Pian de le Stele, one of WILDCARD’s proforestation study sites in the Cansiglio Forest, has been officially recognised as an old-growth forest and is now included in Italy’s National Network of Old-Growth Forests.
Located in the municipality of Polcenigo, in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, Pian de le Stele is among the first forest stands in Italy to receive this recognition. Together with Bosco Vintulins and Croseraz-Val Bona, it was formally included in the national network following ministerial decisions on 6 August 2026.
Protected as an integral reserve since 1971 and free from timber harvesting for more than 60 years, the 14.36-hectare silver fir forest provides an important example of long-term natural forest development. Surveys carried out by researchers at the University of Udine have documented characteristics associated with mature forest ecosystems, including large trees, substantial carbon stocks, abundant standing and lying deadwood, and a diversity of tree-related microhabitats supporting numerous species.
Pian de le Stele also has a direct connection to WILDCARD. The site is part of the project’s network of research sites and contributes to our work investigating proforestation – the process of allowing existing forests to continue growing and develop naturally by reducing or suspending forest management interventions.
Being included in Italy’s National Network of Old-Growth Forests is therefore an important step towards protecting the site in the long term. It also highlights the ecological value that forests can develop when natural processes are allowed to continue over time.
The recognition follows research led by the University of Udine’s Department of Agricultural, Food, Environmental and Animal Sciences, coordinated by Wildcard coordinator Giorgio Alberti, as part of a wider study promoted by the Forest Service of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region.
Read the full press release from the University of Udine in Italian (here) to learn more about the recognition, the characteristics of these old-growth forests and the research behind their designation.
Featured photo: Pian de le Stelle forest by Alessandro Foscari
A new WILDCARD study published in the European Journal of Soil Science highlights the important role that natural vegetation recovery on abandoned agricultural land can play in climate change mitigation across Europe. The review paper, “Soil Carbon Sequestration Following Natural Vegetation Recovery on Abandoned European Lands: Review and Research Needs”, brings together evidence from 36 studies to better understand how soil organic carbon (SOC) changes after farmland abandonment.
Led by Mohammad Tahsin Karimi Nezhad and co-authored by Domagoj Gajski, Clara G. Jeanroy, Peter H. Verburg, Giorgio Alberti, and Pavel Šamonil, the review demonstrates that abandoned croplands undergoing natural regeneration can become valuable carbon sinks over time. In particular, croplands transitioning into mixed and broadleaf forests showed strong increases in SOC, especially in Mediterranean regions and in soil groups such as Regosols, Cambisols, and Calcisols.
The study also reveals important knowledge gaps. Most available research is concentrated in Mediterranean Europe, while regions such as Central France, Germany, Poland, the Baltic states, the Balkans, and the United Kingdom remain underrepresented. The authors stress the need for more long-term studies across different climates, soil types, and vegetation systems to improve understanding of soil carbon dynamics at the continental scale.
Importantly, the paper emphasizes that natural vegetation recovery should not be viewed as a blanket recommendation for widespread cropland abandonment. Instead, land-use decisions must balance ecological, economic, and societal considerations alongside climate benefits.
The findings provide valuable guidance for researchers, land managers, and policymakers working to strengthen nature-based solutions and soil carbon monitoring across Europe.
Reference: Karimi Nezhad, M. T., Gajski, D., Jeanroy, C. G., Verburg, P. H., Alberti, G., & Šamonil, P. (2026). Soil Carbon Sequestration Following Natural Vegetation Recovery on Abandoned European Lands: Review and Research Needs. European Journal of Soil Science. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejss.70333
Europe is unique. Within a relatively small geographical area, an extraordinary diversity unfolds: landscapes, climates, forests, and species form a natural treasure of remarkable richness. This biodiversity is one of Europe’s greatest strengths – but also one of its greatest challenges. Protecting and understanding biodiversity is not a one-time task; it is a continuous effort that can only succeed if we work together.
