SafeNet

SafeNet - Safeguarding biodiversity and carbon-rich forest networks in Europe

Funding and duration:

Horizon Europe | 2025-2029 | 54 month project

Summary:

Diverse and healthy forests are crucial for biodiversity (BD) conservation and human well-being, supporting 80% of terrestrial species, sequestering 30% of anthropogenic CO₂ emissions, and providing valuable resources. However, primary and old-growth forests (POGFs), critical for BD and carbon storage, cover less than 3% of European forests and remain largely unprotected. Intensive forest use and climate change (CC) are degrading ecosystems, reducing species resilience, and accelerating BD loss. The EU, under the Kunming-Montreal Global BD Framework, aims to halt BD loss by 2030 through the EU Biodiversity and Forest Strategies and the Nature Restoration Law, which include expanding protected areas, restoring degraded lands, and strictly protecting remaining POGFs. Reconciling conservation with economic and societal demands remains a challenge, requiring Climate-Smart Forestry (CSF) and Nature-based Solutions (NbS) to enhance forest heterogeneity, connectivity, and resilience.

To support these efforts, we will use Earth observation data to identify forests that have remained undisturbed by human activities over the past decades. Landsat-based forest cover fractions (since 1984) and high-resolution spy-satellite images (Corona, since 1960) will be integrated with existing disturbance maps, to locate potential future old-growth forests. Historical aerial photographs will further refine the identification of long-term undisturbed forests. A field inventory will validate satellite-derived POGFs, comparing them with managed forests to assess the reliability of remote sensing (RS) approaches and improve semi-automated BD monitoring methods.