When knowledge travels, collaboration grows

Katharina Freund on 6 October, 2026

24 September 2026 | Našice, Croatia

What happens when a new approach to understanding forest biodiversity moves from the training room into the forest itself? In Našice, Croatia, participants from forestry and nature conservation came together to find out.

On 24 September, the first national Integrative Biodiversity Potential (IBP) workshop in Croatia brought together 19 experts from different organisations and backgrounds. The workshop was organised by the Croatian Forest Research Institute and Unique Forests Ltd., which represents the Croatian Satellite Demonstration Area (SDA) in TRANSFORMIT.

The workshop built directly on the IBP train-the-trainer event in Binzen, Germany, where five Croatian trainers had learned how to introduce the methodology to colleagues and stakeholders at national and local level. Now, it was time to put that knowledge into practice.

Learning to see the forest differently

The day began at the premises of Unique Forests Ltd., where participants were introduced to TRANSFORMIT and the IBP methodology. Martina Kičić from the Croatian Forest Research Institute explained the different factors used to assess the biodiversity potential of a forest.

But the real learning started when the group left the meeting room and headed into a nearby forest.

Together with trainers Martina Kičić and Karmen Vugdelija, participants worked through the IBP factors in the field, discussing what to look for and how different features of the forest contribute to its biodiversity potential. They then had the opportunity to carry out their own assessments on two selected plots.

This hands-on approach sparked lively discussions throughout the day. Participants brought perspectives from forest management, protected area management and nature conservation, creating an opportunity to explore how the methodology could be useful across different parts of the forest sector.

From a workshop to future cooperation

The workshop brought together representatives of Croatian Forests Ltd., Unique Forests Ltd., the Public Institution for the Management of Protected Areas and Other Protected Natural Values in the City of Zagreb, and the Public Institution Nature Park Žumberak–Samoborsko gorje, alongside experts from the Croatian Forest Research Institute.

This mix of perspectives was one of the workshop’s strengths. Rather than simply introducing a new assessment method, the day created space for participants to exchange experiences, ask questions and consider how IBP could be applied in the Croatian context.

It also highlighted the wider value of the TRANSFORMIT network. The collaboration between the Croatian Forest Research Institute and Unique Forests Ltd. grew through TRANSFORMIT activities and provided the foundation for bringing the IBP methodology to a wider group of Croatian stakeholders.

From training trainers to assessing forests together, the first national IBP workshop marks an important step towards making biodiversity a more integrative part of forest management in Croatia.

From local concerns to joint solutions: co-creating the future of Tuchola’s forests

Katharina Freund on 1 October, 2026

For people living next to the Polish forests of Tuchola, the forest is part of everyday life. It is a place for walking, recreation and connecting with nature – but it also provides shade, reduces noise and wind, and contributes to the quality of the local environment. With a bypass planned near one residential neighbourhood, these functions have become even more important to local residents.

In March 2026, residents approached the Tuchola Forest District with a clear request: they wanted the forest directly adjacent to their homes to be recognised as a “social forest” and managed in a way that would preserve its recreational and protective functions. In particular, they asked for partial cutting instead of clear-cutting.

The request came at a time when the Tuchola Forest District was establishing a Local Cooperation Team to strengthen dialogue between those involved in, managing and using the surrounding forests. The Team brings together a diverse group of stakeholders: representatives from government administration and local authorities, the State Forests, national and landscape parks, primary and secondary schools, post-secondary and forestry education institutions, a university of life sciences, and civil society.

This broad group creates a space where different perspectives and types of knowledge can meet – from professional forest management and nature conservation to education, local government and the everyday experience of people living next to the forest.

From dialogue to practical solutions

At the Team’s first meeting on 11 March 2026, participants agreed that informing the public about planned operations, consulting local communities and jointly exploring solutions can help build trust and address the different expectations placed on forests.

The residents’ request was subsequently discussed at the Team’s meeting on 23 March. Together, participants identified forest areas that were particularly important to local residents and discussed possible management approaches. One outcome was a recommendation to reclassify around 10 hectares of forest immediately adjacent to residential areas from commercial timber stands to forests serving a social function – so-called “social forests”.

