Assisted Migration to increase Forest resilience in NWE

Programme 2021 - 2027 Interreg VI-B North West Europe

Date of latest update: 2025-09-24

Description

Description (EN):

Humanity largely depends on the ecosystem services provided by forests, that needs to be protected from the increasing disturbances caused by climate change. Forests represent significant proportion of NWE lands: BE 22.6%; FR 27.1%; NL 8.9%; DE 32%. Currently, 60% of forest land of NWE is covered with the tree species most sensitive to climate change (beech, spruce, oak, etc.) and there is increasing evidence of dieback of these species. As outlined in the "EU Forest Strategy 2030" published by the European Commission (July 2021), assisted migration (AM) is an effective way of strengthening our forest systems and their resilience to future changes. This solution involves speeding up the migration of trees from the south of Europe, in a context of global warming. Indeed, the climate has always changed and both animal and plant species have adjusted to these changes by migrating to the North or South as the climate has warmed or cooled. Today, however, changes to the climate are happening far too rapidly to enable species of tree to migrate sufficiently quickly. This means there is a risk of seeing whole populations of trees disappear in their native region because the climate no longer suits them. In this instance, the role of foresters will be to imitate nature and speed up their work by artificially accelerating the speed at which trees can migrate. This is called assisted migration (AM) and it is one of several solutions that is privileged to anticipate the effect of climate change on our forests. The project aims to deploy assisted migration of tree species at the scale of the NWE territory, for better anticipation of climate change and improved resilience of the forest ecosystem in a cross-border approach, by integrating the concept of functional complex network to increase tree genetic and species diversity. We don't have to wait that the trees planted are adults to pursue AM: the project isn't an experimentation, we ambition to show how to do it in NWE territories, taking advantage of the similarity of the climate of the partner's countries. The results of the project will be : - the development of a common strategy for implementing AM in NWE (except Ireland, due to a climate that is different than the other NWE's areas) - the identification of the tree species concerned, including analysis of their biological potential and invasiveness - the implementation of a joint genetic analysis of source and recipient tree populations - the deployment of the AM in 5 territories in different NWE regions, including the planting of at least 100,000 trees - the creation of 3 seed orchards to supply forest managers in the future - the development of tailor-made awareness-raising and training material for target audiences: public authorities, forest owners, nursery men and the general public. The partners will develop joint responses to a problem that transcends the borders of our countries, drawing on the results of local experience and providing solutions to strengthen the resilience of our forests. The partner countries share the same type of climate (Maritime North), making it all the more relevant to tackle the issue at this level.

Actual Achievements (EN):

