Prague, 23 June 2025 – Europe's last remaining islands of old-growth forests and veteran trees, which have co-shaped the character of the landscape for centuries and provide a home for many endangered species. Although their importance is growing, they are often outside systematic protection and face pressure from climate change and intensification of land use. Scientists from the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences at the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague want to change this as part of the international Resilient Trees project.
The Resilient Trees project (full name Old-Growth forests and Veteran Trees for Biodiversity and Resilient Landscapes) aims to change this situation. It brings together ten partners from eight European countries, including the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences of the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague (FLD CZU), which will be involved in the development of tools to identify and manage these rare natural features. The project is coordinated by the Institute of Bioeconomy under the National Research Council in Italy.
‘Measures to strengthen the protection of old-growth forests and habitat trees are becoming part of most conceptual and strategic documents dealing with biodiversity loss and the adverse effects of climate change in Europe,’ says Assoc. RNDr. Jan Hofmeister, Ph.D. from FLD CZU.
The aim of the project is, among other things:
- to develop a unified approach to the conservation of these ecosystems, adapted to the different conditions across Europe,
- promote the exchange of experience between regions and experts,
- raise awareness of their importance for biodiversity, climate and cultural heritage..
"In line with these recommendations, real protection of some conserved forest habitats and tree habitats is increasing, but many others are still disappearing. We see this project as an opportunity to look for ways to strengthen their protection in the different natural and social conditions of several European countries," adds Hofmeister.
The kick-off meeting of all project partners took place on these very days (18-20 June 2025) at the FLD CZU. Over the course of three days, experts from all over Europe spent time planning the project's key activities, sharing initial findings and establishing a collaborative approach to deliver concrete measures to protect Europe's most valuable natural landscapes over the next four years.
The project is funded by the European Union's Interreg Europe research programme.
