- Introducing European Forest Risk Facility initiative; Towards enhancing the resilience and adaptive capacity of European forest landscapes by promoting knowledge echange and networking. (Alex Held & Marcus Lindner – European Forest Institute)
Summary: The countless efforts by organisations to work together to tackle the most complex challenges facing our world today (climate change, resource depletion and ecosystem loss) have failed because of competitive self-interest, a lack of fully shared purposes, and a shortage of trust. the project European Forest Risk Facility aims to increase capacity, promote cooperation and exchange, focus on people and their expertise, provide knowledge and options for decisions, in order to enhance the resilience and adaptive capacity of European forest landscapes by promoting intelligent handling of natural disturbance related risks as an integral part of sustainable management.
- Storms disaster: too seldom – too often. (Christophe Hartebrodt – Forest Research Insitute of Baden-Württemberg)
Summary: Climate change is increasing the large storms events across Europe, with severe past examples of hight relevance in the central parts. Storms has economic and social impacts in the field of forests and related activities. The presentation focuses on the state of the art in storms hazards affecting forest, identifying the main gaps and challenges which forest manager has to deal with. At the same time it is higlhighted the key points to improve the forest resilience through new operational approaches of risk assessment.
- Flood risk management: opening opportunities. (Bertram de Rooij – Wageningen Environmental Research)
Summary: Forests plays an important role in flood risk mitigation, accting as a defense infrastructure of huge importance for both social and economical dimension. The presentation figure out the opening opportunities on new flood risk mitigation approaches through forest management involvement looking forwards the upcoming challenges posed by climate change contexts.
- Avalanches: forest interactions and risk management. (Frank Krumm – Institute for Snow and Avalanches Research)
Summary: Avalanches are one of the main natural hazards in mountain areas, having occured several events with catastrophic results along the history. Afforestation of avalanche release areas is the most cost-efficient defense structure to mitigate the hazard and to ensure settlements development into the exposed area. The presentation focus on the protective function of forest to minimize avalanche formation, and how climate change will entail new vulnerabilities for forest resilience.