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.

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Jordi García-Gozalo

The PRASDES Project develops sustainable services in the four participating National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) in the following five areas: 1. Weather, climate and hydrology data management systems 2. Climate and Water services production systems 3. Hydrological services production systems 4. Information and Communication systems 5. Financial sustainability of services

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The main focus of the project has been in Institutional Capacity Building in the area of Meteorological Network Design and Development, Hydrometeorological Data Management, Data Quality Control Procedures, Early Warning Systems and New Services Development.

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The main focus of the project has been in Capacity Building in the area of Meteorological Network Design and Development, Hydrometeorological Data Management, Data Quality Control Procedures, Early Warning Systems and New Services Development.

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The Nepal PPCR Project Development Objective is to enhance government capacity to mitigate climate-related hazards by improving the accuracy and timeliness of weather and flood forecasts and warnings for climate-vulnerable communities, as well as developing agricultural management information system services to help farmers mitigate climate-related production risks.

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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.

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Johanna Toivonen, Sanna Huttunen, Tinja Pitkämäki, Carlos Gonzales Inca, Lassi Suominen

General Objective: Promote ecosystems conservation through watershed management to improve human well-being and conserve high biodiversity Amazonian areas of Peru and Colombia. Geographic location: The project will focus on five basins, the Alto Mayo River Basin in Peru, which includes the development of payment-for-water ecosystem services (PES) schemes in the Moyabamba, Rioja, and Yuracyacu subwatersheds, and the Orito, Mocoa, Guineo and Orteguáza River Basins in the Amazonian Piedmont in Colombia. Project Area: The total area the project will cover in both countries is 1,408,317 has; The Orito, Mocoa, Guineo and Orteguáza River basins, cover 93,448 ha, 68,851 ha, 36,532 ha and 428,768 respectively, for a total area of 627,599 ha. The Alto Mayo River Basin covers approximately 780,718 hectares. Beneficiaries: The project will benefit a total of approximately 460,000 people; 238,000 people in the Orito, Mocoa, Guineo and Orteguáza River basins and 221,642 inhabitants in the Alto Mayo River basin. Duration: July 2012 – July 2017 (5 years)

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Ulla Helimo, Erwin Palacios, Eddy Mendoza, Milagros Sandoval, Carmen Noriega, Claudio Schneider, Alonso Castro, Ivo Encomenderos, Jose Rodriguez, Arturo Rivas and varios consultants and experts.