forestry and agriculture sectors, land managers and investors, as well as government decision-makers.


Supported by:


Mission:

The RFFL will develop, document and communicate the opportunities and constraints of forestry, forest restoration and good use of wood in a transition towards renewables and a sustainable development. It will address the needs of people while securing and developing the multiple functions and services provided by forests. We approach governments, organizations, foundations and people who acknowledge these potentials and will support this initiative

Objectives:

The Resilient Future Forests Lab will provide science-based but operationally realistic methods, sensitive to local context, for adapting forest ecosystems to emerging climatic and social conditions. RFFL informs society, landowners, land managers, and policy-makers of the consequences of choosing between alternative objectives and strategies for managing forested landscapes.


What we hope to accomplish in the long term:

The Resilient Future Forests Lab will establish a global network of demonstration and research landscapes that documents, demonstrates, and supports implementation of innovative silvicultural and restoration methods grounded in operational practice and applied science.

Forest research in all parts of the world has a rich legacy of field trials including long-term experiments and demonstration sites covering the entire lifespan of forest stands – inter alia under the auspices of IUFRO.


                                                     
Resilient Future Forests Lab (RFFL) to become a global network of FLR demonstration experimentsAim to create a platform for communication, documentation and development of practicesCollaboration with IUFRO member organizationsDemonstration sites and experiments address key forest restoration issues and document potentials and outcomes towards building resilient forest landscapes

 


RFFL Guide

This RFFL Guide provides guidance on establishing and maintaining an RFFL Project, collecting data, and sharing results. This Guide is intended primarily for anyone directly involved in proposing and establishing an RFFL Location. Scientists, practitioners, consultants/advisors, and landowners (individuals or organizations responsible for the land on which the RFFL is located) all will benefit from this Guide.

RFFL Guide (pdf)


RFFL Sites

     Kyrgyz Republic
     Ak-Suu Forest Experimental Station
     (and three other locations)

     Lead Partner: Research and Production Center for Forest Research, National
     Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic

 


     Uzbekistan
     Charvak Reservoir

     Lead Partner: Forestry Research Institute of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Uzbekistan


Denmark

RFFL-locations in Denmark are:
RFFL Bornholm and RFFL Trollerup Experimental Plantation

Lead Partner:
InNovaSilva, ApS, Vejle, Denmark


Emerging locations

Paraguay

Atlantic Production Forest Restoration
Atlantic Forest Riparian Reserve Restoration

Guatemala

Achiguate River Basin Watershed Restoration
Coyolate River Basin Riparian Restoration

Malawi

Lilongwe and Lingadzi Riverbank Restoration
Model Farm Upper Lilongwe River Catchment

Sri Lanka

Hurulu Dryland Forest Landscape Restoration
Kanneliya Rainforest Landscape Restoration


More information on sites: https://resilientfutureforest.org/


Collaborating Partners:

  • InNovaSilva, ApS, Vejle, Denmark
  • Research and Production Center for Forest Research, National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic Forestry Research Institute of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
  • Center for Forest Disturbance Science, US Forest Service, Athens, Georgia USA
  • Center for Bottomland Hardwood Research, US Forest Service, Starkville, Mississippi USA

Expected outputs:

A network of partners who contribute to the overall objectives of the platform, establish RFFL demonstration and research locations that address and visualise mutually accepted management objectives and criteria, and share data and information with other participants as well.

Multiple ecosystem services beyond e.g., wood production, carbon sequestration, erosion control, and biodiversity habitats may be evaluated depending upon local needs and site conditions (e.g., protection of water resources, amenity values and aesthetics, non-wood products, grazing by domestic stock, and game management).

Overall values estimated by techniques such as Total Economic Value will assist strategies, making trade-offs with full understanding of consequences.


We do this by:

  • Addressing key local questions related to management of forest landscapes;
  • Demonstrating innovative silvicultural techniques – e.g. around nursery techniques, stock type selection, improving soil moisture, reducing impact of grazers;
  • Testing new plant materials – provenances, species;
  • Utilizing new sensors and monitoring/inventory techniques to document benefits;
  • Communicating and openly sharing information locally, regionally, and globally to improve public understanding, engagement, ownership, and decision making among all stakeholders involved.


Title: Knowledge-sharing Workshop on Resilient Future Forests Lab (RFFL): an Introduction to Landscape-level Field Trials

Dates: 3-7 July 2023

Location: Løvenholm, Denmark

Description:

This workshop introduced invited participants to the Resilient Future Forests Lab (RFFL) concept for science-practice interactions. Participants became familiar with designing landscape-level field trials comprising demonstration, research and monitoring plots, which showcase (locally) innovative forest management techniques and compared them to conventional methods while documenting costs, benefits, and responses to climate change. The intensive three-day workshop included thematic presentations and breakout sessions for participants to develop project designs.