European Commission program Erasmus+ agreement No. 2015-1-LV01-KA204-013437
Project partners are Foundation Centre for Support of Forest Owner Cooperation (leading partner), LSFRI "Silava", Foundation Private Forest Centre (Estonia), JAMK University of Applied Sciences (Finland) and Slovenian Forestry Institute.
Family forestry provides the main use for very large land surface areas in many European countries. Efficient and responsible use of this land is of considerable importance not only for the owners, but also for wider society. The target group of the project is family forest owners who make forest management decisions, based on advice. The project envisages to join forces and share experience from several countries in order to provide better understanding of what are the best ways and methods to channel the knowledge to those, who need it – the forest owners.
The main objective of the project is to promote education of forest owners addressing forest management issues in order to improve the quality of forest management decisions, thus contributing to employment and economic development in rural areas of Europe.
Project partners are five European forest-related organisations from four countries: 2 partners from Latvia, 1 from Estonia, Finland and Slovenia. Partners are of different size and scope, yet they share similar aims and target groups.
The main project objective will be achieved by different activities. Centre for Support of Forest Owner Cooperation will oversee the overall management and implementation of project activities by all project partner organisations. It is also envisaged that each partner organisation will set up a local project management team. Issues pertaining to project implementation and achievement of expected project results are planned to be discussed with partners during transnational project meetings.
During the course of the project, it is expected to develop several intellectual outputs:
- Innovative online manual for forest owners about basic forest management; consisting of 4 parts – one for each country in its national language with a summary of manual in English. It is estimated that each part of the manual may be at least 200 pages. The developed manual will be made printable and available for public at the project partners’ web sites.
- Interactive education materials pertaining to forest management planning. Education materials are planned to be created in national languages of the project participating organisations. Developed materials will be made publicly available at the web sites of the project partners.
Developed intellectual outputs mentioned above are expected to assist forest owners in making better informed decisions in such areas as: forest inventory; when to use natural or artificial regeneration; what tree species to grow; selection of the right type of seedlings; what soil preparation to select, when it is needed; pre-commercial and commercial thinnings, different thinning strategies and suggested thinning models; pests and diseases in forestry; ways to make forestry more environmentally friendly; forest sertification schemes; right time to harvest; regeneration; basic aspects of tree harvesting and transportation; safety in forestry; alternative uses of forest; role of forestry in carbon cycle and global environment. The above mentioned topics is by no means final, it will be further developed during the project implementation.
In order to exchange methods and best practices among participating organizations, transnational joint staff training events are envisaged to take place.
Various dissemination activities are also envisaged, including local seminars in Estonia, Finland and Slovenia and a conference where produced intellectual results will be presented to a broader audience. In addition, it is also planned to make use of social media (Facebook) and partners’ web sites to inform about achievements in the project and to promote the developed manual and education materials.
Better quality of forest management decisions by family forestry representatives are among desired impacts of the project, as family forestry plays an important role in rural employment, economic development and landscape formation. Better ways for family forest owners to learn necessary skills and ideas is of great importance. Better understanding of balancing economic, environmental and social aspects of forestry is also expected to be accomplished. Well managed forest stores much more carbon, it is also expected to provide for increased employment opportunities. Well managed forests, based in informed decisions by owners, can significantly contribute to the above mentioned aspects country-wide, as well as Europe-wide.