Diversity, by its nature, brings complexity. This is true not only for Europe’s ecosystems but also for the way we observe and measure them. Forests do not stop at national borders, yet the methods used to monitor them often do. While standards for forest inventories exist, each country or institution has developed its own dendrometric survey methods (the measurement of tree and stand characteristics such as tree diameter, height, volume, and growth), shaped by national priorities, management objectives, and historical tradition. As a result, long-term forest information has traditionally been built for regional or national analyses rather than for a harmonised European perspective.
And yet, within this diversity lies a hidden treasure. Across Europe, enormous amounts of valuable data already exist. The key question is: how can we bring this information together? How can we harmonise these datasets to unlock their full potential and create a “golden state” of knowledge that allows us to address pressing issues such as how to store carbon efficiently, reduce biodiversity loss, and understanding and responding to the impacts of climate change? Achieving this requires not only technical solutions, but also time, expertise, and resources to build and maintain a shared database capable of supporting a wide range of scientific and policy-driven questions.
Dendrometric survey (photo @Wevell v. Krüger)
What Is dendrometric data and why do we need it?
Dendrometric data form the backbone of forest monitoring. They include measurements such as tree diameter, species, height, volume, and deadwood – key indicators for forest structure, growth, and carbon stocks. Collecting such data is not new. In many countries, dendrometric measurements have been part of National Forest Inventories (NFIs) for centuries, providing invaluable long-term records.
In strict forest reserves (designated areas of forest set aside e.g. for conservation or research purposes), however, systematic dendrometric monitoring often started much later. One can imagine the current situation as a large puzzle: countless pieces collected over decades, sometimes centuries, using different shapes and scales, all in different countries. Today’s challenge is to fit these pieces together into a coherent European picture that allows us to understand past developments in forest reserves and respond effectively to current and future environmental challenges on a wider scale.
Lots of deadwood in the site Bechtaler Wald (photo @Lucia Seebach)
How we tackled this challenge in WILDCARD
Within WILDCARD, we addressed this challenge step by step. Firstly, we established a dedicated data taskforce to work on harmonisation issues and to develop a common data template. This meant dealing with very practical issues, such as different names for the same information, varying definitions, and how to handle tricky variables like deadwood.
The first harmonisation trials were carried out with internal project partners across a limited number of sites. Once the approach proved workable, we extended it to external partners within the European Forest Reserve Initiative (EuFoRIA) network, significantly increasing the number of contributing sites. The result is a unique and growing database that will serve as a valuable resource for future research and collaboration across Europe.
Recyling in site Schwarzahalden (photo @Lucia Seebach)
Data heroes behind the scenes
None of this would have been possible without the dedication of the project’s “data heroes.” Harmonising diverse datasets is demanding work, requiring both technical expertise and deep knowledge of forest monitoring practices. Key challenges included dealing with different levels of detail in the data and reconciling fundamentally different monitoring methods – for example, in deadwood assessment, where approaches can vary greatly between countries and institutions. But thanks to the commitment of colleagues of the institution Výzkumný ústav pro krajinu (VUK) in the Czech Republic, these challenges were overcome. VUK, a Public Research Institute dedicated to studying landscapes and their ecosystems, helped to compile dendrometric datasets from more than 800 forest sites all across Europe and harmonized the data within one database. This database ensures that Europe’s diverse forest data can now speak a common language.
In the end, WILDCARD shows that diversity is not a barrier but a strength – if we manage to unite it. By bringing together Europe’s rich and varied forest data of these valuable forest reserves, we are turning a hidden treasure into shared knowledge for the benefit of science, policy, and future generations.
Featured image: forest reserve „Siedigkopf“ in the Black Forest in Germany (photo @Alexandra Kage)
Soil might not be the first thing you notice when walking through a nearby forest. But it’s a quiet, hidden guardian that our forests depend on. It connects trees, insects, and fungi in ways we often overlook. Many soil organisms feed on dead plant residues, making important nutrients available to plants. Additionally, while feeding and digging, they incorporate organic carbon into the soil, improving soil structure and water holding capacity. Healthy, biodiverse soil is therefore essential for making forests resilient and multifunctional and cannot be ignored by anyone working in sustainable forest management.
