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Living Lab information:

Area size: 100000 ha

Geographical location: Our Living Lab is situated in the Swiss Alps, in the canton of Grisons, specifically in the Surselva valley.

Initial state: The case study represents the Alpine environment, presenting a wide species range and altitudinal range (from 700 to over 2500 m asl).

Current forest/vegetation type: The main species are typical alpine species such as Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst), larch (Larix decidua Mill.) or Swiss stone pine (Pinus cembra L.), with some broadleaves at lower altitudes.

Rationale:

Type of restoration in the Living Lab: The forests in this region provide multiple ecosystem services, in our study a particular attention is dedicated to the protective function of the forest against natural hazards (e.g., rockfall and avalanches), since it is the most particular feature of this Living Lab.

Restoration goals: Protective forest management has a long history in Switzerland, to understand how to adapt this particular management to climate change is an important topic for forest research.

Sustainable timber production is also a key ecosystem service that would be necessary to investigate, especially in the different climate change scenarios. The goal for the Swiss Living Lab would be to observe how different management practices will affect the sustainable provision of timber and the protective function of forests in future climate scenarios, to find balance between these two ecosystem services is the final objective.