Results from the Superb workshop in Bonn

The EU Horizon 2020 SUPERB project brought together 21 forest restoration policy and practice experts from 14 countries to discuss how to scale up forest restoration efforts across Europe. The SUPERB project resources will be made available through the Forest Knowledge Gateway, launched in September 2025.

Interaction and co-operation

The workshop report from May 2025 shows how the participants highlighted the meaning of co-operation and interaction with locals and other relevant stakeholders from the very beginning of the restoration work planning. Thorough stakeholder engagement from the start is crucial because to succeed restoration work requires needs long-term commitment and acceptance by those who are affected by and/or can affect the actions

Of course it depends on the restoration site but at least in bigger projects stakeholder mapping might be one tool for ensuring that all the necessary people and organisations are involved in planning the activities needed in restoration work. This stakeholder mapping might be especially useful when there are new people in the organisation, that don’t necessarily have knowledge on what and who needs to be taken in consideration in the area.

Different stakeholders should be approached in a different way to enable their input. Finding the right time and a place for everyone can be the hardest part although face to face meeting and going through the plans together is worth the effort. Different stakeholders bring different ideas, opinions and knowledge on the table and to the restoration process.

Landscape approach

This approach of connecting restoration actions to other objectives as well as to local values, was noted as a promising strategy for upscaling among the participants of the workshop. Landscape approach helps linking forest restoration for example to water-related ecoservices considered valuable by society, such a water purity, water storage and flood control:

Working with landowners is especially important when using the landscape approach and defining the objectives. It is also important to collaborate with the full range of stakeholders who can affect or be affected by the restoration actions, including public authorities and local communities. In landscape approach it is possible to make restoration as an open-ended initiative towards a common vision which new actors can join over time. There has to be clarity on what is being done: drawing up a baseline of common needs, setting clear targets for restoration type and purpose and defining clearly who does what and why.

Knowledge sharing

As highlighted by the workshop participants, Learning by doing is also needed when upscaling forest restoration. Learning from the past, from each other, and from the land, also by understanding previous failures and finding possible better solutions. At the same time demonstrating successful projects and practices can inspire and engage new people in the work. We need planners, practitioners, specialists and generalists and we need education.

One of the goals of the meeting was to increase interaction among expert working on forest restoration in different functions and countries, build networks, and encourage the exchange of knowledge. NRR was mentioned as an enabler of proactive learning by doing while observing its implementation in different countries. 

Decision-support tools

During the workshops, the participants discussed different kinds of online tools available for analysing for example the landscape, biodiversity, habitats or the value of the forest. Using online tools can help in focusing to the right things and places at the right time. In Metsähallitus Forestry Ltd/Finland when planning restoration work we often utilize old aerial photos. They can show for example what a peatland area looked like before it was drained and what needs to be taking under consideration when planning possible restoration of the area.

Shared challenges and opportunities

It was valuable to see the many similarities between different countries when it comes to restoration work. For example in many cases in order to make natural regeneration possible it is important to reduce ungulate density. Not everything can be taken under consideration no matter how carefully the planning is done: “restoration needs to be adaptive and forward-looking, considering that climate change, pests and pathogens and changing societal demands make it a moving target.”

 

The full report can be found in LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7363938436547768320/