The key activities of this first project period were related to kick off the project. The first activity is related to building the partnership amongst the different partners. The project was initiated by SRFB, ONF, INBO, BGZN, CRA-W and FVA. In the meantime, to compensate the departure of the Netherland partner BGZN which left the project, a new partner had to be found. The new partner, Neosylva, which is a small and medium enterprise (SME) has been integrated and brought up to speed to the Project. Building the partnership: Following the project submission, revision and approval, several fine-tuning meetings were scheduled, and the adequate tools were put in place: - A shared drive was organised within the SRFB with the relevant arborescence to enable project follow-up and progress monitoring as well as knowledge exchange and document archiving. - To allow literature referencing and knowledge sharing, an interface was also created on Zotero (MigFoRest | Zotero) to be populated by the partners. The project was kicked-off on the 13th of February 2024 via a face-to face meeting in Bruxelles with all partners and some of the associated partners. This meeting was followed by the Interreg NW-Europe seminar on the 14-15 February 2024 in Lille. Recurrent monthly meetings suitable for all partners were put in place by the lead partner following a detailed project management plan to closely follow-up of the project progress, deliverables, output results, risks/issues and their mitigations. The partner scientific staff assigned to the project and when relevant the administrative and finance staff have actively participated in the project meetings (physical and online) and email discussions. The partners scientific staff also participated in approximately 12 online project meetings. In addition, there were several informal online meetings amongst consortium members. Frequent email exchanges (on a weekly / daily basis) have kept all partners well-informed and engaged. The virtual and physical gatherings have strengthened the partnership, increased knowledge exchange and have been instrumental in ensuring regular communication amongst partners. Planning and preparation of WP activities In addition to the project management monthly meetings, monthly work meetings were set up by the WP lead to put in place and/or perform the activities and generate the deliverables. Each WP lead is responsible for the activities management within the partnership. The outcome of the work meeting is shared at the monthly meeting. The deliverables are reviewed and endorsed by the partners before being considered final. Within each partner organisation, the partner scientific staff organized informal internal meetings to ensure task assignments and tasks planning, resources availability, and also addressing more specific scientific questions and organising staffing within their respective team. Additionally, several internal meetings were held to address project management aspects (e.g. financial management, reporting, and administration). Staffing the different partner teams The key point of this first period was to staff the partner teams. Candidates selected before the project approval, were not all available once the approval was granted. Some had still a notice period to respect. Others were already engaged elsewhere or simply not yet found. Thus, mitigations had to be put in place with the staff in place to start the project in the meanwhile. Project progress Even if the project started later than initially planned due to staffing issues in some partner teams, all deliverables were generated in due time thanks to teamwork, mitigations and dedication of the staff. WP1 - Joint Strategy to implement AM in NWE The deliverables were generated on time: D.1.1.1 List of tree species to implement AM in NWE D.1.2.1 Past AM experimental initiatives in North-West Europe and guidelines WP2 - Pilot Actions: AM demonstration sites and seed orchards The deliverable was generated on time: D.2.1.1 Decision scheme: a joint method to select forest sites. WP3 -AM: Capacity building and awareness of forest stakeholders and general public The deliverables were generated on time: D.3.7.1 A communication strategy ready to be implemented during the whole project's duration D.3.7.2 Project web-page creation and maintenance D.3.7.3 Communication strategy through social media The other activities from the different work packages were started upon need and conducted to generate the deliverables in time. The progress on the Work Packages and the contribution of the different partners is described further under each work package. The key activities of this second project period were in continuation with the activities initiated on the Period 1 (P1). Recurrent monthly meetings suitable for all partners are held by the lead partner following a detailed project management plan to closely follow-up of the project progress, deliverables, output results, risks/issues and their mitigations. The partner scientific staff assigned to the project and, when relevant, the administrative and finance staff, actively participate to the project meetings (physical and online) and email discussions. The partners scientific staff also participate to online project meetings (approximately 18 over the P2). In addition, there are several informal online meetings amongst consortium members set up upon need. Frequent email exchanges (on a weekly / daily basis) keep all partners well-informed and engaged. The virtual and physical gatherings strengthen the partnership, increase knowledge exchange and are instrumental in ensuring regular communication amongst partners. Planning and preparation of WP activities In addition to the project management monthly meetings, monthly work meetings are held by the WP lead to put in place and/or perform the activities and generate the deliverables. Each WP lead is responsible for the activities management within the partnership. The outcome of the work meeting is shared at the monthly meeting. The deliverables are reviewed and endorsed by the partners before being considered final. Please note that the work meetings of the WP1 and WP2 were re-organised by their respective WP lead in December to focus on some topics and to limit the number of meetings. Within each partner organisation, the partner scientific staff organized informal internal meetings to ensure task assignments and tasks planning, resources availability, and also addressing more specific scientific questions and organising staffing within their respective team. Additionally, several internal meetings were held to address project management aspects (e.g. financial management, reporting, and administration). Staffing the different partner teams While the staffing to the different partner teams has been completed during the P1, for the PP2 ONF, the resource available to support the project activities have been identified as insufficient during P1. To solve this issue, the PP2 Lead succeeded in getting and hiring an additional employee under a one-year contract starting in August 2024. This newcomer was progressively onboarded on the project during the rest of P2. Project progress Even if not all straight forward to put in place, all deliverables were generated in due time thanks to teamwork, mitigations and dedication of the staff. WP1 - Joint Strategy to implement AM in NWE The deliverable was generated on time: - D.1.3.1 List of suitable provenances to implement AM in NWE WP2 - Pilot Actions: AM demonstration sites and seed orchards The deliverables were generated on time: - D.2.1.2 Five identified territory sites to implement AM - D.2.2.1 Joint planting scheme - D.2.3.1 List of harvested populations - D.2.5.1 Map locating the source trees The other activities from the different work packages were started upon need and conducted to generate the deliverables in time. The progress on the Work Packages and the contribution of the different partners is described further under each work package. WP3 – Communication strategy The digital strategy (D.2.6.1) designed under P1 is being executed and the communication plan is regularly updated and enriched. During P2, the following communication assets were created as cornerstones of our communication activities: - MigFoRest flyers and posters (EN-FR-NL-DE) - MigFoRest master presentation (PowerPoint) with all the project essentials