The dialogue then moved from the meeting room into the forest itself

During an on-site meeting in May, residents whose properties border the forest met with representatives of the Tuchola Forest District to discuss the planned operations. The participants looked at the area together and discussed the differences between clear-cutting and partial cutting. The Forest District had already decided to replace clear-cutting with partial cutting in the relevant area, while also explaining the safety requirements that meant mature trees within approximately 15 metres of private properties would still need to be removed.

The planned bypass added another layer of complexity. While trees in the southern part of the area will need to be removed because of the road construction, the remaining forest can continue to play an important protective role for nearby residents. The discussion therefore focused not only on which trees would be removed, but also on how the forest could continue to provide social and protective functions afterwards.

Together, the participants agreed on a set of practical principles for future management. These include:

maintaining a 15-metre safety strip along residential boundaries, with the possibility of reducing it to 10 metres in specific cases;
protecting seedlings and undergrowth during forestry operations;
using existing trails for timber extraction;
carrying out partial cutting in a way that maintains the forest’s protective function against noise from the planned bypass;
creating an ecotone zone along residential plots, with residents involved in selecting and planting suitable species;
avoiding harvesting, extraction and soil preparation during designated quiet hours; and
applying the same principles to subsequent management operations, subject to their inclusion in the forest management plan for the coming decade.

Integrating different perspectives on the forest

The experience in Tuchola shows how stakeholder dialogue can translate different perspectives into practical forest management solutions. Residents bring their everyday experience of the forest and its importance for their quality of life. Forest managers contribute knowledge about silviculture, safety and sustainable management, while local authorities, protected-area managers, educational institutions and civil society bring additional perspectives on the wider social and environmental role of the forest.

The process does not remove the trade-offs between different forest functions. Instead, it provides a space to discuss them openly and explore how ecological, social and economic objectives can be considered together.

For TRANSFORMIT, this is an important part of Integrative Forest Management in practice: bringing different stakeholders into the process, combining different forms of knowledge and working together to adapt forest management to changing local needs and conditions.

The Tuchola experience also highlights the value of building dialogue before decisions are made – creating opportunities for stakeholders not only to respond to forest management, but to help shape solutions for the future.

Valuing Diversity: What does biodiversity conservation mean for the financial performance of production forests?

Katharina Freund on 21 September, 2026

How does integrating biodiversity conservation into forests managed for wood production affect their financial performance?

A new study from the TRANSFORMIT project examines this question through a systematic review of the available evidence, exploring where conservation measures create financial trade-offs, where they can generate synergies, and how much the results depend on the way costs and benefits are assessed.

The review has screened a total of 5,305 publications, resulting in the selection of 53 most relevant studies across 15 countries, covering 814 conservation scenarios and a wide range of measures, including longer rotation periods, deadwood retention, habitat and veteran trees, reduced fragmentation, continuous-cover forestry and greater tree species diversity.

What does the evidence show?

What does the evidence show?

Across the studies reviewed, integrating biodiversity conservation into wood-production forests was associated with a slight average reduction in financial performance compared with business-as-usual management. However, the picture is far from uniform. The financial effects varied considerably depending on the conservation measure, forest biome, regeneration system and the assumptions used in the financial models.

Importantly, the review shows that what is included in the financial assessment can substantially change the results. When biodiversity benefits were considered, conservation scenarios were on average 19.7% more financially favourable than business as usual. When such benefits were not included, they were on average 22.2% less favourable.

These benefits can take different forms, including the insurance value associated with more biodiverse and hence resilient forests, improved timber quality or quantity, reduced operational costs and additional income options e.g. through payments for ecosystem services. Such benefits were however only (partially) included in about half of the existing financial assessments.

Trade-offs and potential synergies

The findings also highlight that the financial implications cannot be separated from the specific conservation approach. Some measures, such as deadwood promotion and habitat or veteran tree retention, were frequently associated with financial costs, particularly where they were modelled primarily through reduced timber production or additional management costs without consideration of potential benefits.

