Project Overview

The Challenge

Climate change and biodiversity loss are deeply interconnected crises that are already reshaping Europe’s landscapes and affecting the people who depend on them. Extreme weather, shifting species distributions, and declining ecosystem health are increasing risks for forestry, agriculture, water systems, and rural communities. Yet decision-makers often lack the integrated knowledge, tools, and evidence needed to understand these complex risks or to apply nature-based approaches effectively.

Tree-based solutions are solutions that are inspired and supported by trees and provide multiple environmental, social, and economic benefits, including building resilience to climate change. They hold major potential, but without robust scientific insights and careful design, they can fall short or even lead to maladaptation. Trees4Adapt addresses this gap by generating the evidence needed to guide climate-resilient, biodiversity-friendly land management across Europe.

Programme:

Horizon Europe: (Call Topic: HORIZON-MISS-2024-CLIMA-01-04 Research the complex interplay between the climate and biodiversity crises towards more systemic approaches and solutions)

Type of Action:

Research and Innovation Action

Duration:

October 2025 to September 2029
(48 months)

Consortium:

12 partners from 7 countries

Coordinator:

Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke)

Total Budget:

€4 million

Objectives

Advance understanding of complex risks from climate change and biodiversity loss:

Trees4Adapt studies how changes in climate and biodiversity are interacting across ecosystems and regions, generating the evidence needed to assess risks more accurately.

Assess and improve the design and implementation of tree-based solutions:

Trees4Adapt evaluates how different tree-based solutions perform in real landscapes, identifies trade-offs and co-benefits, and develops guidance to avoid maladaptation and support climate resilience.

Enable decision-makers to make informed, effective adaptation choices:

Trees4Adapt provides tools, models, and evidence to help authorities, land managers, and policymakers prioritise actions and investments that support both climate adaptation and biodiversity.

Expected Results

A stronger evidence base on climate–biodiversity risks

New field data and analyses showing how climate change and biodiversity loss interact across European forests and managed landscapes.

Improved understanding of regional climate risk

High-resolution assessments and maps that reveal how future climate conditions will affect biodiversity, forests, and water systems.

Clear insights into the performance of tree-based solutions

Evidence on how different tree-based approaches perform in real landscapes, including to climate resilience, biodiversity conservation, and socio-economic outcomes.

Best practice guidance to avoid maladaptation

Practical recommendations and user-friendly manuals to help land managers and authorities design and implement tree-based solutions effectively and in context-specific ways

Decision support models and tools for adaptation planning

Bioeconomic models and a pan-European decision support tool to help identify where tree-based solutions can deliver the greatest benefits.

Stronger capacity for climate-resilient land management

Engaged networks of practitioners and policymakers with improved access to knowledge, tools, and evidence to support climate-resilient, biodiversity-friendly decisions.

Tree-based Solutions 4 Climate Change Adaptation & Biodiversity Conservation

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