Forest restoration in practice – lessons learned from 12 demo sites

Gesche Schifferdecker on January 23, 2026

SUBERB demo sites

Restoring forests is as much a social, institutional, and economic endeavor as it is an ecological one. Across regions, landscapes, and governance contexts, restoration initiatives have generated a wealth of experience – what worked, what didn’t, and what must change to achieve lasting impact. This Lessons Learned booklet brings together insights from our 12 large-scale restoration sites, grounded in real-world practice rather than theory alone.

The lessons presented here are not prescriptive recipes. Instead, they highlight recurring patterns, critical success factors, and persistent bottlenecks encountered in forest restoration efforts. Together, they underline a central truth: successful restoration is a long-term process that depends on people, policies, and institutions working in concert with ecological systems.

By distilling these lessons, the booklet aims to support practitioners, decision-makers, and funders in designing restoration efforts that are durable, scalable, and context-sensitive – moving from isolated projects toward sustained landscape transformation.

Key Messages

  1. Forest restoration is a long-term commitment.
    Restoration cannot be achieved through one-off interventions; it requires sustained engagement, adaptive management, and long-term vision.
  2. Disturbance can be a catalyst for change.
    Catastrophic natural events – particularly in single-species monocultures – often expose structural vulnerabilities and can trigger more ambitious and transformative restoration efforts.
  3. Local communities are central to success.
    Communities are not only beneficiaries but essential partners in restoration. Meaningful involvement must begin early and be supported through continuous, trust-building processes.
  4. Finance and institutions matter – but gaps remain.
    Stable public funding and institutional support are fundamental. At present, voluntary private finance mechanisms fall short of delivering the scale and reliability needed for restoration.
  5. Demonstration sites accelerate learning.
    Practical demonstrations provide tested and transferable models, showing how restoration can work across diverse ecological and socio-economic contexts.
  6. Restoration costs are highly variable.
    Costs depend on landscape conditions, the intensity and complexity of measures, spatial fragmentation, and opportunity costs for land users.
  7. Scaling up requires policy alignment.
    Successful upscaling depends on aligning local practices and needs with broader policy frameworks and regulatory environments.
  8. Knowledge infrastructures ensure lasting impact.
    Systems for consolidating and sharing knowledge are essential to move beyond individual projects and to support institutions responsible for national restoration planning.

SUPERB researchers: EU Nature Restoration Regulation can support future-ready forestry and reduce conflicts in Sweden

Gesche Schifferdecker on January 7, 2026

Prescribed burning (photo: Gesche Schifferdecker)

A recently published paper An ambitious and science-based implementation of the EU Nature Restoration Regulation could help transform forestry toward greater sustainability and fewer conflicts, according to SUPERB researchers at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). In contrast, a minimal or restrictive approach risks prolonging uncertainty, controversy, and polarization in the forestry debate.

In a recent paper with the title “The EU Nature Restoration Regulation offers new opportunities for resilient forests and sustainable forestry“, published in the scientific journal Ambio, SLU researchers Johan Svensson and Bengt Gunnar Jonsson (both SUPERB) as well as Torbjörn Ebenhard analyze how the regulation may be implemented in Sweden’s forests. The EU Nature Restoration Regulation requires restoration measures on at least 20% of land and sea areas by 2030, and obliges Member States to base their actions on the best available and most up-to-date scientific knowledge. Sweden, like other EU countries, is currently developing its national restoration plan.

A key issue highlighted in the paper is how so-called “favorable reference areas” are defined. These areas represent the minimum extent needed to ensure the long-term viability of habitats and species protected under the EU Species and Habitats Directive. The Swedish government has decided to base forest reference areas on estimates from 1995, when Sweden joined the EU. According to the researchers, this decision departs from current scientific knowledge and risks cementing existing ambiguities and conflicts in forestry.

“Setting restoration ambitions at an absolute minimum level will not help Sweden meet environmental goals or international commitments,” says Johan Svensson. “It also risks continued conflict for forest owners and operators, damage to Sweden’s reputation as a forest nation, and criticism from the EU.”

The researchers argue that the regulation should instead be seen as an opportunity to adapt forestry to future challenges. By considering forests as multifunctional landscapes – rather than focusing narrowly on timber production or conservation – the regulation can encourage alternative forestry methods, new value chains, and more resilient ecosystems.

