INFORMA Newsletter - June 2025
Grounding research, sharing knowledge: INFORMA gears up for its final year
Dear reader,
As the European Commission prepares for the full implementation of the EU Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming Regulation (CRCF), the work carried out under the HE INFORMA project is now especially relevant. Over the last year, we have explored the barriers and gaps in today's carbon certification from a forestry perspective and provided recommendations to support the carbon certification of forestry projects under this new voluntary legal framework.
Now, as we enter the final year, Celia Yagüe, technical coordinator of INFORMA affirms: “We are proud to share that we have made some strong progress in evaluating and testing innovative carbon monitoring technologies. These innovations, ranging from field-deployable tools like Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR)-assisted biomass apps to in-situ soil carbon analysis using infrared (IR) spectrometry, represent promising pathways for enhancing accuracy while reducing costs in forest carbon accounting”.
In this newsletter, you’ll find a curated selection of highlights from our activities over the past twelve months. From project news and events to scientific publications, we hope this content proves valuable and inspiring for your work.
Looking ahead, one of our focuses in this field for the final year might be on advancing climate-responsive buffer guidelines for forest carbon projects in the EU. Professor Jose-Vicente Oliver, general coordinator of INFORMA, states: “As natural disturbances such as wildfires, storms, and pest outbreaks grow in frequency and intensity due to climate change, they pose a serious risk of abruptly releasing the carbon that forest projects work so hard to sequester. This makes it critical to re-evaluate how carbon permanence in forest ecosystems in the most representative forest bioregions in the EU (Atlantic, Continental, Boreal, Alpine and Mediterranean regions) is safeguarded. Our aim is to provide science-based guidance that allows for dynamic, regionally tailored buffer systems, ensuring that risk is properly accounted for and that the climate integrity of forest carbon projects is maintained over time".
In the coming months, we look forward to sharing several key scientific papers that reflect the legacy of INFORMA, along with videos highlighting insights from our case studies and project results. We will also engage with investigative environmental journalists at the upcoming Climate Arena Conference. So, be sure to visit our website regularly for updates, stay tuned via our newsletters, and follow us here on LinkedIn.
Warm regards,
The INFORMA team
Project news
Charting the final year of INFORMA: Progress and pathways forward
In Romania’s Carpathian region, our project partners recently gathered for the annual General Meeting to explore strategies and approaches for effectively engaging diverse stakeholders and integrating on-the-ground knowledge to develop sustainable forest management practices. In the final phase of the project, our focus will shift from knowledge building to knowledge transfer.
Discover the key highlights of this meeting.
Innovation in knowledge transfer: Applying the Research-Integration-Utilisation Model
How can forest science truly reach the people it’s meant to serve? Through a collaboration between the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) and Georg-August Universität Göttingen, INFORMA has been exploring the Research-Integration-Utilisation (RIU) model, a framework that considers social perceptions, stakeholder dynamics, and local contexts to enhance knowledge transfer.
Curious how this model is reshaping our approach? Find out in our post.
Exploring forestry’s role in carbon credits at the European Carbon Farming Summit 2025
Existing carbon certification schemes often fall short in addressing crucial aspects of forestry contexts, leading to risks such as over- or under-crediting. At the 2nd European Carbon Farming Summit in Dublin, our partners Climate-KIC and the Institute for Climate Economics (I4CE) co-hosted a panel to position this discussion and addressed the role of Improved Forest Management (IFM) in scaling up credible forest carbon credits.
Read the key discussion points and watch the full recording of the session.
Protecting forest carbon stocks in the Mediterranean: INFORMA’s contribution to the Climate Credit System of Catalonia
To support the movement to reduce forest vulnerability, we helped shape Catalonia’s new voluntary Climate Credit System. The new climate credits go beyond carbon by jointly valuing multiple ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, blue water availability, and biodiversity conservation.
Read more about how INFORMA is bridging scientific knowledge and policymaking.
