National Research Programme project No. VPP-ZM-VRIIILA-2024/2-0002
Project partners are Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry (leading partner; project leader Uģis Cābulis), Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies and LSFRI "Silava".
Forest4LV aims to enhance innovative forest management and new forest services, products and technologies in Latvia. Knowledge gaps regarding multipurpose management will be covered by standardized, complex, experimental assessment of survival, growth, quality, biodiversity and adaptation of forest. It will ensure integrity and coherence of the tasks and findings with pioneering European research in climate-smart forestry, and provide input for scenario modelling system. Interdisciplinary, holistic, stakeholder-input-based, agile socio-economic assessment of forest management scenarios (including climate change mitigation / substitution) will be the basis of the recommendations for policy and elaborated sustainability practices of forest sector actors. It will include solutions for rational use of forest resources in mechanical processing and biorefinery, advancing low-carbon economy. Innovative solutions for wood construction and use of wood materials will be explored, the valorisation of forest industry side streams will be addressed, and new biological, chemical and polymer material production technologies will be developed, thereby contributing to achievement of climate goals and economic growth. Young and upcoming researchers will be elucidated in methods and findings of holistic assessment of the effects arising in value chain from forest to end-products.
LSFRI "Silava" manages two directions of Forest4LV:
- Data for the development of forestry, increasing the productivity and vitality of forest stands, the ability to maintain biological diversity in the long term and reduce climate change. Within the framework of this direction, data will be collected and analyzed for the scenario modeling planned in the program, recommendations for practice and policies will be prepared and their justification scientifically approved (publications), as well as scientific capacity building and knowledge dissemination (publicity) will be ensured, cooperation with international research networks (planted forests, climate-smart forestry, living laboratory).
- Analysis of scenarios for scaling up socioeconomic benefits. Within this direction, mathematical models will be supplemented and recommendations will be developed for the multifunctional management of Latvian forests, taking into account the development of new forest services, products, and technologies.