When I walk through a forest, I am always struck by the sense that there is more happening than I can perceive. My eyes trace the trunks of trees, the canopy stretching above me, and the shafts of light breaking through in places. But I also know that much of the forest remains hidden from my view. Forests are not some layers of vegetation; they are complex, three-dimensional worlds. They grow upward, outward, and in intricate layers, creating habitats within habitats. To truly understand how these structures form and evolve, we need tools that go beyond what our senses and traditional methods can capture. That is where LiDAR comes in, and why it has become such a powerful part of our work in the WILDCARD project.
LiDAR – Light Detection and Ranging – allows us to map forests in three dimensions at centimetre-to-metre resolution. By sending out laser pulses and measuring how they reflect, LiDAR creates an extraordinarily detailed picture of vegetation structure. From airplanes, it can cover entire landscapes, but in WILDCARD we focus mainly on ground-based and drone-mounted systems. These cover smaller areas, yet their precision is remarkable, revealing the layers of the understory, the openings in the canopy where light filters through, the presence of exceptionally large trees, and the way these elements combine into complex arrangements across a site. What excites me most is how LiDAR connects many different domains: a single dataset links the technical world of remote sensing with ecological research and the very practical sphere of management and policy. It shows us what remains invisible to aerial photographs and ground surveys – the fine-grained complexity of the understory, the architecture of the canopy, and the shifting patterns of light and space that drive ecological processes. And what truly matters is not just capturing these patterns but translating them into indicators that reflect biodiversity, turning three-dimensional point clouds (the reflections of laser beams emitted by the scanners) into ecological meaning.
Drone pilot Bára Kobosilová ready for the start at Jansheideberg site, Belgium. Picture: Dan Cigánek
For rewilding, this information is crucial. Rewilding is not just about leaving land unmanaged and hoping for the best. It is also about letting natural processes unfold and observing how they gradually create new ecological opportunities. LiDAR allows us to measure these changes. By comparing sites of different ages and management histories – what we call a space-for-time substitution or chronosequence – we can track how complexity develops once human interventions stop. Over decades, forests shift in structure, forming vertical layers, creating gaps, and offering niches for species that depend on a dynamic habitat. These transformations are difficult to capture with traditional field plots, which often rely on sampling a small number of trees or features. LiDAR, on the other hand, gives us a comprehensive picture and a repeatable way to observe these changes across dozens or even hundreds of sites.
With LiDAR, we can start to ask why forests behave the way they do. Why do carbon accumulation and biodiversity often rise together in some places, while in others the two seem to diverge? How does structure influence species composition? And how might we use this knowledge to guide rewilding in ways that support both climate goals and biodiversity? These are questions that matter deeply, not only to scientists but to policymakers, land managers, and communities who want to see landscapes recover.
Pictures: Bára Kobosilová and Dan Ciganek
From our pilot sites we already have encouraging results. We have built a robust processing pipeline and developed a first set of structural indicators. The early patterns are striking: rewilded stands seem to show higher levels of both vertical and horizontal complexity than managed stands. These structural differences are precisely the kinds of features that many species depend on, and we anticipate strong correlations with independent measures of biodiversity. At the same time, we are grappling with real challenges. Data collected from different sensors and platforms do not always align neatly, and we need to harmonise them to ensure comparability. We are also learning about the limits of scale – how small a plot can be before its complexity becomes too difficult to measure reliably. These are technical hurdles, but they are also stepping stones that will allow us to expand our analysis across the entire WILDCARD network.
