5th RTD Framework Programme

The Nat-Man project focuses on the trade-off between commercial timber production and the conservation of threatened forest habitats and species and other social demands. The aim is to form a scientific platform to improve the sustainable multifunctional utilisation of European beech forest resources. The project will deliver policy recommendations and management guidelines based on the scientific axiom that nature-based management is a powerful tool in achieving sustainable forest management.

The project define the natural reference point for beech forestry by considering the geographic NW-SE gradient across Europe, the original past-natural forest composition in Europe, the potential influence human activities have had on beech forests, and spontaneous developments in remaining near-natural forests. It defines the patterns of tree regeneration, growth, mortality, stand development phases, coarse woody debris, browsing, and natural disturbance in present-day natural European beech forests.

The project studies how small- and large-gap cutting systems affect forest composition, and specifically how they influence tree regeneration, ground vegetation, nutrient retention, soil water and coarse woody debris in European beech forests. It compares forest gaps in natural and managed forests. The principal aim is to see how management impacts on natural beech forests, what advantages nature-based forestry has on contemporary management, and what methods are suitable to naturally regenerate beech forests.

The project will develop new cost-effective tools for biodiversity management in beech forests. The achievement will be the development and presentation of integrated models able to evaluate the consequences of forestry management systems on tree regeneration and biodiversity at the stand and landscape level. The results will be used to design nature-based management methods for beech forests.