Other approaches showed potential for financial synergies under certain conditions. For example, continuous-cover forestry and increased tree species diversity were associated with more favourable financial outcomes in some analyses but not in all.

The review also points to important differences between forest contexts. Conservation measures were associated with more positive financial outcomes in tropical forests, while average effects were more negative in temperate and boreal forests. Similarly, results differed between naturally and artificially regenerating forests, with reduced profitability in former and increased profitability in the latter.

The role of uncertainty

A key message of the review is that financial assessments of biodiversity conservation are strongly shaped by assumptions. All of the included studies relied on modelling, and only around half applied sensitivity analyses to explore uncertainty.

Factors such as discount rates, timber prices, costs, forest growth and disturbances can however substantially influence the results. Climate-related disturbances were explicitly considered in only four of the 53 studies, despite their potential to change the financial implications of different management strategies drastically.

The authors therefore call for more transparent assumptions, broader consideration of biodiversity and ecosystem-service benefits, and more empirical, long-term evidence to complement model-based assessments.

Why this matters for integrated forest management

The study is part of TRANSFORMIT, which explores how forests can be managed to strengthen biodiversity, ecosystem services and resilience while maintaining their capacity to provide wood and other benefits.

The review provides an important evidence base for this work. It shows that biodiversity conservation and wood production cannot simply be understood as opposing objectives: the financial implications depend on the conservation measure, forest context and which costs and benefits are taken into account.

Understanding both trade-offs and synergies is essential for developing more integrated approaches to forest management, as well as policy instruments that support both the use of synergies and the mitigation of trade-offs.

Read the full paper: Schimetka, L.R., Hoogstra-Klein, M.A., Konczal, A.A. et al. Valuing Diversity: A Systematic Review of the Financial Impacts of Biodiversity Conservation in Forests Managed Primarily for Wood Production. Curr. For. Rep. 12, 27 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40725-026-00288-6

Slovenian and Chinese forest experts strengthen ties through science, innovation and field experience

Katharina Freund on 25 June, 2026

Visit of the Delegation from the Chinese Academy of Forestry (CAF) within Bilateral Cooperation (SFI–CAF) and the TRANSFORMIT Project, 17–18 April 2026

*Meeting room at the Slovenian Forestry Institute, CAF delegation*

On Friday, 17 April 2026, the Slovenian Forestry Institute (SFI) welcomed a delegation from the Chinese Academy of Forestry (CAF) for a two-day programme dedicated to strengthening bilateral cooperation and advancing joint activities within the TRANSFORMIT project.

The visit began at the Slovenian Forestry Institute with welcome addresses by representatives of SFI, CAF and the Slovenia Forest Service, setting the stage for discussions on future scientific and professional collaboration between the institutions. Participants were introduced to the activities and research areas of SFI and exchanged views on opportunities for expanding cooperation in forestry research and practice.

*Tour of the Centre’s laboratory facilities at the Slovenian Forestry Institute*

The indoor programme continued with expert presentations covering sustainable forest management, forest restoration under changing environmental conditions, forest monitoring, and the bioeconomic dimensions of forestry. Particular attention was devoted to the TRANSFORMIT project and to the exchange of knowledge and experience between Slovenian and Chinese partners.

An important highlight of the meeting was the presentation by Prof. Zheng Yongqi on the upcoming International Workshop on Integrated Forest Management and Biodiversity Conservation (IFM), which will take place in Beijing from 15–17 July 2026. The presentation also introduced planned field visits scheduled for 18–20 July 2026 to either the Bawangling National Nature Reserve in Hainan Province or the Liangshui Experimental Forest Farm in Heilongjiang Province.

The delegation also visited the newly established Centre for Forest Seed Management, Nursery Production and Forest Protection at the Slovenian Forestry Institute. There, participants gained insight into the Institute’s research and professional activities related to forest reproductive material, nursery production and forest health.

The programme moved outdoors on Saturday, 18 April 2026, when SFI and the Slovenia Forest Service jointly organised a field day in the Gorenjska region.

