STORM is the acronyme of a European Tender FP7-ENV.B1/ETU/2009 titled « Destructive storms in European forests : past and forthcoming impacts ». This assessment began on October the 22nd 2009 for 9 months with a budget of 149 721 . The consortium is made up of the lead EFIAtlantic with the support of headquarters and EFICENT (Finland, France, UK, Germany, Switzerland), 3 sub-contractors (ALTERRA, NL, GIP Ecofor, France et SLU, Sweden) and an external expert (National Park, Slovakia). This project is a far reaching attempt to understand the nature of the wind damage risk to European forest, how this risk might change, the social, environmental and economic impacts of that change and the role policy can play in reducing that risk and speeding up recovery following storm events.
Specifically we will attempt to
- To classify storms based on their impact on European forests in a consistent manner to provide a standard that can be applied accross the continent
- To use this classification to summarize the impacts of storms across the EU forest estate over the last 50 years and to identify the 30 most damaging storms
- To assess for a representative selection of 10 storms the ecological, social and economic impacts
- To identify links between storm damage and pre-storm conditions and to identify the key factors influencing the severity of stor
- To document the benefits and disavantages of post storm interventions across Europe and to produce a « blueprint » for the effective policy mix to respond to the most severe wind damage
- To make the best possible estimate of the likely trends in wind damage to European forest within the framework of a changing climate. In addition to assess the impact of soil disturbance following wind damage on greenhouse gas emissions
- To assess the future consequences of a « business as usual » policy approach to storm damage at European, national and regional
- To develop a strategy for implementing policies at all levels across Europe in order to mitigate for forest storm damage and to ensure the fastest possible recovery of forest following storm damage