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
The first time I walked through a primary forest in the Low Tatras in Slovakia, I was struck by how different it looked and felt from the forests I had known before. Woody fungi called Polypores, larger than both of my hands emerged from the deadwood littered across the forest floor. Spruce trees bore horizontal scars left by three toed woodpeckers searching for insects beneath the bark. Beneath a tree more than 200 years old, a patch of cleared earth marked the resting place of a brown bear. At every step, the forest revealed something new and unexpected.
These remaining primary and old-growth forests offer a rare glimpse into ecosystems that existed before centuries of intensive land use and forest management reshaped much of Europe. Today, however, they survive only in small, isolated fragments and continue to decline rapidly due to logging. Their loss is of particular concern because these forests support exceptionally high levels of biodiversity and provide important ecosystem services like carbon storage and water regulation.
Ecosystem services: old growth forest in Slovakia (photo: Lyla O’Brien)Biodiversity: old growth forest in Slovakia (photo: Lyla O’Brien)
Together with other researchers, I published a perspective article in Conservation Letters, titled Priority actions for the conservation of primary and old-growth forests in Europe. In the article, we examine how the recently adopted Nature Restoration Regulation could strengthen the long-term conservation of Europe’s remaining primary and old-growth forests. Although the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 calls for their strict protection, the target is not legally binding and implementation has progressed slowly. We argue that, despite not explicitly referring to primary and old-growth forests, the Regulation nonetheless presents an exceptional opportunity to advance their conservation.
We therefore identify four key problems for the conservation of these forests and propose four accompanying actions that we consider most urgent, while exploring how the Regulation could support their implementation (Table 1).
First, incomplete mapping and weak protection should be addressed by identifying barriers and introducing a logging moratorium for unprotected forests, including those that are unmapped.
Second, human pressures should be reduced in and around primary and old-growth forests by banning logging, avoiding new roads, limiting infrastructure and recreation, and regulating hunting practices.
Third, because many forests are too small and fragmented, strict protection should be expanded and buffer zones established to maintain ecological processes and reduce external anthropogenic disturbances.
Fourth, connectivity between isolated forest patches should be improved and new old-growth forests should be developed through active restoration or by letting nature recover on its own passively.
The paper shows that conserving Europe’s primary and old-growth forests requires more than formal protection goals; it needs targeted, complementary action, which can be implemented under the Nature Restoration Regulation.
Table 1: Priority actions for improving the conservation of primary and old-growth forests in the EU and relevant articles for achieving them embedded in the National Restoration Regulation
Problem
Priority action
Key elements
Link to NRR
Significant gaps in mapping and protection
1. Assess progress and address barriers to identification, mapping, and protection; implement a logging moratorium
Identify implementation barriers to mapping and protection; integrate findings into EU progress assessments; impose a moratorium on mapped but unprotected and potential primary and old-growth forests
Article 4(12) non-deterioration clause
Anthropogenic impacts, also in protected forests
2. Prevent degradation from anthropogenic pressures and protect natural processes
No new forest roads; no logging; limited infrastructure and recreation; relocation of ungulate hunting; ban on supplementary feeding
Small, fragmented patches, limiting natural disturbance dynamics and increasing vulnerability
3. Expand strict protection and establish buffer zones around primary and old-growth forests
Expand strictly protected area to meet minimum dynamic area; Establish protection and conservation buffer zones
Article 4(1) restoration of degraded habitat types listed in Annex 1 to good condition; Article 12(1) enhancement of forest; Article 12(3) increase in the national trend for at least six of the following seven indicators for forest biodiversity: standing deadwood, lying deadwood, share of forests with uneven-aged structure, forest connectivity, stock of organic carbon, and share of forests dominated by native tree species and tree species diversity
Fragmentation and isolation, which threatens persistence of associated species, lack of representative network of primary and old-growth forests
4. Improve connectivity between primary and old-growth forests and create secondary old-growth forests through restoration
Restore patches of land to reconnect forests and promote secondary old-growth forests through passive and active restoration
With this article, we urge EU Member States to incorporate these priority actions into their national restoration plans before the end of 2026, providing an opportunity for the EU to move beyond broad political commitments toward concrete conservation outcomes for some of Europe’s most valuable and threatened forests.
