Innovative management strategies for climate change adaptation of mixed subhumid Mediterranean forests (LIFE MixForChange)

The main aim of the project is to contribute to the adaptation to climate change of European mixed sub-humid Mediterranean forests by increasing their resilience, ensuring their conservation and enhancing their productive, environmental and social functions.The project will test innovative silvicultural models on 177 ha of pilot demonstration forest stands, distributed across four areas representative of the bioclimatic gradient and the diversity of sub-humid Mediterranean forests and the problems that they face regarding climate change. In particular, the project aims to:

• Develop, implement and demonstrate innovative forest management techniques designed to increase the resilience and intrinsic adaptation capacity of different types of sub-humid Mediterranean forests. The project will test these silvicultural techniques on pilot demonstration forest stands;
• Develop new tools for integrating the adaptation to climate change of sub-humid Mediterranean forests in the policy and legal framework related to forest management, such as enhanced local policy actions where this type of forest is located in areas highly dependent on its social and environmental functions;
• Develop new tools to strengthen the economics of forest management, linked to the products that sub-humid Mediterranean forests can provide, in order to foster economic sustainability of mid- and long-term forest management aimed at climate change adaptation, and to prevent the abandonment of forest activities; and
• Transfer implemented techniques and developed tools to regional and European stakeholders (forest owners and managers, public bodies, companies and decision-makers) from areas hosting sub-humid Mediterranean forests, in order to improve the long-term management and conservation of these habitats, to raise social awareness about the relevance of the problems addressed within the project and to maintain sustainable economic activities that guarantee the conservation of these forests.