For me, the most exciting aspect of this work is its potential to shift how we think about rewilding. Forests are often described as carbon sinks or as habitats for species, but the WILDCARD project reveals them as both at once: living, evolving, complex three-dimensional systems. With the LiDAR technology we can not only see but also measure the richness of their structure and begin to understand how it shapes biodiversity and carbon dynamics together. That knowledge can inform rewilding strategies, guide conservation investments, and support policies that build resilient ecosystems. Forests are more than collections of trees. They are dynamic, intricate habitats that we are only beginning to understand in full. LiDAR gives us a way to step into that complexity, to capture it with unprecedented precision, and to tell the story of rewilding in three dimensions. For WILDCARD, it means we are one step closer to making the so far hidden patterns measurable, and to building the knowledge that will help rewilding succeed at scales that truly matter.
What if rewilding Europe were a strategic board game – where every forest hides a secret, and every move helps decide the fate of our ecosystems?
Welcome to WILDCARD. The Forest Game, an exciting new podcast that turns the complex science of ecological restoration into an immersive, continent-spanning adventure. Produced by our WILDCARD project in collaboration with Starter, this innovative audio series invites listeners to journey through Europe’s diverse and often overlooked forest landscapes, exploring how damaged ecosystems can be restored and reimagined.
Each episode of The Forest Game acts as a “strategic move” on a metaphorical game board. Listeners join scientists, researchers, and forest experts in unraveling stories of nature – from identifying remnants of true wilderness to balancing human needs with ecological integrity. Along the way, they encounter powerful narratives of transformation and hope, as well as strategies to bring forests back to life in all their complexity.
By using the metaphor of a board game, the podcast breaks down complex ecological concepts into engaging, accessible narratives. Every dice roll reveals new challenges – wildfires, invasive species, fragmentation – while each game square unveils a tale of resilience, research, and renewal. The result is a unique blend of entertainment and scientific insight, making forest restoration not only understandable, but thrilling.
The series is written by Silvia Giralucci (Starter) and produced under the scientific supervision of Giorgio Alberti from the University of Udine. Editorial guidance comes from Gesche Schifferdecker of the European Forest Institute (EFI), with voice-over by Rahel Könen and post-production by Santiago Alarcón, also of EFI.
Whether you’re an environmental enthusiast, a science lover, or simply curious about the future of Europe’s landscapes, WILDCARD. The Forest Game offers a fresh and thought-provoking perspective on one of the most pressing challenges of our time. Ready to roll the dice on the future of our forests? Tune in and play along: WILDCARD: The Forest Game Podcast – Wildcard
By Santiago Alarcón, Gesche Schifferdecker, Sara Cazzaniga, and Yannick de Win.
Not far from Brno, in the Czech Republic, an inspiring team of experts from various countries came together for a two-day workshop combining theory and practice on soil sampling. The workshop provided an immersive, hands-on experience focused on one of the most vital, complex, and still largely unexplored components of terrestrial ecosystems: the soil.
Organized by the WILDCARD project and involving both project researchers and external specialists, the soil sampling workshop aimed to align diverse research objectives under a shared mission: highlighting the critical role of soil in the context of rewilding. Over the two days, participants worked in two contrasting forest environments: one with soft, loamy soil that made the sampling procedure easy, and another with hard, rocky ground that challenged their adaptability and resilience. Thanks to the strong commitment of the group, once the technical training and minor hurdles were behind everyone, we group fully immersed ourselves in the environment. The workshop fostered a deep connection, not just among the participants, but also with nature and the often-overlooked world beneath our feet.
For many of us, soil might seem like little more than the “dirt stuff” we live on. But for Sara Cazzaniga from ETH Zurich, it’s a constantly shifting landscape of hidden stories. “Working with forest soil is particularly fascinating because of how much it varies”, she said. “Not only between sites, but even across different spots within the same forest.”
Sara came to Brno hoping the workshop would demystify the dense and challenging soil sampling protocol – and right from the start, she found a collaborative and supportive team. “As soon as we arrived at the first demonstration site, the outdoor setting felt just right,” she said. “Thanks to the shared insights and helpful observations, what initially felt difficult started to make sense. The hands-on practice really helped us become more comfortable and confident with applying the protocol.”