Reference: O’Brien, L., Castelli, F., Felton, A., Kuemmerle, T., Mikoláš, M., Munteanu, C., Sabatini, F. M., Svensson, J., Svoboda, M., Vandekerkhove, K., Winkel, G., & Lindner, M. (2026). Priority actions for the conservation of primary and old-growth forests in Europe. Conservation Letters. https://doi.org/10.1111/con4.70054
We are living in a decisive moment, facing two connected global challenges: the loss of biodiversity and climate change. As rising temperatures accelerate the disappearance of species, it is clear we need to rethink how we live with nature and how we manage our land. Traditional conservation efforts have had mixed success, and more and more attention is turning to restoration – bringing nature back – as a lasting solution.
The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and the EU Nature Restoration Law both urge member states to “prevent, halt, and reverse” ecosystem degradation. In Friuli Venezia Giulia (FVG, Italy), a WILDCARD Case Study, nature is already making a comeback: over the past 50–60 years, forest cover has nearly doubled (from 160.000 to over 300.000 ha), now covering around 40% of the region. Much of this change has happened quietly as old pastures and terraced fields were left to rewild, with a warming climate helping forests spread higher up the mountains, as shown in a research by Valentina Olmo (University of Trieste) and a team of researchers from different countries, including WILDCARD Coordinator Giorgio Alberti. Across the EU, the story is similar: since the 1990s, forested areas have increased by about 14 million hectares, clear evidence that passive rewilding is already reshaping the landscape.
Example of the recolonisation of abandoned meadows by forest vegetation in the municipality of Tapiana, Udine (Credits: Luca Cadez)
Pros and Cons of Rewilding
Olmo and her team caution that more trees do not always mean more biodiversity. Their initial findings have shown that the trajectories of plant and microbial biodiversity in the soil (fungi and bacteria) and those of carbon do not always coincide or are not always positive. Moreover, numerous national and international projects are investigating not only the impacts of natural reforestation on carbon stock dynamics in the various components of the ecosystem and on plant, animal and microorganisms’ biodiversity, but they are also verifying the level of acceptability of these rewilding processes by local populations and the possible economic tradeoffs.
The purple line in the four graphs shows the trends in the abundance (number of species) of the herbaceous plants, woody plants, fungi and bacteria as carbon accumulated in forest stands of different ages, originating from abandoned agricultural land. It can be seen that the number of species, particularly plants and fungi, increased with the increase in accumulated carbon (and the age of the stand) up to a certain point and then decreases. As of bacteria, however, there is an almost linear growth in relation to accumulated carbon. This suggests that ecosystems with greater carbon accumulation are not always the most favourable for biodiversity conservation, and that this relationship depends on the organisms considered (Credits: Lorenzo Orzan)
Proforestation: Letting Forests Mature
A complementary approach, proforestation, simply suspends timber management to let stands age naturally. Accumulating deadwood boosts carbon storage and creates microhabitats for fungi, insects, and cavity-nesting birds. The Wildcard project and the newly established Italian National Registry of Old-Growth Forests are studying how unmanaged stands handle climate stress, fire risk, and pests. Whereas scaling proforestation more widely must also weigh timber, water regulation, soil protection, and tourism values. Achieving such a balance will require dialogue among scientists, planners, and stakeholders.
Letting forests regrow naturally or leaving them unmanaged, can help tackle biodiversity loss and climate change. Europe’s restoration policies show how abandoned farmland has turned into forest and weigh the benefits and trade-offs of these approaches for carbon storage, biodiversity, and local economies.