Bringing science closer to forest professionals for better carbon capture and fire prevention
To effectively reach multipliers, the best approach is to go into the field and engage directly with those working on the ground. In Catalonia, INFORMA launched a ‘train-the-trainers’ series for forest professionals, using the Marteloscope tool. At a recent session in El Montmell, 26 forest rangers came together to explore scientific insights generated through the INFORMA project.
Read the story from our colleague at the Forest Ownership Centre (CPF).
New video: Watch Teresa Baiges Zapater from the Forest Ownership Centre (CFP) of the Government of Catalonia explain the importance of soils for forests and how the INFORMA and HoliSoils projects help bridge the knowledge gap
Factsheets
Long-life wood products like panels or insulation materials can store carbon for decades, but they need the right policies and markets to scale. Our researchers looked at wood sector policies in France, Germany, Romania, and Sweden to see what’s working. From targeted subsidies to trade-offs between wood uses, the findings show how policy can shape a more climate-smart use of harvested wood.
What drives forest managers to act on climate change and what holds them back? INFORMA surveyed over 230 forest owners and managers across eight countries to better understand their concerns, actions, and the barriers they face. From shifting species choices to concerns over biodiversity loss and wildfires, the results reveal a complex picture of adaptation in motion.
An important step toward improving carbon certification is refining the methodologies. Colleagues at I4CE emphasized key actions such as enhancing baseline accuracy and using larger buffer pools to protect carbon stocks from climate risks, while also ensuring that other ecosystem services remain in focus.
Events
INFORMA at the Fire in the Earth Congress
Stakeholder engagement has always been at the core of our work. As part of our mission to turn technical science into practical change, our colleagues at Climate-KIC joined the Fire in the Earth Congress last year to highlight the vital role of stakeholder integration in forest and wildfire management.
INFORMA at the LIFE Platform Meeting with SUPERB
More recently, Laura Bouriaud from Ștefan cel Mare University of Suceava and Elisabeth Schatzdorfer from European Forest Institute took part in the LIFE Platform Meeting on Forest Restoration in Brașov, Romania, representing two Horizon projects, INFORMA and SUPERB. The event offered a valuable opportunity to discuss the role of sustainable forest management with EU officials, forestry experts, and civil society representatives.
INFORMA at the 9th Spanish Forestry Congress
Another recent event with INFORMA’s participation was the 9th Spanish Forestry Congress (Congreso Forestal Español). At the panel, “The value of ecosystem services, carbon credits and biodiversity,” organized by the Forest and Climate Change Forum. Celia Yagüe from UPV emphasised the importance of listening to a broad range of stakeholder perspectives.
New publications
Jie Zhao, Chao Yue, Jiaming Wang, Stijn Hantson, Xianli Wang, Binbin He, Guangyao Li, Liang Wang, Hongfei Zhao and Sebastiaan Luyssaert
Nature, 2024
Daniel Nadal-Sala, Nadine K Ruehr, and Santiago Sabaté
Experimental Botany, 2024
Other publications:
Latest from the sister projects
Stronger together: Forest-focused Horizon projects join forces for climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation
ForestNavigator, ForestPaths and PathFinder have collaborated to develop a visual overview of how their efforts complement to design robust, data-driven policy pathways that optimise the contributions of forests to climate neutrality, biodiversity conservation and the bioeconomy.
Walking with science: Forest Quest at Queen Elizabeth Forest Park in Scotland
Together with Forestry and Land Scotland and Forest Research, FORWARDS and SUPERB are currently running Forest Quest, an engaging new interactive trail at Queen Elizabeth Forest Park in Scotland. This initiative invites visitors to explore the forest with science through quizzes and invites the visitors to reflect their experiences in the immediate surroundings.
OptFor-EU develops a set of guides decarbonization in forest management
This report from OptFor-EU presents the carefully developed set of Essential Forest Mitigation Indicators (EFMIs), designed to guide forest managers, researchers and policymakers in assessing and enhancing the potential of carbon mitigation of forests through informed management practices. The EFMIs were created through a bottom-up collaborative process that brought together scientific experts, forestry professionals and key stakeholders, ensuring the indicators were feasible, relevant, and applicable for stakeholders.
Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.