The group was a vibrant mix of backgrounds and expertise – from seasoned soil scientists to enthusiastic newcomers. That diversity quickly became a strength: beginners brought fresh questions, while more experienced participants shared field-tested tips. Everyone contributed with the shared goal of making the soil sampling protocol work – not just for science, but for nature, too.
“We had such a great mix of perspectives,” Sara added. “It made the tools and resources – like the app, FAQs, and videos – feel much more accessible and practical.”
Also, Yannick de Win from the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (EV-INBO) echoed that enthusiasm, “People often think of forests as trees, birds and mammals, but so many fundamental processes continuously happen belowground. That’s where trees and roots develop and where carbon is stored, thanks to the great diversity of organisms that live there.”
As part of the WILDCARD project, the teams at EV-INBO and Silva Tarouca Research Institute (VUK) will analyze both soil and forest floor layers to understand soil carbon dynamics, while Sara will extract environmental DNA from soil samples to investigate microbial community composition across different forest successional stages throughout Europe. Their combined efforts aim to reveal how soil carbon and biodiversity have shifted over time – specifically in areas where agricultural land and pastures were abandoned more than 70 years ago or forest management had been stopped.
The ultimate goal is to provide deeper insight into the potential for forest restoration and to inform strategies for climate change mitigation in the near future.
What began with this workshop is hoped to grow into a powerful reminder: that soil holds essential clues to the health of our planet and our future. In Brno, the WILDCARD team not only collected soil samples – they also planted seeds of knowledge, collaboration, and curiosity, laying the groundwork for more sustainable land management across Europe.
In Europe’s rural landscape, the sight of abandoned agricultural fields is increasingly common. In some cases, the abandonment of less fertile or less accessible cultivation sites is caused by mechanisation and intensification of agriculture. In others, it is rural population exodus that leads to a decline in land management. Such transformations of the agricultural environment create a unique opportunity to study vegetation succession: the process through which the species and habitats in formerly cultivated fields change over time.
Studying vegetation succession is relevant for both environmental conservation and ecological restoration initiatives, as it provides researchers with important information such as species richness, the rate of succession, and what kinds of habitat tend to become established through natural processes. But research in the field does not come without challenges. One of them is how to observe long-term vegetation changes in a consistent and comparable manner. Another is how to cover a wide range of environmental conditions.
To better understand the strengths and weaknesses of different observation methods, WILDCARD researchers from the University of South Bohemia conducted a study gathering data from abandoned fields of the Bohemian Karst Protected Landscape Area, in the Czech Republic, since 1975. The research paper, recently published in the Journal of Vegetation Science, represents the first study of vegetation change in old fields spanning multiple decades that combines two frequently used survey methods. It compares fields in various successional stages at the same point in time (chronosequence), which results in faster acquisition of results but has limits in predicting restoration processes in disturbed sites, and the use of semi-permanent plots, which requires greater effort as researchers resurvey comparable areas at different points in time.
Our researchers found that a chronosequence approach can reliably reveal general successional patterns comparable to those obtained from semi-permanent plots. The combined method showed that both approaches studied in detail show similar succession patterns, regardless of the sampling methods used. However, to avoid pitfalls in measurement and sampling methods, the authors suggest combining different approaches to generate more reliable results. Their analysis of vegetation succession has also shown that, in fields with a moderate supply of moisture (mesic areas) a woodland landscape with the presence of trees and shrubs emerged within 25-30 years. Dry fields, conversely, continued to be dominated by perennial grasses, accompanied by scattered trees and shrubs.
Řehounková K., Tichý L. & Prach K. 2024. Succession in abandoned fields: Chronosequence data verified by monitoring of semi-permanent plots. Journal of Vegetation Science 35: e13303. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jvs.13303
