Project title: NERVE4 Action
Project funding: Visegrad Fund
Project number: Visegrad grant No. 22210078
Project applicant: Czech University of Life Sciences Prague
Project coordinator: Ing. Přemysl Král
Project partners: Centre for Ecological Research, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Hungary; University of Agriculture in Kraków, Faculty of Forestry, Poland; Institute of Forest Ecology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovakia
Project schedule: 16/05/2022 – 15/11/2023
Total project budget: €39,760.00
Project website: https://plant-ecology-lab-czu.com/nerve4-action/
Project abstract:
The NERVE4 Action establishes an international working group raising awareness of wetland forest protection within and outside the V4 region. Our aim is to create a network for the conversion of knowledge on biodiversity loss, restoration and sustainability of wetland forests among scientists and stakeholders. The novelty lies in the detailed knowledge of the international team regarding ecosystem biodiversity responses to the ongoing climate change. This enables to suggest evidence-based best tools effectively conveyed to practitioners in order to fulfill targets of wetland forest protection. Wetland forests and nearby habitats represent only a small fraction of the Eartht’s total land area. Nevertheless, these areas have been described as the lifelines of the landscape, providing services of global importance and so deserving disproportionate attention in the near future as key environmental resources. Much more worrying is that, in recent years, there has been a more than 50% loss of wetland areas globally, with even greater losses (ca 80%) in Europe and North America. These losses are associated with massive deforestation, drainage, and climate changes leading to severe forest degradation. It is known that wetland forests and aquatic systems interact in a complex manner and together have been identified as essential elements in mitigating climate change. Thus, a call to action for the preservation of forests, of water and so of climate, is emerging on many fronts as key to human survival. Such work stands among the top priorities in suitable development goals, as defined in The Agenda 2030 (United Nations, 2015). The NERVE4 Action will address gaps in knowledge sharing and conversion on wetland forest protection by providing a platform for networking among researchers in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary and by addressing communication and knowledge conversion among scientists and practitioners. Outreach and future expanding opportunities makes this proposal novel and unique. The sharing concepts and approaches among regions will accelerate methodological development promoting innovation for wetland forest protection in each country. The overall aim of the NERVE4 Action is to create an international working network for the conversion of knowledge on biodiversity loss, restoration, and sustainability in European wetland forests among scientists and stakeholders. In the NERVE4 Action, we will establish long-term monitoring of plots to prepare evidence-based guidance to practical nature conservation. The NERVE4 Action will bridge science with outreach to wide audiences via mediums of workshop, webpages, and wetland protection brochure. It will allow to produce guidance and recommendations on how managed woodland systems enhance the biodiversity of woodlands in particular, and thus the functioning of the wider ecosystems of which they are a part. The project will facilitate wetland ecosystems enhancing biodiversity in European wetlands via specific methodologies applicable in practice. This project will also convert the knowledge on management practices for resolving specific issues of sustainable forest management. Implementation of this knowledge into practice will assist in raising awareness of the relationship between forest protection and biodiversity and improve strategies for maintaining biodiversity, notably to address new, varied challenges and threats posed to European forests, including climate change (Madrid Resolution MCPFE, 2015).