Managing prOtective foreSt fAcIng clImate Change compound events

Climate change (CC) is undeniably responsible for the increase in climate-related disasters. The EU Environment Agency states that the EU region experienced substantial economic losses (1980-2020: € 460 billion) and fatalities (1980-2020: 89525) from climate-related extremes. These phenomena are often the result of compound events, a combination of multiple climate-related hazards that contribute to socio-ecological risks. This innovative concept integrates small- to large-scale events for fully assessing CC induced risks to support adaptation actions and policies. Forests provide essential ecosystem services that support human well-being and play a critical role in the mitigation of CC, but their health and stability are also threatened by CC. Therefore, hazard-resilient and sustainable forest management is key for managing climate-related risks. In the Alpine region, forests are a key element for protecting people and assets against natural hazards. However, to be effective as an Ecosystem-based solution for Disaster Risk Reduction (Eco-DRR), forests need to be resilient to CC requiring action rather than reaction plans. As climate-related disasters do not stop at national borders, an Alpine-wide harmonised framework is needed. Action plans therefore require that: 1) atlases and data on historic and current Alpine climate-related disasters are collected, harmonised, shared, 2) trends in climate-related events including forest disturbances (e.g., forest fires, storms, pest outbreaks) are quantified for evaluating the future along most probable IPCC scenarios, 3) natural hazard risk models integrate effects of climate-related compound events on forests, and 4) awareness among foresters, risk managers, decision makers and the public is increased through an Alpine network of forest living labs. These are the objectives of the MOSAIC project (€ 2.71 M total budget) based on transnational experiences and data sharing for supporting Alpine climate action plans.Comprehensive stocktaking and assessment of spatially explicit past and projected climate (2050-2100 according to IPCC scenarios) and climate-related disaster data for the AS, made accessible via the first Alpine Climate Change webGIS atlas.

Providing a platform offering natural hazard and risk models upgraded for integrating the consequences of CC and compound events on AS forests’ composition and structure & on their ability to efficiently protect against natural hazards.



Provision of data, experience and knowledge to support the definition of a Joint Alpine scheme for implementing an integrated and adaptive management of Alpine forests with protective functions and forests that are coping with CC impacts.