Integrate+

Discussion took place on site focussing on the interaction of biodiversity conservation and forest management, framing policies and trade-offs. For this the newly established Marteloscope (M-scope) Groenendaal was visited. It was set up in the course of the Integrate+ project in cooperation with the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO) and the Regional Administration of the Sonian Forest.
The excursion group included participants from the European Parliament, EU administrations, national and international interest groups, researchers, forest administrations and practical foresters.  Daniel Kraus and Andreas Schuck from the Integrate+ project team introduced the use of M-scopes and a corresponding tablet based software for virtual tree selections. The value of M-scopes as demonstration and training tool was highlighted, in particular for calibrating foresters to ensure the implementation of current or new forest management strategies.

The impressive beech dominated M-scope Groenendaal provided a perfect frame for the following discussions. They focussed on European, national and local policies and their consequences for practical forest management in view of providing wood while maintaining ecological and societal values of forests. This became even more obvious when learning that the Sonian forest has more than 2 million visitors every year.

With Europe’s aim towards a green economy trade-offs need to be well considered in order to meet the varying demands. The participants agreed that M-scopes can serve as useful tools allowing to virtually demonstrating results of management actions on site and in this way stimulate a constructive dialogue between policy makers, researchers and practitioners.
The documentation for the Groenendaal M-scope and further project information is accessible at the Integrate+ website media center.