Alpine forests can become a concrete driver of sustainable economic development, but today a significant part of their value – from biodiversity to CO₂ absorption and protection against natural risks – is still not recognized by the market.
This is one of the key findings of Forest EcoValue, a European project under the Interreg Alpine Space Programme, promoted by the Piedmont Region and coordinated by Finpiemonte, with technical support from IPLA. The project involves institutional and scientific partners from five Alpine countries: Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Slovenia.
Within the framework of the Italian Presidency of the Alpine Convention, during the 83rd meeting of the Permanent Committee – the executive body bringing together the eight Alpine countries and the European Union dedicated to the protection and sustainable development of the Alpine space – Finpiemonte presented the project results at the opening of the second day of the proceedings. The findings were met with strong interest and appreciation from the Convention Parties, including Italy represented by the Ministry of Environment.
At the end of the meeting, Finpiemonte and the Piedmont Region also hosted the project’s final conference at the regional headquarters, presenting consolidated results based on scientific evidence developed and tested through Living Labs across the Alpine partner regions.
The project developed and tested innovative tools to assess forest ecosystem services, integrate them into economic value chains, and design sustainable governance and financing models.
Forest EcoValue operated across five pilot areas in the Alpine arc, functioning as territorial laboratories where public administrations, businesses, forest owners and other stakeholders co-developed practical solutions for the economic valorisation of ecosystem services.
In Piedmont, the Valle Tanaro Living Lab showed that timber production alone covers around 60% of forest management costs, while integration with carbon and biodiversity markets, tourism activities, and new forms of public–private cooperation could lead to medium-term economic sustainability.
The project strengthens Piedmont’s role in Alpine cooperation and European programmes, linking environmental protection, economic development and green finance. It is also part of a broader regional strategy that in recent years has developed pioneering tools such as the regional carbon credit registry and initiatives supporting sustainable forest management and the forest–wood supply chain.
As highlighted by Finpiemonte’s General Director Mario Alparone, the project represents a paradigm shift: moving from the volume of resources allocated to the results generated by those resources, demonstrating through integrated pilot projects that it is possible to turn the environmental value of forests into concrete opportunities for territories.
The project material
Institutional greetings, Marco Gallo, Piedmont Region
1. Project challenges and approach, Susanna Longo, Finpiemonte
2. Forest Ecosystem Services Assessment, Frederic Berger, INRAE
- Slide
3. Policy-Relevant Insights, Adriana May, Fondazione Lombardia per l’Ambiente
- Slide
4. Economic Value for Forest Ecosystem Services, Victoria Yavorskaya, University of Graz
5. Business Models for Forest Ecosystem Services, Luca Cetara, Fondazione Lombardia per l’Ambiente
6. From Living Labs to Road Maps for Implementation, Stefan Marzelli, IFUPLAN
7. Insights from the Slovenian Living Lab, Tina Simončič, Slovenian Forest Service
8. The experience of the Italian Living Lab, Cristina Tha, Walden srl