Establishing Climate-Smart Forestry and forest restoration pilots in Europe with citizen and stakeholder engagement

The European Union is launching a grant opportunity titled "Establishing Climate-Smart Forestry and forest restoration pilots in Europe with citizen and stakeholder engagement" under the FORWARDS project, which stands for "The ForestWard Observatory to Secure Resilience of European Forests." The grant agreement number associated with this call is 101084481, and the call identifier is HORIZON-CL6-2022-CLIMATE-01-05.

The submission window opens on November 28, 2025, and proposals must be submitted by February 1, 2026, at 23:00 Brussels time. This is a single-stage application model, and projects are expected to last for 12 months. The total funding available is €750,000.

The initiative acknowledges the significance of European forests, which cover over one-third of the continent's land area and provide critical benefits, including climate regulation, raw materials, and biodiversity habitats. Climate change poses substantial challenges, manifesting as heat waves, droughts, storms, wildfires, and insect outbreaks that threaten forest ecosystems.

The project promotes Climate-Smart Forestry (CSF) as a vital approach that combines climate change mitigation with adaptation strategies, aiming to enhance forest resilience and ecosystem services while addressing societal needs. CSF is centered on sustainable forest management techniques, emphasizing the importance of increasing carbon storage and improving forest health through adaptive management practices.

The initiative highlights the urgent need for restoration of degraded ecosystems, particularly forests with potential for carbon capture and storage. Engaging local communities and stakeholders is essential for the successful implementation of CSF, ensuring the incorporation of diverse perspectives and local knowledge into forest management strategies. This collaborative approach enhances the effectiveness of adaptation measures and fosters trust, social learning, and knowledge exchange.

The grant aims to provide evidence-based guidelines for forest practitioners regarding effective CSF and restoration management practices, helping to maintain and improve forest health, support climate change mitigation, and enhance biodiversity in specific regional contexts. It seeks to create a network of climate-smart restoration pilots across Europe, contributing to broader European efforts in observing climate change impacts on forests.

Eligible applicants for this grant include research institutes, universities, NGOs, forestry organizations, governmental bodies, and possibly SMEs involved in environmental management. The focus is on projects ready for practical implementation and demonstration, with a strong emphasis on stakeholder engagement and the development of adaptive strategies for climate resilience.

In summary, this grant opportunity aims to establish a framework for climate-smart forestry practices across Europe, integrating stakeholder engagement to address the ongoing challenges posed by climate change. Through the funding, successful applicants will be able to implement demonstration projects that enhance forest resilience, promote biodiversity, and mitigate climate impacts, ultimately contributing to a sustainable future for Europe's forests.

The European Union is offering a grant opportunity titled "Establishing Climate-Smart Forestry and forest restoration pilots in Europe with citizen and stakeholder engagement" under the FORWARDS project, which stands for "The ForestWard Observatory to Secure Resilience of European Forests." The grant agreement number is 101084481. The topic is HORIZON-CL6-2022-CLIMATE-01-05, focusing on forestry, specifically a European observatory of climate change impacts and a demonstration network of climate-smart restoration pilots.

The opening date for submissions is November 28, 2025, and the deadline for submission is February 1, 2026, at 23:00 Brussels time. The submission model is single-stage. The expected duration of participation is 12 months. The total funding available is 750,000.00 EUR.

The task description highlights the importance of European forests, which cover more than one-third of the land area and provide various benefits, including climate regulation, raw materials, and biodiversity habitats. Climate change poses a significant challenge, leading to heat waves, droughts, and disturbances like storms, wildfires, and insect outbreaks. These changes can shift tree species ranges, alter forest productivity, and increase disturbance damage. Therefore, assessing the need for adaptation measures is crucial.

Climate-Smart Forestry (CSF) is presented as an approach to connect mitigation with adaptation, enhance forest resilience and ecosystem services, and meet societal needs. CSF builds on sustainable forest management, emphasizing climate and ecosystem services. Key components of CSF include increasing carbon storage in forests alongside other ecosystem services and enhancing health and resilience through adaptive forest management. CSF aims for diverse forest management strategies that consider all carbon pools to maximize mitigation benefits while supporting other ecosystem services.

Climate change also threatens European forest biodiversity. Despite policy targets, biodiversity is under threat, and ecosystem degradation continues. Many forest habitats and species in both protected and managed forests have an unfavorable conservation status. Consequently, there is a need to restore degraded ecosystems, especially forests with high potential for carbon capture and storage and for preventing and reducing the impact of disturbances.

The grant aims to guide forest practitioners on effective CSF and restoration management practices by providing evidence on how these practices affect forest functioning and support climate change mitigation, adaptation, and biodiversity in specific regional settings, considering uncertainties.

