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Committee on Mediterranean Forestry Questions - Silva Mediterranea

Restoring Mediterranean forests: regional insights from the European Forest Week in October 2025

22/10/2025

During the European Forest Week held in Istanbul, Türkiye, on 22–24 October 2025 alongside the 43rd Session of the European Forestry Commission, a dedicated side event brought together Mediterranean forestry experts to discuss challenges and collaborative solutions for the region. This was entitled “Restoring Mediterranean forests: the new edition of The status of Mediterranean forests (SoMF) 2025 and enhancing the regional dynamic”. 

Organized under the umbrella of FAO’s Committee on Mediterranean Forestry Questions – Silva Mediterranea, the session showcased the region’s commitments to forest restoration, integrated fire managementand regional cooperation. The event was opened by Ümit Turhan, Vice-Chair of Silva Mediterranea and Deputy Head of Türkiye’s General Directorate of Forests. He emphasized the importance of regional collaboration and introduced the objectives of the session, setting the stage for an exchange on forest trends, fire data and restoration efforts. 

After the introduction, there were two keynote presentations, which offered insights into forest and fire dynamics and forest restoration efforts in the region. Carolina Gallo Granizo from FAO presented the main findings of the SoMF 2025, covering: 

  • trends showed by forests and also other-wooded lands, which received special recognition from Turkish participants for having been included due to their ecological importance in the Mediterranean; 
  • the region’s forest area, which is growing, though at a slower pace, and showing contrasting dynamics across subregions; 
  • the role of post-fire restoration as a key strategy under the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, particularly through the World Restoration Flagship “Restoring Mediterranean Forests”; and 
  • the importance of regional collaboration, knowledge sharing and integrated monitoring systems, to support sustainable forest management. 

 

The session continued with a presentation by Marta Álvarez Moreno from the Spanish Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, focused on the Silva Mediterranea Working Group on Forest Fires. Álvarez talked in more detail about the fire data included in SoMF 2025, highlighting: 

  • the working group’s 2025–2030 workplan, which includes strengthening regional collaboration, promoting integrated fire management, and enhancing data collection and innovation; 

  • the recent dynamics in wildfire activity across the Mediterranean biome from 2010 to 2023, with over 22 000 fires and 5.5 million hectares burnt, mostly in western Mediterranean countries; 

  • the increasing trend across all subregions for the period 2010–2023, both in the number of fires and the extent of burnt area; and 

  • the importance of regional collaboration and exchanges on integrated fire management to address the escalating fire risks. 

The event concluded with remarks from Mohamed Naoufel Ben Haha, Chair of Silva Mediterranea and Director-General of Forestry of Tunisia. Ben Haha reiterated the importance of maintaining momentum in restoration efforts and strengthening regional cooperation to build resilient landscapes in the face of climate change.  

 

This event underscored the Mediterranean region’s commitment to forest restoration, integrated fire management and collaborative action. Aside from offering an occasion to launch the third edition of SoMF, it showcased the ongoing work of Silva Mediterranea and its Working Group on Forest Fires, and the region’s unified approach. With strong political will, knowledge sharing, scientific collaboration and regional engagement, Mediterranean countries are paving the way towards building resilient landscapes and sustainable forest futures.  

Lucia Rivera and Carolina Gallo