Project outputs: Joint strategy suitable for AM implementation in North-West Europe (except Ireland)(EN)
AM demonstration on NWE targeted areas(EN)
AM to anticipate climate change(EN)
Seed orchards to support AM implementation in NWE territories(EN)
Approach for the implementation of seed orchards to support future implementation of AM in NWE areas(EN)
Training tools to implement AM at a larger scale(EN)
Website: http://migforest.nweurope.eu

Thematic information

Climate change and biodiversity

Priority: (VI-B_NWE_1) Smart climate and environmental resilience for NWE territories

Priority specific objective: RSO2.4. Promoting climate change adaptation and disaster risk prevention and resilience, taking into account eco-system based approaches

Priority policy objective (Interreg specific objective): PO2 A greener, low-carbon transitioning towards a net zero carbon economy and resilient Europe by promoting clean and fair energy transition, green and blue investment, the circular economy, climate change mitigation and adaptation, risk prevention and management, and sustainable urban mobility

Type of intervention: 060 Adaptation to climate change measures and prevention and management of climate related risks: others, e.g. storms and drought (including awareness raising, civil protection and disaster management systems, infrastructures and ecosystem based approaches)

Partners (7)

Lead Partner: Société Royale Forestière de Belgique

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 932052437

Partner’s ID if not PIC: 0408558654

Address: Boulevard Bischoffsheim, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Interest groups including NGOs

Website: https://www.srfb.be/

Total budget: EUR 1 962 465.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 1 177 479.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 60.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 784 986.00

Neosylva

Name: Neosylva

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 878745602

Partner’s ID if not PIC: FR78843567215

Address: Boulevard Léon Bureau , 44200 Nantes, France

Legal status: private

Organisation type: SME

Website: https://www.neosylva.fr/

Total budget: EUR 965 349.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 579 209.40

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 60.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 386 139.60

Centre wallon de Recherches Agronomiques

Name: Centre wallon de Recherches Agronomiques

Department: Department Living Sciences – Unit Plant & Forest Biodiversity & Breeding

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 999514967

Address: Rue de Liroux, 5300 Gembloux, Belgium

Department address: Rue de Liroux, 5300 Gembloux, Belgium

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Regional public authority

Website: https://www.cra.wallonie.be/fr

Total budget: EUR 616 900.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 370 140.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 60.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 246 760.00

Eigen Vermogen Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek

Name: Eigen Vermogen Instituut voor Natuur- en Bosonderzoek

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 987950045

Address: Havenlaan, 1000 Brussel, Belgium

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Higher education and research organisations

Website: http://www.inbo.be

Total budget: EUR 1 582 320.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 949 392.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 60.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 632 928.00

BosGroep Zuid Nederland - Withdrawal 20/12/2023

Name: BosGroep Zuid Nederland - Withdrawal 20/12/2023

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 892234325

Partner’s ID if not PIC: NL809274218B01

Address: Huisvenseweg, 5591 VD Heeze, Netherlands

Legal status: private

Organisation type: SME

Website: https://bosgroepen.nl/bosgroep-zuid-nederland/

Forstliche Versuchs- und Forschungsantalt in Baden-Württemberg

Name: Forstliche Versuchs- und Forschungsantalt in Baden-Württemberg

Department: Forest Nature Conservation

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 998510726

Address: Wonnhaldestrasse, 79100 Freiburg, Germany

Department address: Wonnhaldestrasse, 79100 Freiburg, Germany

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Higher education and research organisations