*At the IM forest monitoring plot at Brdo pri Kranju*

The first stop was the intensive forest monitoring plot (IM, ICP Forests Level II) at the Brdo estate, where participants were introduced to the methodologies used for monitoring forest condition in Slovenia as part of the international ICP Forests programme.

From Brdo, the delegation continued to Pokljuka and the Mrzli Studenec site near the Slovenia Forest Service facilities. Here, participants were presented with the forest management plan for the area and took part in practical exercises using a marteloscope. The visit offered valuable insight into modern approaches to forest management planning and decision-making in practice.

*Practical work with the marteloscope at the Mrzli Studenec site on Pokljuka*

The field excursion then turned to one of the most pressing challenges facing European forests today: recovering from natural disturbances. Participants visited forest stands damaged by the severe windstorm that had struck the area earlier in March, discussing restoration measures and strategies for increasing forest resilience to natural disturbances and the impacts of climate change.

The programme concluded with a visit to the Goreljek peat bog in Triglav National Park. Participants explored the unique characteristics of this raised bog, considered one of the southernmost peat bogs of its kind in Europe. Presentations highlighted the processes of peat formation following the last glaciation, the ecological importance of peat mosses, and the exceptional conservation value of these sensitive wetland habitats.

*The Goreljek peat bog area on Pokljuka*

The two-day meeting once again demonstrated the importance of international cooperation in addressing shared challenges related to climate change, forest protection and the sustainable management of natural resources. By combining scientific expertise, practical experience and field-based learning, the visit further strengthened the partnership between Slovenian and Chinese forestry institutions and laid foundations for future collaboration.

Life in Deadwood

Katharina Freund on 29 April, 2026

Blogpost by Gesche Schifferdecker and Andrea Barzagli

“Today, there is no longer discussion about the general value of deadwood. Now the discussion is only about how, when, and where to preserve it.”

I heard that line like a door closing on an old argument. And then, just as quickly, another door opened onto the real question: what does “keeping deadwood” actually look like in a forest that is also being managed for people?

That’s the thread running through The Life in Deadwood, the final documentary of the LIFE SPAN project – filmed across two pilot sites, the Cansiglio Forest (Italy) and the Sailershausen University Forest (Germany). Guided by Jörg Müller, professor of conservation biology and forest ecology at the University of Würzburg, the ~20‑minute film follows a quiet, ongoing “competition between humans and saproxylic organisms”.

The term itself invites a closer look: saproxylic – from Greek for “rotting wood”, describes species that live in, on, or from dead and dying trees. Not just visitors, but dependents. Beetle larvae tunneling through softening trunks, fungi dissolving lignin into soil, birds carving nesting cavities into wood already in transition. With that in mind, the film’s central tension sharpens: how do we manage forests without erasing the home of the species that rely on decay itself?

A different kind of forest “infrastructure”: Saproxylic Habitat Sites

LIFE SPAN’s proposal is practical and surprisingly hopeful: create a network of “Saproxylic Habitat Sites” (SHS) inside managed forests – small areas of senescence where the forest is allowed to look older, messier, and more complete. Think large trees kept standing, deadwood left in different forms, and patches of open space that let light spill onto the forest floor. As project coordinator Bruno De Cinti (CNR‑IRET) explains in the documentary, a network matters: when SHSs are connected across the landscape, saproxylic species can move, disperse, and persist. In other words, conservation stops being a single fenced-off point and becomes a living system woven into everyday forestry.

One of the most memorable moments is not a statistic or a map, but a shift in attention. The documentary becomes a kind of training for the senses – an invitation to notice what classical silviculture often overlooked (or actively removed): microhabitats, veteran trees, broken tops, cavities, and the fallen trunks that look like “waste” until you realise they are neighborhoods. As Daniel Kraus, manager of the German Sailershausen forest, puts it, the film helps us “develop a better eye”.

The voices inside the forest

Michael Junginger (University of Würzburg) and Umberto Di Salvatore (CREA‑PB) connect SHSs back to day‑to‑day management: what they suggest are not “more protected areas,” but an adaptive system that can change and grow with the forest. And in one scene of the documentary, Ruth Pickert (University of Würzburg) stands in a demonstration site that looks, at first glance, a little chaotic – and says the quiet part out loud: “we can drive change by inviting people in, talking, and creating spaces for discussion”.

