Global challenges threaten the provision of forest ecosystem services

Climate change and increasing societal demands are calling for adapted forest management and new policy approaches to preserve and secure forests’ ability to provide ecosystem services in the future.

Forests provide multiple ecosystem services. They produce timber, regulate the climate by sequestering carbon, support biodiversity and generate cultural values through educational and recreational opportunities. To preserve these essential services, forests in Switzerland have been protected by law since 1876. Nowadays, global challenges such as climate change, as well as increasing demands due to population growth and the transformation towards a “low carbon society”, jeopardise the continued delivery of these Forest Ecosystem Services (FES). In addition, timber production is often unprofitable, while it remains difficult for many forest enterprises to generate income from providing alternative FES. Given the aims conceived by the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, “mainstreaming” FES is needed to raise the decision-makers’ and stakeholders’ awareness of the implications of forest policy and management.

The thematic synthesis “Mainstreaming Forest Ecosystem Services” is based on three NRP 73 research projects and will provide an appropriate framework to communicate the importance of considering FES both in policy and in practice. We identify synergies and trade-offs between different FES, focussing on timber production, carbon sequestration, natural hazards, forest area protection and biodiversity conservation. These topics and case studies will (i) highlight how the aspiration to become a “low carbon society” increases demands on forests, and (ii) illustrate how the impact of proactive forest management can be appraised. We showcase valuation techniques as well as decision support systems, and assess support for integrative policy instruments fostering the supply and demand of FES beyond timber.

In addition, the thematic synthesis will enhance a common understanding of human dependence on natural resources and encourage the inclusion of FES in political, economic and individual decision-making.

The resulting knowledge will be communicated in accessible formats such as factsheets, podcasts and videos. 

The synthesis team consists of leading scientists at the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL: Tobias Schulz, Roland Olschewski and Esther Thürig. Stakeholders have expressed their interest including Gebäudeversicherung Graubünden, Schweizer Hagel, Agriculture and Forest (LAWA) Lucerne, Forestry Office of the Canton of Bern (KAWA) and the Federal Office for the Environment FOEN.