Website: http://www.fva-bw.de

Total budget: EUR 921 300.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 552 780.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 60.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 368 520.00

Office National des Forêts

Name: Office National des Forêts

Department: Département Recherche, Développement et Innovation / Pole Conservatoire Génétique des Arbres Forestiers UMR Biofora

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 968579921

Address: Avenue du Général Leclerc CCS 30042, 94704 Maisons-Alfort, France

Department address: Boulevard de Constance, 77400 Fontainebleau, France

Legal status: public

Organisation type: National public authority

Website: https://www.onf.fr/

Total budget: EUR 1 059 657.32

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 635 794.39

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 60.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 423 862.93

Partners map

Partners and Projects info

Neosylva

Assisted Migration to increase Forest resilience in NWE

Partners and Projects info

Walloon Agricultural Research Center

Assisted Migration to increase Forest resilience in NWE

Partners and Projects info

Equity Institute for Nature and Forest Research

Assisted Migration to increase Forest resilience in NWE

Partners and Projects info

Forest Group South Netherlands

Assisted Migration to increase Forest resilience in NWE

Partners and Projects info

Forestry Experimental and Research Institute in Baden-Württemberg

Assisted Migration to increase Forest resilience in NWE

Partners and Projects info

Office national des forêts

Assisted Migration to increase Forest resilience in NWE

Partners and Projects info

Royal Forestry Society of Belgium

Assisted Migration to increase Forest resilience in NWE

Lead partner

Project partner

Summary

Operation of strategic importance (OSI) or above EUR 5 million

Project name (EN): Assisted Migration to increase Forest resilience in NWE

Project acronym: MigFoRest

Project ID: NWE0200194

Project start date: 2024-01-01

Project end date: 2028-06-30

Project status: ongoing

Relevant linked projects:

Harnessing forest genetic resources for increasing options in the face of environmental and societal challenges - OptFORESTS (2022-2027) (EN) | OptFORESTS is a Horizon Europe funded project that was launched in 2022 and in which ONF is a full partner. The main aim of the project is to support the protection and sustainable use of forest genetic resources in Europe, by strengthening cooperation and knowledge sharing in order to encourage adaptation to climate change and practices that support biodiversity in forestry.
In particular, the project will provide fundamental research on these issues, which will serve as a basis for the analysis planned in WP1. The first scientific results of this project are scheduled for autumn 2023, which is fully in line with the MigFoRest implementation schedule.
In addition, the project includes 5 partners located in the south, i.e. in areas where several of the species targeted for NWE-assisted migration are grown. Three partners from the south have a research profile (university and research centre); two partners have a training and action profile in the forestry field. They will be solicitated to implement our field visit activities in collaboration with southern organisations (see activity 3.1).
As the ONF is a partner in this project, synergies between the two initiatives will be easily established through the exchange of knowledge and experience between the two partnerships. We will therefore be communicating regularly with the OptFORESTS project leader in order to pass on and share the results of the MigFoRest project. Both teams will be invited to future dissemination and networking events organised in the framework of the project. (EN), Optimising the management and sustainable use of forest genetic resources in Europe - GENTREE (2016-2020) (EN) | GENTREE is a Horizon 2020 funded project that was launched in 2016 and ended in 2020. The goal of GENTREE is to provide the European forestry sector with better knowledge, methods and tools for optimising the management and sustainable use of forest genetic resources (FGR) in Europe. The major results include new scientific knowledge on phenotypic and genotypic diversity across environmental gradients in Europe.
This is another scientific project on which we can base the work that will be carried out in WP1. This past initiative gives us access to specific knowledge and scientific results, allowing the MigFoRest project to focus on the concrete implementation of assisted migration in NWE, rather than on basic scientific research.
The results of their research will be taken into account in the identification of suitable sources of forest reproductive material and knowledge about within species variation of adaptive traits and genetic diversity. (EN), LIFE Climate Forest (2021-2025) (EN) | LIFE Climate Forest is a LIFE funded project managed by BosGroep and is implemented in the Netherlands.
The main objective of LIFE Climate Forest is to demonstrate a tree-oriented management approach for improving climate resilience of forest ecosystems on sandy soils, which are characteristic of Dutch forests. The project concentrates on small-scale climate smart forest management and aim to clarify the management possibilities. Outputs of the project in connection with assisted migration and applied to the Netherlands will be used to launch our own activities in the framework of WP2.
(EN)

