The new EU funded "MoniFun" project, officially known as "Co-creating a blueprint of a harmonised European Forest Multifunctionality Monitoring System - MoniFun”, began its operations at the Agency for Renewable Resources (FNR) on January 1, 2024. This initiative is aimed to establish a comprehensive European forest multifunctionality monitoring system (EFMMS) to address the challenges posed by climate change and environmental stressors on Europe's forests. The MoniFun project is a collaborative effort involving a research consortium of 11 project partners from 9 European countries.
The need for such an initiative has arisen due to existing monitoring systems falling short in meeting the information requirements of policymakers and other stakeholders regarding the multifaceted aspects of forests. These aspects encompass also properties such as ecosystem services, social functions and uses, which are essential for supporting progress towards climate action and reversing biodiversity loss.
The initiative will use a multi-actor approach to ensure the wide applicability of the monitoring system, addressing the information needs of various institutions and stakeholders. A key innovation of MoniFun is using semi-automatic methods to merge remote sensing (RS) with on-the-ground field data, making use easier for data owners and ensuring accurate plot locations. To address methodological challenges, MoniFun will develop harmonized solutions, maximizing the system's applicability.
FNR is managing MoniFun project’s stakeholder engagement using a multi-actor approach to meet the varied needs of stakeholders and to ensure wide applicability of the project. The management of Communication and Dissemination (CD) activities and external relations is also handled by FNR.
Project Partners in the consortium:
- LUONNONVARAKESKUS (LUKE), FINLAND
- AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS (CSIC), SPAIN
- CONSIGLIO PER LA RICERCA IN AGRICOLTURA E L'ANALISI DELL'ECONOMIA AGRARIA (CREA), ITALY
- ÚSTAV PRO HOSPODÁŘSKOU ÚPRAVU LESŮ BRANDÝS NAD LABEM (UHUL FMI) CZECHIA
- FACHAGENTUR NACHWACHSENDE ROHSTOFFE EV (FNR), GERMANY
- JOHANN HEINRICH VON THUENEN-INSTITUT, BUNDESFORSCHUNGSINSTITUT FUER LAENDLICHE RAEUME, WALD UND FISCHEREI (THUENEN), GERMANY
- EUROPEAN FOREST INSTITUTE (EFI), FINLAND
- NIBIO - NORSK INSTITUTT FOR BIOOKONOMI (NIBIO), NORWAY
- STICHTING WAGENINGEN RESEARCH (WR), NETHERLANDS
- SVERIGES LANTBRUKSUNIVERSITET (SLU), SWEDEN
- BUNDESFORSCHUNGS UND AUSBILDUNGSZENTRUM FUR WALD NATURGEFAHREN UND LANDSCHAFT (BFW), AUSTRIA
Project duration: 48 months (01.01.2024 – 31.12.2027).
MoniFun is funded under the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under project no. 101134991.
FNR contact person: Vanaja Vankayalapati
