Page 27 - Green knowledge 2024

Photo: Dan Aamlid
MoniFun – Monitoring Europe’s forests
Forests are habitat for many species and store large amounts of carbon. Monitoring is
needed to ensure that these important services will be provided by forests also in times of
climate change and increasing pressures from other land uses.
A new pan-European research collaboration aims to
give policymakers, authorities, and interest groups a
better overview of the state of forests in Europe.
In Norway, the National Forest Inventory has been
monitoring the country’s forests for over 100 years.
Every day throughout the spring, summer, and
autumn, a field worker from the National Forest
Inventory visits one of the more than 13,000 forested
plots to assess how the forest has changed over
recent years.
The goal? To gain an overview of the forest resources
in Norway – how much we have, their current state,
and their future development. Climate change, land
development, and the need for more renewable raw
materials are placing increasing pressure on the for-
ests. Therefore, it is essential to characterize the for-
ests we have today and how much will be available in
the future, both for industry and recreation, as well
as an important habitat for many species.
The recently established EU project MoniFun is
designed to improve the flow of information between
national forest inventories, users, and interest
groups across Europe. The aim is to develop a
common forest monitoring system that can address
the challenges faced by Europe’s forests. MoniFun
hereby synergistically supports the NIBIO-coordi-
nated project PathFinder.
“There are significant challenges associated with the
management of Europe’s forests, and better informa-
tion is part of the solution,” says Dr Johannes Brei-
denbach at NIBIO.
NIBIO’s contribution to the European MoniFun pro-
ject is related to new, innovative digital mapping and
estimation solutions including deep-federated learn-
ing.
Purpose: Collaboration: Contact: A new pan-European research collaboration aimed at providing policymakers, management
authorities, and interest groups with a better overview of the state of forests across Europe.
Thirteen project partners from eleven European countries
Head of Department/Head of Research Johannes Breidenbach, Division of Forest and Forest
Resources.
Email: johannes.breidenbach@nibio.no | Phone: +47 974 77 985
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