My take-away

The Life in Deadwood doesn’t romanticise decay; it simply restores it to its rightful place in the forest story. Deadwood is shelter, food, and corridor. It is continuity. And if the debate has shifted from whether to keep it to how to keep it, LIFE SPAN offers a grounded answer: build networks of habitat, learn to see microhabitats, and let managed forests carry more of the forest’s full life cycle – standing, falling, and returning.

The video is entirely in English, but official Italian and German subtitles can be selected in the YouTube settings.

Project website: www.lifespanproject.eu/en/

WE’RE HIRING – Postdoc Position in Silviculture and Forest Ecology

Katharina Freund on 28 April, 2026

The Chair of Silviculture at the University of Freiburg is inviting applications for a 1.5-year postdoctoral position in the field of silviculture and forest ecology. The position is embedded in theTRANSFORMIT project.

The successful candidate will contribute to research on Integrative Forest Management (IFM) across Europe, with a strong focus on evaluating its effectiveness in combining productive forestry, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services, and forest resilience. The work will involve the analysis of an extensive dataset from forest enterprises across multiple European countries and forest types.

Key tasks include:

Analysis of large-scale forest inventory data on IFM practices
Assessment of ecosystem services, biodiversity, resilience, and adaptive capacity
Synthesis of best practices and development of silvicultural options for IFM advancement
Contribution to the development and teaching of educational modules on IFM
Collaboration within the TRANSFORMIT consortium and related research projects

The position is suited for candidates with a strong background in forest ecology, silviculture, forest inventory, or related fields, and experience in quantitative data analysis (e.g. R, statistics). Experience in teaching, project coordination, or stakeholder engagement is advantageous.

The position is available as soon as possible, and is initially limited to 1.5 years with potential for further opportunities within the Cluster of Excellence Future Forests.

The University of Freiburg offers a dynamic and international research environment. Freiburg is located at the edge of the Black Forest, close to France and Switzerland, and provides an excellent quality of life.

Applications (including motivation letter, CV, publication list, transcripts, and two references) should be submitted as a single PDF by 15 May 2026 to Ursula Eggert (), with the subject line “Postdoc position in TRANSFORMIT”.

For scientific questions, please contact Prof. Jürgen Bauhus () or Dr. Florian Schnabel ().

International Day of Forests: “Sustainable forest management combines resource use and biodiversity conservation”

Katharina Freund on 23 March, 2026

The BOKU article for the International Day of Forests, written in German and accessible here, highlights how sustainable forest management can reconcile wood production, climate protection, and biodiversity conservation, using the Austrian Living Lab Wegscheid as a real-world testbed for new integrative practices. It showcases how Integrative Forest Management approaches – such as ecological landscape management, coordinated monitoring of habitat structures, and multi‑stakeholder Living Labs – operationalise the TRANSFORMIT vision of connecting use and conservation across Europe in practice.

How forests can thrive in a hotter world: a new TRANSFORMIT paper

Katharina Freund on 3 March, 2026

Forests cover nearly one third of the world’s land and play a key role in supporting biodiversity, regulating climate, and human wellbeing. But climate change, with rising temperatures, more frequent “hotter droughts,” and stronger disturbances, is pushing many forests beyond what they can naturally handle. A new review from the TRANSFORMIT project, published in New Phytologist, offers a science- and mechanism-based roadmap for climate-smart forest management under these rapidly changing conditions.

The paper explains how heat and drought affect trees ecophysiology. It explains how water shortages and high air dryness (high vapour pressure) can damage a tree’s water system, reduce growth even before photosynthesis declines, and change how trees store and use carbon. These stresses make trees more vulnerable to pests and diseases. If the stress lasts too long, it can lead to water transport failure or carbon deficiency, ultimately causing forests to die.

From carbon sink to carbon source?

