Despite ambitious nature conservation efforts, biodiversity is under threat. Enhanced conservation and restoration of forests is key for biodiversity and provision of ecosystem services (ES). The objectives of BIOCONSENT are to provide novel scientific knowledge and policy support by (i) analysis of the impacts of policy incentives arising from (in)coherent cross-sectoral policies at the biodiversity-forest-water-climate nexus, (ii) assessment of actors behavior and behavioral changes required for transformation towards sustainable socio-ecological systems with improved biodiversity status, and (iii) integration of biophysical, social, economic and governance drivers shaping the biodiversity-forest-water-climate nexus. The project uses integrative socio-ecological approaches to assess and quantify outcomes of alternative conservation and restoration measures on forest biodiversity and ES provision across spatial and temporal scales.

FORCES aims towards establishing an evidence-based nature-based solutions (NbS) framework by implementing innovative forest-based solutions. FORCES seeks to develop ecosystem-based adaptation actions that simultaneously preserve high levels of biodiversity, ensure sustaining natural capital and the flow of ecosystem services while protecting communities’ livelihoods and contributing to climate change mitigation. Considering that combined actions on climate, biodiversity and societal challenges cannot efficiently be achieved without multiple actors’ engagement in local actions, FORCES’s strategy is to develop local innovation actions, provide methods and tools to support their extended use and assess their potential global impacts. Thus, FORCES will: i) conduce trans-disciplinary research based on new developments in environmental and social sciences underpinned by stakeholders’ expertise; ii) design, implement and assess local innovation actions based on stakeholders’ engagement; iii) address cross-scale issues from local actions to global impacts; iv) elaborate a tool box of science-based methodologies and standards to promote the use of nature-based solutions that contribute to achieving specific UN sustainable development goals, combining SDG13 “Climate action” and SDG15 “Life on land”, and address societal challenges. FORCES will develop research and innovation actions in various types of forest socio-ecosystems, aiming to generalize forest-based solutions, and will interact with similar projects on other ecosystems through a clustering approach as mentioned in the call. Forests are appropriate for this research and innovation action because: (1) forests harbor an important terrestrial biodiversity and are particularly vulnerable to climate change due to cumulative effects of annual climate on trees, (2) forests are social-ecological systems providing multiple ecosystem services and contributing to people welfare, they are a lever for C-sequestration and substitution, (3) in the context of global change and multiple uncertainties, the emergence of a new paradigm in forest management offers opportunities to innovate, (4) forests are at the cross-road of multiple EU policies but biodiversity and climate objectives are not yet considered jointly in forest policies and strategies. NbS will be designed and assessed in six types of forest systems in Europe and the CELAC. These Innovation Action Areas will be supported by associated Research Sites for data acquisition and model calibration. Multiple time frames will be considered to account for uncertainties in global change scenarios (2035, 2050, 2100).

Rewilding, a form of ecological restoration with an emphasis on humans stepping back and leaving an area to nature, has recently received special attention in European policy and conservation management. Rewilding is considered a nature-based solution (NBS) that could effectively help to meet climate and biodiversity targets while simultaneously addressing pressing societal challenges related to farmland abandonment, demographic change and increasing urbanisation. Yet its application remains to date restricted to scattered local initiatives spread across the continent, and its implementation at larger scales is hindered by lacking adequate governance and management approaches to resolve conflicts and to ensure that rewilding generates best socio-economic benefits. Finally, and importantly, the potential of rewilding-based ecological restoration for climate change mitigation and adaptation under future climates and land uses remains virtually unknown. The overarching objective of WILDE is to thoroughly assess and enhance the potential of rewilding-based approaches to ecological restoration in Europe. We develop a multi-disciplinary research and innovation program that addresses the climate-biodiversity nexus in tight association with the socioeconomic dimension of large-scale restoration. The activities of WILDE are organised in five main pillars: (1) Baselines: a comprehensive review of fundamental yet to date scattered data and information that are critical for properly assessing Europe’s rewilding potential; (2) Scenarios: sophisticated modelling of rewilding effects on climate change mitigation, adaptation and biodiversity conservation, co-constructing land-use and possible rewilding scenarios (under different climate change futures) with selected stakeholders; (3) Case studies: eight case studies including (i) six cases targeting landscapes under various stages of rewilding (spontaneously or as a consequence of restoration initiatives) and (ii) two cases targeting corporate solutions that combine rewilding-type restoration with extensive forestry and seek economic viability through carbon and biodiversity offsets; (4) Synthesis: a conceptual framing of ‘climate-smart rewilding’ as a NBS to jointly tackle the interwoven climate and biodiversity crises while supporting sustainable livelihoods; and (5) Open rewilding: an ambitious communication and dissemination program including the creation of a public Rewilding Knowledge Hub. WILDE benefits from an outstandingly experienced and well-connected consortium, featuring various world-leading experts in rewilding, ecosystem management and restoration, biodiversity, environmental sociology and economics, as well as in climate, ecosystem, land-use and biodiversity modelling. Sixteen partners are now confirmed, five more have been contacted and responded positively to the invitation. The consortium is coordinated by a highly experienced team under the lead of INRAE. Project construction and management will be supported by the technology transfer and project engineering company INRAE-Transfert. WILDE is well-positioned to thoroughly address all ten Expected Outcomes listed in the call text. The project will thoroughly assess socioeconomic co-benefits, trade-offs and cost-benefit ratios for a range of rewilding-based ecological restoration options. Cutting-edge modelling will be used to project potential restoration effects for a range of climate and land-use scenarios. Our Rewilding Knowledge Hub will foster exchanges among rewilding initiatives, stakeholders and civil society. We expect weighty scientific contributions informing the IPBES, IPCC, EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and the EU Mission on CC Adaptation. Yet, WILDE will also assist innovative action developing and testing best practice approaches for rewilding-based ecological restoration.