Side events of the Eighth Mediterranean Forest Week 2024 – day 4

The Eighth Mediterranean Forest Week (8MFW) held in Barcelona, Spain, from 4 to 7 November 2024, hosted a total of 14 side events, where key regional stakeholders showcased their work, research and projects.  

On day 4, 7 November 2024, three side events took place: 

The “Paris Agreement in Action: Upscaling Forest and Landscape Restoration to Achieve Nationally Determined Contributions – Results and Future Pathways in the Mediterranean Region” 

This side event showcased the achievements of the project funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) in 2018–2024 to promote forest and landscape restoration (FLR) in the Mediterranean region, with a focus on Lebanon and Morocco. It emphasized the role of FLR in combating climate change and achieving nationally determined contributions (NDCs) while also supporting international frameworks and targets like the Bonn Challenge and the Sustainable Development Goals.  

The side event gathered donors, implementing agencies and stakeholders and highlighted the key project results. These include the establishment of effective regional cooperation through high-level dialogues, capacity-building workshops and knowledge exchange. 

Activities ranged from training on climate finance and carbon benefits to monitoring tools for FLR. Activities at national level in Morocco and Lebanon demonstrated tangible outcomes, such as restoring degraded lands, managing rangelands, developing participatory restoration plans (Morocco) and updating forest management laws (Lebanon). The project also developed practical tools for greenhouse gas tracking (Lebanon) and supported integration of FLR activities into national frameworks through desk studies and assessments (Morocco).  

The event served as a platform for experts to share experiences and methodologies, including producing and revising procedural guides and updating land-use plans. Participants discussed future pathways for scaling FLR efforts, ensuring gender-sensitive approaches, and reinforcing regional and global partnerships to address climate and biodiversity challenges.  

Through enhanced collaboration – for example with the Union for the Mediterranean, the Mediterranean Model Forest Network, the Mediterranean Facility of the European Forest Institute and the International Association for Mediterranean Forests – and innovation, the project highlighted how FLR can enhance ecosystem resilience and foster sustainable livelihoods.  

Additional resources: 

• Project evaluation
• Project details

Valentina Garavaglia, FAO 

Advances in forest restoration, management and adaptation in the North American Mediterranean climate zone  

The North American Mediterranean climate zone (NAMCZ) includes most of California, Southwest Oregon, and the westernmost part of Nevada in the United States of America, and northern Baja California in Mexico. All of the world’s Mediterranean climate zones (MCZs) are experiencing climate-driven and -enhanced challenges related to resource management and sustainability. Among five MCZs, the NAMCZ is the one that is the most similar to the Mediterranean Basin MCZ, based on strong biogeographic connections and similar biota, as well as important cultural connections. However, collaborative efforts in applied science and fire and resource management are surprisingly underdeveloped between the two regions.  

The side event summarized recent advances in science support to forest and fire management, forest restoration and climate change adaptation in the NAMCZ. The intent was to provide a basis for the development of new collaborations between scientists, resource managers and policymakers in the Mediterranean Basin and the NAMCZ.  

The event included presentations by six applied researchers from the NAMCZ, representing universities and research institutions in California, Nevada and Baja California. Presentation topics included large-scale forest experiments, modelling, decision-support tools, monitoring programmes and science support to forest and fire management planning.  

Additional resources: 

• Safford Lab at UC-Davis
• Bisbing Lab at UN-Reno
• Adaptive Management Experiment website
• SoCal EcoServe website

Hugh D. Safford (University of Davis, California) 

Shaping the future of Mediterranean forests  

The StrategyMedFor partnership hosted a successful side event focused on a critical task: adapting criteria and indicators (C&I) for sustainable forest management in the region.  

The side event provided a platform for participants to shape the development of an effective C&I framework for Mediterranean forests. Participants actively engaged in the discussions, offering valuable insights and expertise. Their contributions will directly influence the development of the framework, ensuring it fosters resilience in the face of global change and associated forest disturbances.  

This framework will play a vital role in the development of a 10-year strategy for the sustainable management of Mediterranean forests (SSMMF), the main output of the StrategyMedFor project. The SSMMF will be evaluated and tested in three countries – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece and North Macedonia – before June 2026, enabling adjustments and improvements prior to broader implementation.  

Additionally, the partnership will use geotechnologies to create a spatial knowledge base guiding forest management decision for protection, restoration and resilience purposes.  

Additional resources: 

StrategyForMed

Dania Abdul Malak (University of Malaga, Spain), Martin Fillot (AIFM),
Alain Chaudron (AIFM)