They also note that the regulation could help establish measurable criteria for biodiversity-friendly forestry, something that is currently lacking. Drawing on historical experience, the authors emphasize that restoration is not about recreating the past, but about shaping a sustainable and credible future for forestry.

Reference: Svensson, J., Jonsson, B. G., & Ebenhard, T. (2025). The EU Nature Restoration Regulation offers new opportunities for resilient forests and sustainable forestry. Ambio. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-025-02309-3

Featured image: According to the SLU researchers, prescribed burning is an example of a concrete and simple restoration of biodiversity linked to fire. This type of restoration can be carried out in forests with nature conservation objectives, but also in areas left untouched in forests with production objectives (photo: Gesche Schifferdecker).

New SUPERB policy brief: forest restoration as a pillar of Europe’s climate and biodiversity action

Gesche Schifferdecker on December 17, 2025

SUBERB demo areas

Our newly released policy brief brings together scientific knowledge and hands-on experience from our 12 large-scale forest restoration initiatives across Europe, offering timely and practical guidance for policymakers, forest managers, and other key stakeholders.

The brief underlines that restoring forests is not a single action, but a long-term, multi-phase process. Effective restoration typically moves from assessing initial conditions and drivers of degradation, through planning and implementation, to long-term maintenance, monitoring, and evaluation. Success depends on flexibility, adaptive management, and strong engagement with multiple stakeholders, including forest owners, local communities, policymakers, and practitioners.

In the face of climate change, increasing disturbances, and shifting socio-economic demands, our policy brief stresses the need for future-oriented restoration targets. These should focus not only on biodiversity, but also on the ecosystem services forests provide – such as carbon storage, water regulation, and recreation – and the ecological processes that sustain them. Because the benefits of restoration often become visible only after decades, our brief highlights the critical importance of sustained funding for monitoring and adaptive management.

Drawing on insights from our 12 large-scale forest restoration demonstration areas across Europe, our experts identified shared challenges despite the diversity of forest types, ownership structures, and management traditions. Key issues include high ungulate browsing pressure that damages young trees and increases restoration costs, difficulties in engaging private forest owners – who manage around 60% of Europe’s forests – and constraints related to forest reproductive materials, such as shortages of climate-adapted seeds and seedlings.

To address these challenges, the brief puts forward clear and actionable recommendations. These include increasing flexibility in restoration objectives and timelines, adapting hunting and forest reproductive materials legislation, and strengthening monitoring of browsing impacts. Further recommendations suggest improving dialogue among forest managers, hunters, and communities, and supporting nurseries through long-term planning and investment. Our experts also call for contingency planning to cope with natural disturbances and for the strategic use of pioneer and climate-adapted species to build resilient mixed forests.

By translating lessons learned from real-world restoration efforts into policy-relevant recommendations, this policy brief provides a valuable roadmap for scaling up forest restoration across Europe. At a time when resilient forests are more important than ever, it offers concrete guidance to help turn ambitious restoration commitments into lasting outcomes.

Reference: Filipek, S., Jacobs, S., Nabuurs, GJ., Barnkob Lehrmann, M., Bílek, L., Campana, F., Cotten, L., de Dios, J., de Graaf, M., de Guerry, B., Đodan, M., Galić, Z., Gallego, R., García, R., Gómez Fernández, M., Granberg, Å., Hoch, T., Jactel, H., Janzen, L., Lastra González, D., Lindner, M., Locatelli, T., Marušák, R., Mijatović, L., Nicoll, B., Oleagordia, Í., Olsen, H., Orazio, C., Olrik, D. C., Raats, L., Saini, M., Schmidt, C., Svoboda, M., Svensson, J., Tognetti, R., Vacchiano, G., Zorić, M., Zotta, M., Schatzdorfer, E. (2025): Common challenges in implementing forest restoration: Experiences from 12 large-scale demonstration areas across Europe. Policy brief. https://doi.org/10.36333/rs15

What motivates forest owners to join biodiversity restoration schemes?

Daria Kononenko on October 17, 2025

A new study from the SUPERB project, published in Restoration Ecology, explored how forest owners in Denmark and Finland respond to different kinds of agreements for supporting biodiversity in their forests. 

The research showed that many owners want much higher compensation to join result-based schemes, where payments depend on proven improvements in biodiversity. In Finland, owners asked for more than double compared to action-based schemes, which simply pay for carrying out agreed management practices (like planting or habitat protection). 