Total budget/expenditure: EUR 7 107 991.32

Total EU funding (amount): EUR 4 264 794.79

Total EU funding (co-financing rate): 60.00%

Co-financing sources:

ERDF: Amount, EUR 4 264 794.79. Co-financing rate, 60.00%.

Investments, deliverables, policy contributions

(bullets are inserted automatically and may be incorrectly placed)

Deliverables:

List of tree species to implement AM in NWE, except in Ireland
Past AM experimental initiatives in North-West Europe and guidelines
List of suitable provenances to implement AM in NWE, except in Ireland
NWE database of genotypes of 7000 individuals
Scientific papers
Presentation to target audiences
Summary report
Risk assessment report
Ecological potential report
Design and setting-up of 5 living labs
1 common MigFoRest living lab methodology report
MigFoRest living labs open database
5 MigFoRest living labs implemented
Transnational training
Easy-to-read joint strategy
Decision scheme: a joint method to select forest sites
5 identified forest sites to implement AM
Joint planting scheme
List of harvested populations
Seedlings ready to be planted: a minimum of 60 000 plants produced
Seedlings ready to be planted, purchased from nurseries external to the partnership
Plantation of 100 000 trees
4 installation reports
1 integrated NWE installation report
Global mapping of the plantations
Map locating the source trees
At least 3 seeds orchards
Design of the digital strategy
Implementation of the digital strategy in project's languages
Plantation sites ready to be visited
Information document on AM
Implementation of study visits
Reports from 4 visits of pilot territories in the South
Collaborative network at NWE scale
AM implementation guidelines for policy makers, public authorities, associations of owners
1 technical guide
1 counter and open database
3 regional conferences
2 transnational conferences
Study visits to pilot territories
Leaflet about AM
Plantations of cells of AM in pilot territories with citizens and schools pupils
Information billboards on forest sites
A joint training framework targeting nurserymen
Implementation of trainings for nursery men
A joint field training framework targeting foresters and public administrations
Implementation of field training activities targeting forest owners and public authorities
A communication strategy ready to be implemented during the whole project's duration.
Project web-page creation and maintenance
Communication strategy through social media

Programme Common Output Indicator:

RCO 084 - Pilot actions developed jointly and implemented in projects, Measurement unit:
RCO 116 - Jointly developed solutions, Measurement unit:
RCO 083 - Strategies and action plans jointly developed, Measurement unit:
RCO 085 - Participations in joint training schemes, Measurement unit:

Programme Common Result Indicator:

RCR 081 - Completions of joint training schemes, Measurement unit:
RCR 104 - Solutions taken up or up-scaled by organisations, Measurement unit:
RCR 079 - Joint strategies and action plans taken up by organisations, Measurement unit:

Programme Result Indicator:

PSR 1: Organisations with increased institutional capacity due to their participation in cooperation activities across borders, Measurement unit: Organisations

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

Financing programme

2021 - 2027 Interreg VI-B North West Europe

Last month that data in keep.eu was retrieved from the Programme's website or received from the Programme

2025-09-24

No. of projects in keep.eu / Total no. of projects (% of projects in keep.eu)

70 / 70 (100%)

No. of project partnerships in keep.eu / Total no. of project partnerships (% of project partnerships in keep.eu)

742 / 742 (100%)

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Assisted Migration to increase Forest resilience in NWE

Description

Thematic information

Partners (7)

Partners map

Summary

Investments, deliverables, policy contributions

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

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