At the forest level, these effects are serious, as stressed trees store less carbon, change how nutrients move through the ecosystem, and in very extreme years, forests can even release more carbon than they absorb. Crucially, the authors move beyond diagnosing the problem. The study shows that climate impacts affect not just individual trees but the whole forest and the benefits it provides.

Climate-smart Forest Management strategies

The authors go beyond describing the problem and explore how forest management can help. They focus on five main strategies:

tree species selection (including assisted migration)
Mixing different tree species
Regulation of stand density,
Creating structural diversity (with trees of different ages, heights, and layers)
Managing nutrients

Rather than offering one-size-fits-all solutions, the study highlights trade-offs—for example, between drought resistance and growth efficiency—and stresses the need for adaptive, flexible strategies.

One particularly innovative contribution is the integration of “dryland mechanisms” into climate-friendly forestry. Characteristics such as hydraulic redistribution, water uptake via the leaves, and cooling of the canopy through convective heat flow, which are common in arid ecosystems, could be proactively promoted in temperate forests to improve resilience to future climate conditions.

The authors conclude that uneven-aged, structurally diverse mixed forests, combined with careful species choice and targeted thinning are most likely to offer the greatest resilience and therefore withstand extreme heat and drought. They also stress that long-term experiments and close collaboration between scientists and forest managers are needed to test and improve these approaches.

Safeguarding biodiversity, carbon stargae & forest multifunctionality

By connecting forest management with how trees respond to climate stress, this TRANSFORMIT paper provides a robust scientific foundation for keeping forests healthy and multifunctional—supporting biodiversity, storing carbon, producing timber, and protecting communities—even in an uncertain climatic future.

Read the full paper here.

Exciting funding opportunity for climate-smart forestry & forest restoration pilots in Europe!

Katharina Freund on 22 December, 2025

People standing in a circle in the forest and discussing

FORWARDS via the European Forest Institute (EFI) has launched a new call for proposals, G-07-2025, inviting applications to establish Climate-Smart Forestry (CSF) and forest restoration pilot projects across Europe, with a strong focus on citizen and stakeholder engagement. The call aims to generate practical, region-specific evidence on how CSF and restoration approaches influence forest functioning and contribute to climate change mitigation, adaptation, and biodiversity, while addressing uncertainties and real-world implementation challenges.

A core element of the call is the active involvement of citizens and stakeholders in forest management. Coordinating with local communities and practitioners is crucial for the successful implementation of climate-smart solutions, ensuring that diverse perspectives and place-based knowledge are fairly integrated. Through stakeholder engagement, projects are expected to foster social learning, build trust, reduce marginalisation, and strengthen collective capacity for action, ultimately improving the effectiveness and uptake of sustainable forest management and adaptation measures.

Up to five grants of up to EUR 150,000 each will be awarded, across three thematic lots, for projects with a maximum duration of 12 months. Proposals must be received by EFI no later than 1 February 2026 at 21:00 (UTC+2). EFI encourages forest practitioners, researchers, and practitioner–science partnerships to apply and contribute to advancing climate-smart forestry and restoration practices across Europe.

For full details on eligibility, scope, and application requirements, please check the respective website: G-07-2025: Establishing Climate-Smart Forestry and forest restoration pilots in Europe with citizen and stakeholder engagement | European Forest Institute

Discovering Integrated Forest Management across China’s diverse forests

Katharina Freund on 17 December, 2025

Standing-deadwood-in-Qianjiangyuan-National-Park-scaled

At the beginning of October 2025, as the first hints of autumn brushed the forests of East Asia, a small team from Wageningen University & Research embarked on a journey deep into China’s diverse forest landscapes. Georg Winkel, Wenyuan Liang, and Lorenz Schimetka of the Forest and Nature Policy Group joined forces with Douglas Sheil from the Forest Ecology and Management Group. They traveled with a shared mission: to strengthen international scientific collaboration and learn from China’s evolving approaches to Integrated Forest Management (IFM).

Standing deadwood in Qianjiangyuan National Park; © Lorenz Schimetka

“Our objective was simple but ambitious,” Lorenz Schimetka noted. “We wanted to understand how integrated forest management works in practice in China, and what Europe and China can learn from one another.”

