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Towards a Mediterranean forest research area

13.06.2012

EFI’s Mediterranean Regional Office - EFIMED week 2012 is currently taking place in Tunis, Tunisia. The week includes the final conference of the Advancing Mediterranean Forest Research Capacities (AGORA) project, EFIMED’s annual meeting: "Towards a Mediterranean Forest Research Area" and a Scientific Seminar: "Women Making a Difference".

The partners of FORESTERRA, an ERA-Net scheme whose objective is to reinforce Mediterranean forest research, will participate in EFIMED’s annual meeting, with eminent forest researchers from Europe and northern Africa as well as from global Mediterranean climate areas.

Presenters at the meeting include Dr. Rocío Lansac from Spain’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Competitiveness, which coordinates FORESTERRA. Dr. Lansac will explain the concept of an ERA-NET, a tool created by the European Commission to improve coordination and cooperation in European research, and give an overview of FORESTERRA´s specific aims.

EFI’s Assistant Director of Policy Advice and Head of EFIMED Dr. Marc Palahí, will discuss EFIMED’s role in implementing the Mediterranean Forest Research Agenda (MFRA). He will also present the results of a call for potential research ideas for FORESTERRA. There was a strong response to this call: 150 research institutions from 26 countries from all over the world submitted 28 project ideas.

The various proposals, covering topics as varied as the impact of changes in land use and climate on the functioning of Mediterranean forest ecosystems and the integrated management of forests as land resources will be analyzed. The conclusions drawn will be useful in preparing a scientific plan for FORESTERRA, whose first version will be discussed at the next meeting of FORESTERRA’s Steering Committee in October 2012 in Rome.

More information regarding 2012 EFIMED Week is available here
and FORESTERRA here.