Preferences also varied by country: Danish owners welcomed outside consultant support, while Finnish owners preferred to do self-monitoring under action-based contracts – but disliked monitoring when payments depended on biodiversity results. 

Overall, the study highlights that restoring nature on private land will only succeed if agreements are designed to fit both the practical needs of forest owners and the ecological goals of restoration. This insight is particularly important as the EU shapes its new Forest Strategy for 2030. 

Read the study here

Full reference: Süring, C. M., & Lundhede, T. H. (2025). Private forest owner preferences for action- and result-based biodiversity restoration contracts – A discrete choice experiment in Denmark and Finland. Forest Policy and Economics, 169, 103609. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2025.103609

Photo: Punyawee / Adobe Stock

Three Words for Forest: Where Theatre Meets the Trees

Gesche Schifferdecker on September 26, 2025

What if a play could change the way we see forests?

In a small rehearsal room at the University of Glasgow, words gathered like leaves. They weren’t just any words, but the real voices of forestry practitioners, researchers, and policymakers: thirty people who spend their lives among trees, wrestling with the question of how to care for them in a rapidly changing climate.

Those voices became Three Words for Forest: Exploring Uncertainty in a Time of Climate Crisis, a verbatim theatre production co-created by University of Glasgow’s Professor Deirdre Heddon and Dr Rachel Clive, which can also be watched online now.

Performed by a professional creative team, the play doesn’t shy away from difficult conversations. It dives into the tensions and uncertainties of forestry today: the urgency of climate change, the spread of disease, the pressure to plant millions of new trees, and the disagreements about the best way forward. Yet through it all runs a deep current of care – for forests, for landscapes, and for future generations.

The project is part of newLEAF, a research programme within the UK’s Future of Treescapes, which explores how trees adapt to climate change and the vital role humans play in their survival. With only 13% of the UK currently covered in woodland, and the government pledging to increase that significantly, the stakes could not be higher. Resilience will depend not just on science, but on people – people willing to connect, learn, and imagine together.

Now, thanks to new funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), the filmed play will be shared more widely. Accessible versions – complete with audio description, sign language interpretation, and supported viewing formats – open the conversation to more communities. Workshop guides are also being created so schools, community groups, and forestry organisations can use the film as a springboard for dialogue and reflection.

For Professor Heddon, this is about building what she calls forest citizenship:

“Our research showed that forestry specialists want better conversations across differing views, and that while the public cares about forests, many feel disconnected from the forestry sector. This funding allows us to build bridges and raise awareness of forestry as a career and sector.”

Dr Clive, who co-wrote and directed the play, sees theatre itself as a bridge:

“Theatre helps us to connect emotionally and practically with change. This funding lets us co-create new resources with partners to support wider engagement with the play’s insights.”

The project has also drawn praise from scientists within newLEAF. Dr Stephen Cavers of the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology highlights how the arts are helping bring diverse voices together:

“Three Words for Forest has really shown the power of interdisciplinary collaboration, to connect us with new audiences and highlight the voices of the diverse community of people engaged with our trees and forests.”

And for Dr David Edwards of Forest Research, the project shows how creativity can unlock new ways of seeing:

“The project demonstrates the power of the arts and humanities to collaborate meaningfully with scientists and help us see the world in new ways. The follow-on funding will help more people connect with forest science, foresters, and forests.”

In a time when the climate crisis can feel overwhelming, Three Words for Forest invites us into a different kind of conversation – not just about what we can do for forests, but about what forests mean to us, and how listening to each other might shape a more resilient future.

Featured image: Production Forestry – Charlotte Driessler, Helen Cuinn and Tam Dean Burn (Photo credit: Rachel Clive)

What drives public support for forest restoration in Europe?

Daria Kononenko on September 17, 2025

New research from the SUPERB project, published in Ecosystems and People, compares public attitudes toward forest restoration in Sweden and Spain. The study highlights how social and cultural factors shape people’s support.

The results show contrasting patterns: in Sweden, older people are more supportive of restoration, while in Spain, younger generations show stronger backing. Longer travel times to forests reduce support, especially in Northern Sweden. Across both countries, positive views of forest benefits such as biodiversity, recreation, and risk reduction boost support, while seeing forests mainly as resources for exploitation lowers it.

