(HORIZON EUROPE 21-27 The project will focus on crop relatives of Rosaceae fruit tree species with the goal

• to enhance our knowledge onto the wild germplasm that is available Europe-wide either in-situ or in gene-banks as well as capturing local knowledge on the historical use and behavior of CWRs;
• to characterize this valuable plant material, phenotypically and genetically;
• to develop up-to-date methods of selection and genomic prediction adapted to the use of CWR in breeding programs.

FEM activities:

• - coordinate the workpackage "HTP genotyping of CWR core-collections and Information systems and tools for data management, integration, analysis and sharing";
• - coordinate the sampling of different Malus sylvestris populations in Italy and will host an ex-situ collection;
• - collaborate on developing new breeding strategies adapted to the use of CWR as breeding parents, combining marker assisted introgression for traits of interest (resilience, resistance to pests and pathogens, nutritional and fruit quality traits) with genomic prediction.

(LIFE+) This project focuses on the adaptation of forest areas to extreme meteorological events, the promotion of fast responses to negative effects produced by such events, the acceleration of natural regeneration processes, targeting stable ecosystems with high biodiversity levels, and the generation of economic benefits to compensate the loss of income from timber exploitation.

Specific objectives are to:

• Consolidate the knowledge base on the use of innovative agroforestry procedures in forest farming, assess the effectiveness of the method and encourage its use in European forests;
• Develop an ecosystem-based innovative approach by implementing temporary/transitional (15/20 years) agroforestry until the growth of forest trees, and finalised to: i) tackle in the short time most of the negative effects caused to the environment by the destruction of trees (e.g. erosion, mineralisation of organic matter, loss of biodiversity); ii) accelerate the reconstruction of forest ecosystems, mixing natural and artificial reforestation concepts to promote the establishment of stable ecosystems characterised by high biodiversity and ecological value; and iii) create opportunities for sustainable economic development aiming to halt depopulation in the affected areas;
• Test and apply the VAIA approach in several areas characterised by different conditions to define fast response models to be transferred to other sites affected by extreme weather events, intensified by climate changes; and
• Promote the implementation of the EU Forest Strategy (in particular the 2021 Strategy).

The project contributes to the implementation of the EU Strategy on adaptation to climate change (COM(213)2016 and the new Strategy COM/2021/82 final); and the new EU Forest Strategy, under the European Green Deal, which highlights the need “to maintain and enhance forest resilience and adaptive capacity, including through adaptive solutions”. In addition, the project is in line with the 2019 Alpine Convention on climate change.

Promuovere la sostenibilità e l'innovazione agricola attraverso la coltivazione di noce, castagno e piante medicinali e aromatiche.