Innovative policy instruments for multiple Ecosystem Services provision

Forest ecosystems deliver multiple goods and services, the supply of different forest ecosystem services (FES) is not isolated but they are interconnected, influencing and interacting among each other and this is fundamental to be considered in forest management. Indeed, forest management actions implemented for the enhancement of a certain FES can enhance the provision of another FES (synergy) or, on the contrary, can decrease the provision of other FES (trade-off). Understanding FES synergies and trade-off is fundamental decision making in forest landscape management. More over dealing with FES it is important to consider that this concept better highlight the relation among human well-being and ecosystems. This synergy has also to be inserted as feature to be considered in decision making processes. In Europe forests are one of the ecosystems that provides the highest level of ES but not always existing policy tools are able to properly support them. If markets and the traditional policy instruments fail to encourage ES supply, their availability remains below the social optimum. This is why it is important to define and test innovative mechanisms able to encourage forest owners in the provision of Forest Ecosystem Services (FES). The poster presents and analyses several European cases of implementation of innovative mechanisms to enhance the provision of a bundle of FES. The research was carried out within the H2020 project SINCERE that aims to support the provision of FES around Europe by aligning the policy framework that encourages this provision. The identification of the case studies was done through publicly available information and by consulting 18 experts of SINCERE network. The cases were analysed through a framework developed on purpose, based on the following dimensions: Identification of the case, Spatial and Time Scales, Targeted FES, Mechanism Description, Innovative features. The results highlight that existing mechanisms in Europe are often focused on the delivery of more than a FES at the same time, across different type of forest ecosystems and employing a wide range of mechanisms. They also cast light on the innovative features that characterise the most successful mechanisms.