These findings underline the need for restoration strategies that are tailored to local perceptions and values. For the EU’s Nature Restoration Regulation to succeed, policies must go beyond ecology and engage people where they are, reflecting different regional priorities – from wildfire resilience in Mediterranean Spain to biodiversity protection in boreal Sweden.

Read the study here!

Full reference: Kazungu, M., Svensson, J., Erdozain, M., de-Dios-García, J., Granberg, Å., & Hunziker, M. (2025). Factors influencing public support for forest restoration in Europe: Evidence from Sweden and Spain. Forest Policy and Economics. https://doi.org/10.1080/26395916.2025.2554695 

Photo: Best / Adobe Stock

Crowdfunding Campaign: Seeding Eternal Forest in Faia Brava – first of 1,000 forest sanctuaries – connecting art, community, and forest

Rahel Könen on September 10, 2025

For the first time, Eternal Forest and Faia Brava join efforts to create a sanctuary where contemporary art meets nature conservation — in Portugal’s first private protected area, which in 2025 celebrates its 25th anniversary.

This event will bring together thinkers, decision-makers, and key actors in the fields of art and ecosystem regeneration.

Through a crowdfunding campaign, they invite you to take part and support this first phase of the project.

On November 7–8, 2025, the initiative will take the first steps to seed a forest that is not only regenerative and biodiverse but also a living work of art. Created through the partnership of Eternal Forest, a global art and ecology initiative founded in Portugal, and Faia Brava – Associação de Conservação da Natureza, a protected reserve stewarded for 25 years, this will be a forest like no other.

You are warmly invited to join Eternal Forest in person on the days of November 2025 at Faia Brava for this unforgettable gathering. Come plant the first trees through a regenerative artistic design, meet the artists, scientists, and guardians, and take part in an experience of art and poetry, along with a symposium on art, forest, and community in collaboration with the Côa Park Foundation — an event open to all who wish to participate, support, or witness this historic moment.

🌿 This is just the beginning: first chapter of a long-term vision, first forest sanctuary out of 1,000!

The planting in November is not a one-off event — it’s the first chapter of a multi-generational project that will unfold over the years. Eternal Forest Faia Brava will grow slowly and meaningfully, rooted in care, co-creation, and ecological knowledge.

This crowdfunding campaign will provide them with the resources to not only deliver the first phase and the event in November, but also to develop vital research and collaborative designs that can be replicated to grow Eternal Forests all over Portugal. 

By contributing to this campaign, you are planting the first seeds of a sanctuary that will continue to grow over generations, ecologically, artistically, and communally. 

🌿 What this campaign supports

With your help, the initiative hopes to raise €22,000 to fund the Seed of Eternal Forest Faia Brava, the Phase 1 of the project, including:

  • Organise an artistic residency and a technical visit at Faia Brava to do on-site research and ecological listening to select the most meaningful planting location, while connecting to local community, initiatives and planning the project
  • Create a collaborative design of the forest sanctuary: artist Evgenia Emets and regenerative designer Maurício Umann of Fractal Regenerative Technologies, together with biodiversity specialists and plant experts, focusing on creating habitats
  • Prepare the site and plant the first trees in November, including transport, logistics, plants, materials and equipment
  • Organise the Seeding Eternal Forest in Faia Brava Symposium in collaboration with Côa Museum
  • Community gathering and village celebration
  • Filming of the process of creating the Eternal Forest Sanctuary + short trailer
  • A digital and physical publication about the process of creating Eternal Forest Sanctuary

🌿 Why Eternal Forest is creating this project

This Eternal Forest is an invitation to long-term thinking. They are creating a habitat for the future old-growth forest, not a plantation. A seed of Eternal Forest – native species will be planted in an artistic design — guided by biodiversity, artistic vision, regenerative design and a deep respect for place.

The forest will grow alongside artistic residencies, education, and community participation, becoming a space of beauty, resilience, and cultural continuity.

The site sits in the Côa Valley, home to some of Europe’s most extraordinary prehistoric engravings and paintings — a region where nature and culture have always been entwined. 

CURIOUS TO LEARN MORE? https://seed.eternalforest.earth/event-en

Eternal Forest began in Portugal in 2018 and has since grown into an international network of artists, ecologists, and communities. Our vision is to create 1,000 forest sanctuaries protected for 1,000 years – and Faia Brava will be the very first.  https://www.eternalforest.earth/ 

Faia Brava is Portugal’s first classified Private Protected Area, part of the Natura 2000 network, IBA and Côa Archaeological Park (UNESCO). Spanning 1,000 ha of sustainably managed natural landscapes, it features stunning landscape of Côa River with wild cliffs, native forest of cork oaks, holm oaks. It provides critical habitat for griffon and Egyptian vultures, golden and Bonelli’s eagles, and black storks. Emblematic species like wildcats, otters, roe deer, and wild boar help sustain the ecosystem and naturally reduce wildfire risk. 

