Forest-related development cooperation and available financial instruments for the Mediterranean

The Mediterranean region faces interconnected social and environmental challenges threatening its landscapes and communities. Recognizing this, the final plenary session of the Eighth Mediterranean Forest Week (8MFW) explored how development cooperation and financial instruments could help build the resilience of Mediterranean forests. Organized by the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and the European Forest Institute (EFI), the session featured speakers from development agencies, financial institutions, and international and European programmes sharing their work and practices for scalable solutions. 

The session was opened by Magda Bou Dagher Kharrat, Principal Scientist at the Mediterranean Facility of EFI (EFIMED) and Professor at the Saint Joseph University of Beirut, who stressed the importance of occasions such as the 8MFW for bringing together stakeholders – from landowners and forest managers to the scientific community and from policymakers to citizens – to foster collaboration, gather critical mass and ensure large-scale impact. It is therefore crucial to get a clearer picture of Mediterranean forests and their restoration by ensuring that the financial and technical efforts of relevant stakeholders converge. This is similar to what UfM already does for other areas of technical cooperation falling under the UfM Environment Agenda, also known as the 2030 GreenerMed Agenda, as pointed out by Alessandra Sensi, Head of Sector for Environment and the Green and Blue Economy at UfM, who moderated the discussion. 

Christophe Besacier, Senior Forestry Officer and Coordinator of the Forest and Landscape Restoration Mechanism at FAO, opened the session with a broad overview of the work of the Committee on Mediterranean Forestry Questions – Silva Mediterranea stretching over the last 20 years. He also reviewed associated financing for sustainable forests and restoration activities, an area that several of the technical partners attending were involved in. He further presented the development of the State of Mediterranean Forests, the Mediterranean editions of the Unasylva journal, and the Mediterranean Forest Week. Ruth Irlen, Policy Officer at the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection, presented how the International Climate Initiative (IKI) has been financing projects on biodiversity and climate since 2008, collaborating with developing, emerging and transition countries, including Mediterranean ones. She focused on the recently closed FAO-implemented and UfM-labelled “Paris Agreement in Action” project, which has supported regional and national activities on Mediterranean forests and restoration since 2018. Frederic Fourtune, Programme Manager at the Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations at the European Commission, delved into the European Union’s development cooperation approach in its southern neighbourhood, highlighting its commitments for the environment and more recently for forests, which were not covered so far. He also announced the launch of MEDFORGEN, a new 4-year project with EFI aiming to support the conservation of forest genetic resources in the Mediterranean. 

International financial institutions are currently also very interested in investing in forests. Sandrine Jauffret, Senior Natural Resources Management Specialist at the World Bank, highlighted the potential of forests for increasing shared prosperity in the region. She explained the World Bank’s dedication to supporting sustainable forest management in the Mediterranean through various financing instruments in line with its Global Challenge Program on Forests. Similarly, the European Investment Bank (EIB) recognizes that forests are at the heart of sustainable development. Andrea Tinagli, Principal Adviser for Sustainable Finance and Investments at UfM and EIB Representative at UfM, underscored EIB’s role in catalysing investments in sustainable forest management, conservation and restoration, nature-based solutions, carbon projects and payments for ecosystem services. He also presented the Blue Economy Partnership as a potential tool to address ecosystem restoration in coastal areas. 

Ongoing international programmes working with Mediterranean forests were also featured in this session. Patrick Wylie, Senior Policy Analyst at the secretariat of the International Model Forest Network, described model forests as multistakeholder initiatives blending sustainable resources management with economic, environmental and social objectives. This collaborative and community-focused approach to forest stewardship can bolster sustainable forest management in the Mediterranean. Aldo Puleo, Head of International Relations at the European Neighbourhood and the Partnership Instrument (ENPI) and European National Instrument (ENI) Cross-Border Cooperation (CBC) Mediterranean Sea Basin Programme, presented the Interreg NEXT MED Programme, the European Union’s largest transnational cooperation initiative at its external borders, spanning 15 Mediterranean countries. Its imminent second call for proposals will focus on the green economy to foster a climate-resilient and low-carbon Mediterranean region. Complementing this, the Interreg Euro-MED Programme, introduced by Christoph Maier, Project Officer at Interreg Euro-MED, and Carla Danelutti, Regional Programme Coordinator at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), is advancing sustainability through four missions and 56 projects targeting innovative economies, sustainable tourism and green living areas. Finally, Antonella Autino, Project Coordinator of PRIMA’s Coordinated Support Action, FUTURE4PRIMA, outlined PRIMA’s mission to tackle regional challenges, including water scarcity, food security, sustainable agriculture and ecosystem restoration. One of its open calls emphasizes agroforestry revitalization to enhance sustainable land management and climate resilience in the Mediterranean, embedding restoration as a thematic priority.  

Concluding a week of discussion on the scientific priorities for the future of Mediterranean forests, this session offered a unique glimpse into the current strong political and financial interest in supporting the well-being of forests and communities across the region. 

The session was chaired by Alessandra Sensi (UfM) with Magda Bou Dagher Kharrat (EFIMED) as co-chair and Carola Chiusi (EFIMED) as rapporteur.  

Carola Chiusi (EFIMED)