Coordination with citizens and stakeholders is crucial for successful CSF implementation. Engaging local communities ensures diverse perspectives and local knowledge are incorporated into forest management strategies. Stakeholder engagement fosters social learning, knowledge exchange, trust-building, and collaboration on sustainability solutions. It also reduces marginalization, enhances action capacity, and strengthens the adoption of sustainability initiatives. Collaboration and shared decision-making improve the effectiveness of adaptation measures, addressing the needs and concerns of all stakeholders in forest management.

In summary, this grant opportunity focuses on establishing and demonstrating Climate-Smart Forestry and forest restoration practices across Europe. It emphasizes the importance of stakeholder engagement and aims to provide evidence-based guidance for forest practitioners. The goal is to enhance forest resilience, promote biodiversity, and mitigate climate change impacts through sustainable forest management practices. The FORWARDS project seeks to create a network of climate-smart restoration pilots, contributing to a European observatory of climate change impacts on forests. The funding supports projects that actively involve local communities and stakeholders in developing and implementing adaptation measures, ensuring that diverse perspectives and local knowledge are integrated into forest management strategies. The ultimate aim is to secure the resilience of European forests in the face of ongoing climate change challenges.

Eligible Applicant Types: The document does not explicitly specify eligible applicant types. However, given the focus on climate-smart forestry and forest restoration, it can be inferred that eligible applicants could include research institutes, universities, NGOs, forestry organizations, governmental bodies, and potentially SMEs involved in forestry and environmental management. Public-private partnerships could also be relevant. The emphasis on citizen and stakeholder engagement suggests that community organizations might also be eligible or should be included in project consortia.

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, as indicated by the terms "Grant" and "Cascade funding" mentioned in the text.

Consortium Requirement: The document does not explicitly state whether a single applicant or a consortium is required. However, the emphasis on stakeholder engagement, coordination with citizens, and the need for diverse perspectives suggests that a consortium approach involving multiple stakeholders would be advantageous, if not required.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The opportunity focuses on European forests, implying that the geographic eligibility is primarily for entities located in the EU. The mention of "European forests" suggests that the scope includes EU member states, and potentially EEA countries and EU candidate countries, but this is not explicitly stated.

Target Sector: The primary target sector is forestry, with a strong emphasis on climate, environment, and biodiversity. Sub-sectors include climate-smart forestry, forest restoration, ecosystem services, climate change adaptation and mitigation, and stakeholder engagement.

Mentioned Countries: No specific countries are mentioned, but the focus is on "European forests," implying that the opportunity is relevant to countries within Europe, particularly those with significant forest cover. The EU is the relevant regional option.

Project Stage: The project stage appears to be focused on demonstration and validation, specifically "demonstration network of climate smart restoration pilots." This suggests that the projects should be beyond the initial research phase and ready for practical implementation and demonstration in real-world settings.

Funding Amount: The total funding available is €750,000. The document does not specify the number of grants to be awarded, so the funding amount per project is variable and depends on the number of projects selected.

Application Type: The application type is an open call, as indicated by the "Open For Submission" status and the specified opening and deadline dates. The deadline model is single-stage.

Nature of Support: The beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a grant.

Application Stages: The application process is single-stage, as indicated by the "single-stage" deadline model.

Success Rates: The document does not provide information on success rates.

Co-funding Requirement: The document does not explicitly state whether co-funding is required.

Summary:

This opportunity is a grant call under the FORWARDS project, which is part of the broader EU Horizon program. The call aims to establish climate-smart forestry and forest restoration pilots across Europe, with a strong emphasis on citizen and stakeholder engagement. The total funding available is €750,000, and the projects are expected to last for 12 months. The call is focused on addressing the challenges posed by climate change to European forests, including issues such as heat waves, droughts, disturbances, and biodiversity loss. The goal is to promote climate-smart forestry practices that enhance the resilience of forest ecosystems, increase carbon storage, and support biodiversity. The call encourages projects that involve local communities and stakeholders in the development and implementation of forest management strategies. The application process is a single-stage open call with a deadline of February 1, 2026. Eligible applicants are likely to include research institutes, universities, NGOs, forestry organizations, governmental bodies, and potentially SMEs involved in forestry and environmental management. The projects should be at the demonstration and validation stage, ready for practical implementation. The call is relevant to countries within Europe with significant forest cover. The overall objective is to guide forest practitioners on effective climate-smart forestry and restoration management practices, providing evidence on how these practices affect forest functioning and support climate change mitigation, adaptation, and biodiversity in specific regional settings.