Recommendations on Adapted Integrative Forest Management

Climate change poses significant threats to forest ecosystems across Europe, increasing the frequency and severity of droughts, pest outbreaks, and extreme weather events. These pressures reduce forest productivity, compromise natural regeneration, and threaten the ability of forests to deliver essential ecosystem services. This set of recommendations presents a framework for Adapted Integrative Forest Management (AIFM) aimed at enhancing forest resilience and adaptive capacity in a changing climate. It is based on six core principles: fostering natural-oriented management, increasing biodiversity at species and genetic levels, enhancing structural complexity, improving tree-level resistance, accelerating transitions in forest structure and species composition, and applying site-specific, flexible silvicultural strategies. The document translates these principles into practical guidance, including reducing stand density, retaining shelter trees, promoting mixed-species stands, and integrating future climate projections into forest regeneration planning. By prioritizing adaptation, AIFM ensures that forests remain healthy, productive, and capable of long-term carbon sequestration — thereby supporting both climate change mitigation and adaptation goals. These recommendations are grounded in current scientific evidence and field experience, providing forest managers and policymakers with actionable tools to support multifunctional, climate-resilient forest landscapes.