Image credits: Marco Piano, Eternal Forest

Three steps to forest vitality: How restoration is taking root in the Netherlands

Daria Kononenko on July 31, 2025

Restoration Story by SUPERB Dutch demo

In the Southern Netherlands, forest revitalization is underway in Kronenbergse Bos, where forest experts are reversing decades of soil degradation. In this region, many forests were planted around the year 1900 on nutrient-poor sandy soils, primarily with Scots pine for the mining industry. Today, they face acidification, drought, and climate extremes, weakening forest resilience and biodiversity.

As part of the SUPERB project, Bosgroep Zuid Nederland is taking the following steps to restore forest ecosystem and support it in adapting to changing climate conditions:

Water system recovery
Water systems are being restored to counter long-term soil drying, one of the major threats to forest vitality in this sandy, drought-prone area.

Tree species diversification
Thousands of rich-litter tree species – such as sweet cherry, linden, hazel, and Norway maple – were planted. Their easily decomposable leaves improve soil fertility and promote biodiversity.

Soil restoration
Over 60 hectares of finely ground rock dust were spread to replenish depleted minerals, restoring acidified and dried-out soils.

Many newly planted trees have already survived their first dry summer, marking a hopeful sign for this forest’s resilient future.

Watch the video from the demo site to see the restoration work up close

Play

Forest owner of SUPERB demo site wins German Forest Award 2025 

Daria Kononenko on July 15, 2025

Torsten Dörmbach, a forest owner and practitioner in the Wipperfürth demo area of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), has been awarded the German Forest Award 2025 in the category forest owner. 

After bark beetles and drought wiped out his spruce stands in 2018, Dörmbach didn’t just replant. He used the setback to transform 45 hectares of family-owned forest into a resilient mixed woodland. Nearly 60,000 young trees from 39 different species now grow on his land – part of a long-term effort to build climate-adapted, biodiverse forests. 

In line with SUPERB’s mission, his approach combines ecological insight with hands-on action:

– Relying on natural regeneration, where young oaks now thrive without planting 
– Allowing dead trees to stand as hunting perches for birds of prey and shelter for wildlife 
– Managing game populations to give new trees a chance to grow 
– Recognizing the value of species like rowan, once removed as weeds, as part of a more diverse and resilient forest – reflecting a shift in forestry knowledge and practice. 

While it may take decades before the forest becomes economically viable again, Dörmbach is thinking ahead – not only for his family, but for the entire Bergisches Land region. If restoration efforts succeed, he says, the forest will once again provide essential ecosystem services like clean water, air filtration, erosion control and climate change buffering. 

Find the original article here (in German) 

Photo: WDR 

Five steps for successful restoration: How can EU countries make the most of the new Nature Restoration Regulation?

Daria Kononenko on July 7, 2025

As the EU’s Nature Restoration Regulation came into force, the big question is how countries can turn its ambition into action? A new study from the SUPERB project, published in Restoration Ecology, draws lessons from Germany and proposes five essential conditions for effective national restoration strategies.

These include building broader public support for restoration efforts, setting clear and measurable national targets, aligning restoration with other land-use priorities, ensuring strong legal and institutional support, and making restoration more attractive to landowners and managers.

Although based on the German context, the study’s findings are designed to help all EU countries prepare their national restoration plans, which must be drafted by September 2026. With ecosystems still under pressure and biodiversity in decline, the authors argue that Member States must seize this opportunity to move beyond paper goals and invest in meaningful on-the-ground action.

Read the full study here to learn more about the five steps.

Reference: Elisabeth Marquard, Moritz Hermsdorf, Henriette Dahms, Katharina Schleicher, Sebastian Strunz, Mechthild Baron, Markus Salomon, Hannah-Lea Schmid, Sophie Wiegand, Claudia Hornberg, Nina Farwig, Volkmar Wolters, Jürgen Bauhus, Peter H. Feindt, Wolfgang Köck, Josef Settele

Photo: Tanakorn / Adobe Stock