Their hosts, the Chinese Academy of Forestry (CAF) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), welcomed the delegation as part of an ongoing EU-China collaboration between the EU-TRANSFORMIT project and a Chinese research consortium. Both sides are united by the belief that forests must serve multiple purposes at once: conserving biodiversity while delivering a broad suite of ecosystem services, from climate regulation to livelihoods.

A forest sanctuary in Zhejiang Province

Species identifications in Qianjiangyuan National Park; © Lorenz Schimetka

The journey’s first destination was Zhejiang Province, where on October 3 the team stepped into the serene expanses of Qianjiangyuan National Park. Mist clung to the slopes of one of China’s last remaining low-altitude subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests. These woods are more than just ecologically important. They are a refuge for rare species like the elusive black muntjac and the white-necked long-tailed pheasant.

Standing among the ancient trees, one visitor reflected, “Here, conservation is not an add-on, but it is the core of forest governance.” The team observed a management philosophy centered firmly on protection, where biodiversity conservation defines decision-making rather than competing with it.

Lessons in the Xiaolongshan Mountains, Gansu Province

Three days later, on October 5, the researchers found themselves in a very different forest world. The Xiaolongshan mountains rise across the watersheds of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, forming a key ecological corridor rich in biodiversity and a focal point for China’s major reforestation efforts.

A “mushroom forest” in the Xiaolongshan Mountains; © Lorenz Schimetka

Guided by the Gansu Xiaolong Mountains Forestry Protection Center, the team learned about two innovative and contrasting management approaches:

Walking through the forest, the group found themselves in lively discussions debating trade-offs, comparing policy realities, and recognizing how many of the challenges faced in China echo those in Europe. “Some policy trade-offs we see here are surprisingly familiar,” Georg Winkel remarked. “Sometimes forests pose similar challenges, whether in China or Europe.”

A meeting of minds in Beijing

On October 7, Beijing became the setting for a hybrid workshop at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. As scholars gathered in person and online, the Wageningen team stepped forward one by one to share their work.

© Prof. Yi Ding (Chinese Academy of Forestry)

Prof. Georg Winkel presented work on human–nature relationships and forest governance in Europe, offering insights into Europe’s ongoing debates on IFM.
Prof. Douglas Sheil spoke about the crucial role of large expanses of natural forest in sustaining the global water cycle and climate stability, emphasizing conservation that supports both ecosystems and local communities.
PhD candidate Lorenz Schimetka presented a global literature review examining how integrating biodiversity into production forests affects profitability and the uncertainties that still remain.
Dr. Wenyuan Liang explored China’s policy landscape, revealing how IFM is molded by international influences, national priorities, economic considerations, and the forest tenure system.

Online contributions expanded the dialogue further. Presentations from Dr. Marko Lovric and PhD candidate Marnix van de Sande (WUR), as well as Dr. Valentina Vitali (ETH Zurich) and Dr. Stefanie Linser (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna), connected perspectives from across Europe.
Chinese scholars, including Prof. Xiangdong Lei, Dr. Yanfeng Bai, Prof. Yongqi Zheng, Prof. Yi Ding, Dr. Chaofan Zhou, Prof. Yi Xie, Dr. Weiye Wang, Prof. Xinlian Liang, and Dr. Zhiwen Gong, added equally rich insights from ongoing work across China’s forests.

Closing the journey in Beijing

Before returning home, the team made two final academic contributions. On October 8, Georg Winkel delivered a lecture for junior scholars at Renmin University of China. A day later, he opened the IUFRO Conference on Integrated Forest Governance, Policy and Economics with a keynote speech, helping frame the international discussions that followed.

Looking ahead

The trip left the Wageningen delegation inspired by what they had seen and learned: new approaches, shared challenges, and the promise of continued collaboration. “What stood out most,” Georg Winkel concluded, “was not how different our contexts are, but how aligned our questions have become.” The hospitality of their Chinese hosts, and the rich exchange of ideas, set the stage for the next chapter: a return visit to Europe by Chinese partners planned for the coming year.

For now, the story continues to unfold, carried forward through the forests of both continents.