The last FOREST4EU study visit took place in Serra San Bruno, Calabria region, Italy, from 24th to 26th of June 2025. It was organized by Francesca Giannetti and Irene Fattoretto from the University of Florence (UNIFI), as the coordinator of the project.

The visit started with istitutional greetings from representatives of “Parco delle Serre”, who kindly made their space available to host the presentation sessions, and from “Azienda Agricola La Foresta”, who accompanied the participants to see their sawmill, and other study areas in the surrounding forest where interventions were made.

During the morning of the first day, Francesca Giannetti presented an overview of the FOREST4EU project, and right after all the participants held short presentations to introduce themselves to the audience. Then two operational groups were introduced: PIF (France); Fortrack (Italy).

The PIF (Innovative Plantation in Forestry) project, led by INRAE, France, is revolutionizing forest plantation practices to enhance ergonomics and environmental sustainability. With 45,000-50,000 hectares planted annually in France, the project is crucial for adapting forests to climate change and is supported by a €300 million national investment plan.

Key Highlights:

• Addressing Challenges: the project tackles critical silviculture issues like climate change impacts, soil conservation, carbon sequestration, and labor shortages. It focuses on selecting appropriate species, improving seedling survival, controlling costs, minimizing environmental impact, and enhancing working conditions.
• Ergonomics & Efficiency: a core focus is improving working conditions for machine drivers (reducing exposure to vibration, noise, and poor posture) and tree planters (minimizing musculoskeletal disorders) by evaluating different planting tools.
• Technological Innovation: the project actively tests drones and GPS for accurate site mapping, which helps in precise seedling and fencing material orders. Future plans include developing robots for cleaning and using drones with AI to assess plantation success.
• Collaboration & Funding: PIF is a collaborative effort involving INRAE, Office National des Forêts, Université de Lorraine, FCBA, AgroParisTech, and CNPF, with support from the European Union.
• Impact on Survival: research shows mechanical site preparation significantly boosts seedling survival, especially during dry summers.

The Fortrack system, funded by the European Union, is designed to support sustainable forest management and digitize the forestry sector, particularly in Italy’s Calabria region. It addresses challenges like traditional planning methods, lack of integrated systems, limited training, insufficient funding, and difficulties in data access and digital infrastructure.

Key Highlights for a Website News Article:

• Advanced Technologies: Fortrack utilizes Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for mapping and monitoring, remote sensing (drones and satellites) for data on forest health and climate change impacts, Internet of Things (IoT) sensors for real-time environmental monitoring, and Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for risk prediction and management.
• Benefits of Digitalization: The system enables effective monitoring, data-driven decisions, optimization of forest resources, and increased community involvement in forest management.
• Decision Support Systems (DSS): Fortrack provides fundamental DSS tools that combine data, analytical models, and intuitive interfaces to aid forest managers in making informed and sustainable decisions.
• Two-Module System: Fortrack features “Regional” and “Corporate” modules. The Regional open-access module provides free access to forestry information via a web-GIS platform, supporting technicians and local authorities. The Corporate module allows for the complete digitalization of forest management plans for partner companies, enabling continuous updates, data integration, and advanced analysis.
• User-Friendly and Standardized: Both modules feature user-friendly interfaces, making complex forestry data accessible even without advanced technical skills. Data is standardized and integrated into a central platform, allowing users to interact with it and generate reports.

During the two-day study visit, the organizers accompanied participants to the Azienda Agricola “La Foresta”, located near Serra San Bruno. The guided tour took place in a nearby location, nestled in the forest, where Prof. Francesco Iovino and Luca Poletta provided a detailed overview of the local vegetation and illustrated the interventions carried out. The visit concluded with a brief visit to the sawmill hosted by “La Foresta”.

Antonio Brunori, Secretary of PEFC Italy, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting sustainable forest management through a robust certification system. The organization emphasizes the crucial environmental and economic benefits of forests, including their role in combating climate change. The organization continuously develops and refines its standards for sustainable forest management and tree plantations, and is expanding into the sustainable urban greenery and agroforestry sector. It offers certification services to both forest owners and companies in the supply chain, providing extensive resources, news, and transparent statistics on certified areas throughout Italy.

On the second day of the event, Francesca Giannetti made a presentation of the Operational Group GO SURF:

It focuses on developing a system to aid decision-making for sustainable forest planning. A key aspect of their work involves estimating ecosystem services to strengthen sustainable forest management at a company level. The group also prioritizes sharing knowledge and providing training to staff involved in forest management organizations and businesses across the forest-wood supply chain.

The presentation of the GO SURF operational group was enriched with a flying drone demonstration over the area of “La Foresta”.

A final roundtable discussion was held on the last day of the visit discussing perspectives for OGs in sustainable forest management, and in particular, challenges and opportunities. From the discussion, two central topics emerged to be the most relevant: too many and too long burocratic hurdles, and knowledge transfer. Most of the participants highlighted that burocratic procedures should be shortened in order to ensure a smoother process for the making of an OG.

Furthermore, knowledge transfer was a key point of the conversation, as many pointed out that the results of the OGs should be better communicated so that they can be leveraged in future activities or in new OGs, to give a substantial continuation of the work done.