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Research projects 13
Decision Support for the Supply of Ecosystem Services under Global Change (DecisionES) is a Marie Curie Horizon 2020 - Research and Innovation Framework Programme (2021-2025). Pressures on forest ecosystems are very likely to increase as a consequence of socioeconomic and demographic trends. A growing population will demand more products (e.g., wood) to be extracted from forest ecosystems. At the same time, these harvesting activities and their interactions with global change drivers will impact the sustainability of the supply of a wider range of non-provisioning services (e.g., wildfire protection, water, and biodiversity). The integrity of ecosystems must be safeguarded when developing harvesting activities, and yet this is further complicated by the occurrence of natural disturbances such as wildfires and droughts, etc. New decision support approaches are needed that can cope with this challenge. European and the American experiences with the development and application of decision support approaches for the provision of ecosystem services (ESs), offer a solid base for continued improvement in the efficiency and effectiveness of forest management in the context of global change (e.g., responding to changes in demographics, socioeconomics, and climatic conditions). This provided the rationale for a project that will help to strengthen research collaboration through active networking and staff exchange between 8 European organizations and 10 American organizations that are leaders in these fields. This project will build from the top-level multidisciplinary expertise (wildfire ecology and management, wildfire behaviour simulation, hydrology, process-based modelling, biodiversity, wildlife management, ecology, water services, operations research, management science, stakeholder engagement, forest ecosystem management planning methods, supply chain management methods and decision support systems) in these organizations to address the integration of operational, tactical and strategic forest ecosystem management planning levels and potentiate the supply of ecosystem services at various spatial and temporal scales.
Team
Jordi García-Gozalo
The designation of protected areas and of regions of special conservation interest has gained due relevance across the globe, particularly in the past three decades. Territories covered by protected areas are steadily expanding. Within this framework, numerous international strategies define the importance of Capacity Building and Training as the key challenge of the 21st century. The Training Masters in Ecosystem Services Management in Protected Areas (ECOSERVE) aims at developing an innovative practice-oriented MSc programme according to Bologna criteria in the field of protected areas management, and at meeting sustainable development and labour market needs through networking activities. ECOSERVE will be a qualitatively new MSc programme implemented in higher education institutions of the Russian Federation and Mongolia, strengthening their educational partnership with non-academic partners in the field of protected areas management and responding to demands for professionals of public services, private service providers and tourism businesses. It will contribute to adapt land management strategies to the actual changing natural drivers, such as climate, in alignment with global Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The program knowledge base, materials and courses in Russian, Mongolian and English, will be continuously updated and disseminated through a network of resources centres of protected areas in Partner country HEIs, promoting inter-regional cooperation in environmental protection, nature and biodiversity conservation issues, and management.
Team
Cristina Vega
The TAITASMART project, a research and development project of the University of Helsinki aims to develop a climate-smart landscape framework in Taita Taveta County, Kenya, to take into account both the needs of climate adaptation and mitigation, and sustainable agriculture supported by ecosystem services. For this purpose, the project will study land cover changes, land-atmosphere interactions, soil-crop system functioning, and climate smart landscapes for sustainable development, and build capacity in climate-smart practices.
Team
Petri Pellikka, Laura Alakukku, Timo Vesala
The EXTREME project will be analysing and comparing the sensitivity of ecosystem functioning in desert shrubs or steppes and managed boreal forest ecosystems to the foreseen climate change, climatic variability and weather extremes, with implications for carbon sequestration and biomass production of ecosystems. The project will carry out both experimental and model-based analyses at various temporal and spatial scales. The project is expected to generate new knowledge of how carbon sequestration and biomass production of the most sensitive ecosystems response to climate change scenarios.
Team
Peltola Heli, Kellomäki Seppo, Tianshan Zha
Cyanobacteria are interesting ancient diverse organisms with a great future in biotechnology. In this project, we will investigate molecular and cultivable cyanobacterial biodiversity from diverse habitats in Brazil. We will isolate strains to form a biobank and utilize cyanobacterial strains to screen and identify new bioactive compounds, their biosynthetic genes and enzymes.
Team
Tania Shishido-Joutsen, Jouni Jokela
Fresh water scarcity due to glacier retreat and decreasing precipitation related to global climate change will be one of the most serious environmental and social challenges in the Andean Amazonian region in this century. Rapidly increasing land use changes make water scarcity even more critical in dry season and, on the other hand, increase flooding and landslide risks in rainy season, because deforested areas have lost their natural water retention and storage capacity. A better understanding of natural water fluxes of forest ecosystems is needed to be able to solve the problems in water cycle.
Team
Johanna Toivonen, Sanna Huttunen, Tinja Pitkämäki, Carlos Gonzales Inca, Lassi Suominen
NexusAsia is a 2-year research project funded by the Academy of Finland. The full name of the project is ‘Water-energy-food nexus: a cross-sectoral analysis of large Asian river basins’. The research thus looks at in analytical and cross-sectoral manner the management of water and related natural resources in large Asian river basins, with a focus on transboundary settings shared by several countries.
Team
Marko Keskinen, Olli Varis, Shokhrukh Jalilov
In terms of social wellbeing and economic activity, Lao PDR is one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia. Yet it is rich in terms of natural resources and holds a huge potential in renewable energy sector. FREPLA project incorporates resource development view point into a single research and development (R&D) set-up. The project aimed at identifying interlinkages, barriers, trade-offs and synergies in using the full potential of rural energy resources and applying holistic water management in national strategic planning. The key message of the project was that it is necessary to assure that the Mekong and its ecosystem services (including national and regional agri- and aquaculture) are not excessively distrubed by hydropower or any other natural resource projects, such as mining.
Team
Jari Kaivo-Oja (FFRC), Sari Jusi (FFRC), Jyrki Luukkanen (FFRC), Khamso Kouphokham (MEM)
This project will identify the properties of soil, symbiotic microorganisms and agroforestry practices which improve the production of ecosystem services (BNF, AM, C sequestration) for food security in a changing climate. It will also identify the socio-economic feasibility of the management practices, including inoculation of legumes, and the knowledge networks required for their implementation.
Team
Kristina Lindström, Aregu Amsalu Aserse , Mila Sell, MarkkuYli-Halla, Helena Kahiluoto, Asefa Fassil, MauritzVestberg, Zebene Asfaw, Mesel Negash
Scientific assessments and politics addressing environmental changes rarely involve local residents and their knowledge. Usually reasons of demographic growth and environmental mismanagement are used to justify local degradation; however, our aim is to understand the local perspective about causes and reasons of the degradation that causes insecurity, livelihood changes, migration trends and other decisions that bring into further environmental degradation. An ethnographic research has been conducted in two catchments of Taita Hills, South-East Kenya. Participatory mapping, observation, transect walks, historical timelines, semi-structured interviews with experts and civil society representatives, as well as focus groups were employed as main methods of data gathering.
Team
Paola Minoia, Johanna Hohenthal, Belinda Kivivuori, Marinka Leppänen, Emmah Owidi.