To learn more about it and the case of Friuli Venezia Giulia (FVG), read the article by clicking on the link below (only in Italian):
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
In the quiet forests of Northeastern Romania, near the town of Suceava, a remarkable rewilding story is unfolding.
This short film takes us into the heart of Vânători Neamț Nature Park, where the European bison, once extinct in the wild, is once again roaming free. The journey began in the 1970s, when the first bison were brought to Romania by the National Forest Administration. But it wasn’t until 2003, with support from a World Bank project, that the dream of rewilding took real shape, with infrastructure built and the first animals arriving in the park.
By 2012, the first five bison were released into the wild. Since then, more have followed, year after year, slowly rebuilding a population that had vanished. But this isn’t just about restoring a species. It’s about restoring balance between open fields and forest, between people and nature.
The European bison is more than a keystone species. It’s a national symbol, deeply woven into Romanian and Moldavian heritage. Its presence now supports local economies, from eco-tourism to traditional crafts, and fulfills important EU conservation goals.
And while the term “rewilding” may be new to some, the idea isn’t. As Laura Bouriaud from the Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava says, “we are living with nature. Even if we didn’t put this name on it, rewilding is part of our life.”
Carbon storage is one of the most important ecosystem services provided by forests to society. However, methods to monitor and report forest carbon stocks are still poorly understood. A new paper by WILDCARD researchers of the Universities of Turin and Udine, in Italy, compares different methods to estimate carbon stocks in old-growth forests of the Dinaric Alps in the Balkans, finding that direct and indirect methods result in significantly different carbon estimates.
The paper compares direct carbon assessment methods, such as field measurements, with indirect approaches, such as IPCC standard methods, finding that the latter tend to underestimate and overestimate carbon stocks, depending on the site considered. It also revealed that a few large trees (5%) concentrate a high amount of carbon stock (36% of carbon) in the study areas, which store a total of 507 Mg C ha−1. The results indicate that old-growth forests in the Dinaric Alps are the largest forest carbon sinks in Europe.
The paper “The largest European forest carbon sinks are in the Dinaric Alps old-growth forests: comparison of direct measurements and standardised approaches” was co-authored by researchers from the Universities of Montenegro and Banja.
Old-growth forests continue to disappear in Europe, with many being logged before their identification and protection. To help map these important ecosystems for conservation and research, a new paper by WILDCARD researchers uses rigorous criteria to identify old-growth mountain forest stands in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro that have reached their last stage of ecosystem dynamics.
Co-authored by WILDCARD researchers Renzo Motta (University of Turin), Giorgio Alberti (University of Udine) and Davide Ascoli (University of Turin), the paper looks into a network of four mixed montane old-growth forests in the Dinaric Alps of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro, one of the few regions in temperate Europe that still holds old-growth forests. Strict indicators were applied to investigate forests characterised by structure, disturbance history and processes typical and exclusive of the last stage of the forest dynamic.
The researchers found that the studied old-growth sites harbour a high amount of living biomass, including ample presence of trees larger than 1 meter at breast height and older than 400 years. The sites were also found to have a high biomass of wood from dead trees. This results in the highest forest carbon sink at the continental level in Europe, totalling 398-484 Mg C ha-1. The Dinaric old-growth forest network presents robust indicators of old-growthness, similar structure, and dynamic processes across all four investigated sites, representing high-priority sites for forest protection.
Although the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 provides a broad definition of old-growth forests, using strict indicators to map specific old-growth forest areas is important for both forest conservation and research, as it contributes to the establishment of conservation priorities, offers reliable reference sites for ecosystem restoration, and helps to further ongoing research on the structural differences between managed and unmanaged forests.
In most EU countries, very few old-growth forests remain and they are typically small and isolated. While the EU Biodiversity Strategy mandates their legal protection, old-growth forest loss continues unabated, with less than 1.5 million hectares of old-growth forests remaining in Europe.
