CAMBIO: Climate Change Adaptation & Mitigation With BIOdiverse Forest Plantations
The CAMBIO project aims to synthesize knowledge from globally distributed tree diversity experiments, to optimize the functioning of planted forests in a changing climate.
In the current context of climate change, biodiverse plantations preferably focus on species and species associations with high growth and carbon sequestration potential – i.e. climate change mitigation. Simultaneously, they need to be most resistant and resilient against the future impacts of climate change – i.e. adaptation. This is essentially a question of trade-offs and synergies for mitigation and adaptation when choosing between various tree species during afforestation, which has direct practical relevance for forest management. The research in CAMBIO aims at contributing to the transition from monocultures to biodiverse plantations by:
- Identifying the best mixtures of tree species to mitigate and adapt to future impacts of climate change, by building on TreeDivNet,
- Promoting the information collected, by using scientific results to refine recommendations for new experimental plantations and practical afforestation projects,
- Reaching out to practitioners via the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), major research groups affiliated with TreeDivNet, as well as a broader audience via peer-to-peer networks and social media.
Funding and Partners
The CAMBIO project is laureate of the Climate & Biodiversity Initiative of the BNP Paribas Foundation. This website also introduces the project to a wide audience.
The principle investigators of CAMBIO are:
- Lander Baeten, Ghent University (project manager)
- Christian Messier, Université de Quebec à Montréal
- Charlotte Grossiord, Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) et Institut fédéral de recherches WSL Lausanne
- Hervé Jactel, Institut National de la recherche agronomique (INRAE) Bordeaux
- Benjamin Caldwell, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Rome
- Kris Verheyen, Ghent University
- Michael Scherer-Lorenzen, University of Freiburg
