European forests are expected to provide a broad range of ecosystem services. This capacity is, however, questioned due to uncertainties of climate change, the complex dynamics of evolving global markets, and the pressures for increased use of bioenergy. These developments might call for adjusting well-established forest management approaches.

The project ALTERFOR examines alternative forest management models (FMM) currently in use and the potential to optimize them for use in different European countries. The work is being carried out in ten carefully designed case studies representing different forest management practices and socio-ecological conditions prevailing in Europe.

The case study areas are in Germany, Italy, Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden, and Turkey. The consortium of scientists and forestry practitioners will:

• provide deep knowledge regarding alternative FMMs and how they can affect the provision of ecosystem services;
• involve relevant actors from different fields (such as forestry, nature conservation, renewable energy, and water management);
• facilitate efficient knowledge transfer to adopt alternative FMMs.

The main goal of ALTERFOR is to provide improved and new approaches in forest management that are robust enough to address the challenges of the 21st century. These challenges range from uncertainties of climate change and the complex dynamics of evolving global markets to the pressures for increased use of bioenergy.

To achieve this, ALTERFOR researchers will:

• examine alternative forest management models (FMMs) that are robust in their capacity to deliver ecosystem services and reduce socio-ecological risks;
• assess the impact of different FMMs in terms of resultant combinations of ecosystem services on the European and landscape level;
• facilitate the implementation of desired FMMs in different case study areas in Europe and thereby improve cross-national knowledge transfer regarding their benefits, costs, management, and utilization.