A participatory approach for adapting river basins to climate change

Climate change is expected to reduce water availability in the Mediterranean region and water management needs to adapt to future conditions. The aims of this study were (1) to develop a participatory approach for identifying and evaluating management options for river basin climate adaptation and (2) to apply and evaluate the approach in four case-study river basins across the Mediterranean. As part of the approach, a diverse group of stakeholders joined a series of workshops and consultations in four river basins located in Cyprus, Slovenia, Spain and Tunisia. In each river basin, stakeholders expressed their views on challenges in their river basins, as well as options to tackle these challenges. We used the information on challenges, as well as the factors contributing to these challenges to develop a fuzzy cognitive map for each basin. These maps were converted into mathematical models and were used to assess the impact of a total of 102 suggested management options for the four river basins. We linked the options and their estimated impacts with a multi-criteria analysis to identify the most preferred options. The approach was positively evaluated by the participating stakeholders and allowed the link of stakeholders' knowledge and perceptions about their river basin with their preferences for options to adapt the management of their river basins to future conditions

Forestry in the Midst of Global Changes

Forestry is an important foundation of the global economy. Today, forestry is a human-dominated ecosystem and as such it faces the many challenges that come with recent changes in urbanization and globalization. This book aims to explain human relations with forest resources from social and political points of view, bringing together the economic, social, and scientific concerns. The focus will be on the impacts of the societal processes in forest management practices across the world highlighting differences in cultural backgrounds and political issues. It will provide a contemporary assessment that is highly relevant and unique

External drivers of changes challenging forestry: political and social issues at stake

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Forest plantations in Southwestern Europe: A comparative trend analysis on investment returns, markets and policies

This paper represents the first analysis of forest plantation investments on a comparative perspective in the context of Southwestern Europe. We estimated and compared potential investment returns at aggregate level for some of the most important productive forest plantation species in the region, including hybrid poplar in northern Italy, in Castile and Le\uf3n (Spain) and in Navarre (Spain), eucalyptus and maritime pine in Portugal, and radiata pine in the Basque Country (Spain). We carried out a financial analysis before-taxes, using typical capital budgeting indicators. Indicators were calculated according to a baseline scenario as well as in alternative scenarios, analyzing how the main policy and market factors influence returns. We also carried out a trend analysis to provide means for comparing the evolution of expected and actual returns in recent years. Overall, our results indicate that in Southwestern Europe there are some opportunities for reasonably attractive investment returns (IRR > 5%) from forest plantations mainly for current landowners and forest products industry, and only in some cases potentially interesting also for financial investors. Nevertheless, there are significant differences among species and contexts as well as structural limitations in the region \u2013 i.e. related to timber market, biotic and abiotic risks and forest holdings structure \u2013 that new investors would have to take into consideration. More in specific, hybrid poplar plantations in Italy and Spain are estimated to provide on average the potentially highest returns, but the large range of variability and the high land and opportunity costs are unlikely to make them an attractive investment for non-landowners. Eucalyptus plantations in Portugal are estimated to be the only investment where non-landowners could expect to get relatively interesting and stable returns, although a recent law reform in the country could limit new investments. Maritime pine and radiata pine plantations in Portugal and Spain present lower returns, suffering the situation of depressed stumpage prices after the 2008 economic crisis, which strongly affected the sawmilling sector

A forest-based circular bioeconomy for southern Europe: visions, opportunities and challenges

Addressing the societal and environmental challenges presented by global change requires fundamental changes to the way our society produces and consumes goods and services. Securing prosperity for a growing population, dealing with resource scarcity and mitigating climate change and environmental degradation will require an increased reliance on nature-based solutions, renewable energies and materials used in highly efficient and innovative closed material loops. That is what the circular bioeconomy can help to achieve

A participatory approach for adapting river basins to climate change

Climate change is expected to reduce water availability in the Mediterranean region and water management needs to adapt to future conditions. The aims of this study were (1) to develop a participatory approach for identifying and evaluating management options for river basin climate adaptation and (2) to apply and evaluate the approach in four case-study river basins across the Mediterranean. As part of the approach, a diverse group of stakeholders joined a series of workshops and consultations in four river basins located in Cyprus, Slovenia, Spain and Tunisia. In each river basin, stakeholders expressed their views on challenges in their river basins, as well as options to tackle these challenges. We used the information on challenges, as well as the factors contributing to these challenges to develop a fuzzy cognitive map for each basin. These maps were converted into mathematical models and were used to assess the impact of a total of 102 suggested management options for the four river basins. We linked the options and their estimated impacts with a multi-criteria analysis to identify the most preferred options. The approach was positively evaluated by the participating stakeholders and allowed the link of stakeholdersʹ knowledge and perceptions about their river basin with their preferences for options to adapt the management of their river basins to future conditions

A participatory approach for adapting river basins to climate change

Climate change is expected to reduce water availability in the Mediterranean region and water management needs to adapt to future conditions. The aims of this study were (1) to develop a participatory approach for identifying and evaluating management options for river basin climate adaptation and (2) to apply and evaluate the approach in four case-study river basins across the Mediterranean. As part of the approach, a diverse group of stakeholders joined a series of workshops and consultations in four river basins located in Cyprus, Slovenia, Spain and Tunisia. In each river basin, stakeholders expressed their views on challenges in their river basins, as well as options to tackle these challenges. We used the information on challenges, as well as the factors contributing to these challenges to develop a fuzzy cognitive map for each basin. These maps were converted into mathematical models and were used to assess the impact of a total of 102 suggested management options for the four river basins. We linked the options and their estimated impacts with a multi-criteria analysis to identify the most preferred options. The approach was positively evaluated by the participating stakeholders and allowed the link of stakeholders' knowledge and perceptions about their river basin with their preferences for options to adapt the management of their river basins to future conditions