Projects
Restoration Potential of Desa’a Forest, a Large Threatened Dryland Forest in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia KU Leuven
Desa’a, one of the last dry Afromontane forest ecosystems of Ethiopia, is under tremendous anthropogenic pressure and natural diebacks resulting in a contraction of the forest. These days, there is a need growing to restore this forest and some efforts are already in place. However, to bring efficient restoration options, information on the resources available, water availability and plant response to different exposures for example, remained ...
Socio-Economics of Adoption of Agroforestry-Based Landscape Restoration Practices in the Eastern Province, Rwanda KU Leuven
Land degradation has long been a major environmental problem in Rwanda (Byiringiro and Reardon, 1996; Roose and Ndayizeye, 1997; Oslo and Berry, 2004), which has made it one of the countries that are mostly affected by soil degradation and predominated by soil erosion by water (Karamage et al., 2016). In additional to soil erosion and deforestation, high demand of forest products (e.g. timber, wood, charcoal…) led to poor harvesting practices ...
Nature restoration and development of the former clay quarry in Rumst by landscape reconstruction after soil sanitation and landfill Research Institute for Nature and Forest
Scientific underpinning and supervision of landscaping and nature development project after remediation and soil disposal.
Limited documentation of the current state of the forest area and evaluation of the ecological value of the initial state.
Execution of soil surveys: mapping of physical and chemical soil quality after final cover (documenting T0 situation).
Determination of ...
Systemic solutions for upscaling of urgent ecosystem restoration for forest related biodiversity and ecosystem services. KU Leuven
SUPERB pursues the overall goal to create a lasting enabling environment for transformative change towards large-scale forest and forest landscape restoration, which empowers decision makers to take just and informed decisions for restoration of biodiversity, ecosystem services and carbon sequestration in a manner that minimises region specific trade-offs and maximises synergies between ecosystem services. SUPERB develops and synthesises a ...
Forest for people in the Peruvian Amazon: Livelihood contributions, conservation and restoration KU Leuven
Forests make fundamental contributions to the global environment and human societies, strengthening livelihoods, providing goods and services, conserving biodiversity and mitigating the effects of climate change. Nonetheless, the threat of deforestation, resulting from land use change decisions at different levels, continues to grow, affecting the subsistence of millions of people worldwide. Despite these challenges, a good understanding of ...
Valorization of landscape residues: The potential of heathland and forest management residues for the ornamental sector in Flanders, Belgium KU Leuven
CH 1 - Since the industrial revolution, artificial fertilizers were essential in our farming systems. However, paradoxically, different regions in Northwestern Europe cope with nutrient surpluses. Flanders, in Belgium, is one of these regions. Actual world challenges accelerate the need for a transition towards a more sustainable bioeconomy. One aspect is the valorization of waste streams. While amounts of biomass are produced by different ...
Soil health in European forests under restoration KU Leuven
This four-year project is conducted by a consortium of 36 science and practice partners from all over Europe, and led by European Forest Institute. SUPERB will build on the vast but scattered practical knowledge and lessons learned of successful and non-successful forest restoration and adaptation activities and synthesise it for action. At the core of SUPERB, concrete restoration actions will be carried out in 12 large-scale demonstration ...
Tropical tree crops. From a driver of deforestation to a restoration opportunity KU Leuven
We live in an era of unprecedented environmental change, motivating unprecedented global actions to both protect and restore forest ecosystems. Tropical deforestation is responsible for about 11% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing emissions from deforestation and sequestering carbon by restoring tropical forests are cost-efficient measures and potentially applicable on a large scale; they therefore take a relevant place in global ...
Disentangling the role of resilience and management strategies in restoration success of tropical dry forests KU Leuven
Tropical dry forests (TDFs) are amongst the most degraded and least studied forests worldwide despite their high endemism and essential ecosystem services. TDF restoration initiatives aimed at reversing this degradation and safeguarding ecosystem services are booming, while the scientific basis for restoration strategies (purpose, location, technique), and their effects on restoration success, remains severely understudied. In addition, ...