The partners of the European COMFOR SUDOE project invite experts, research organizations, academia, conservation entities and other social actors to propose papers and case studies on the identification of the most appropriate methodologies for the valuation of natural assets and ecosystem services provided by complex forests of South West Europe. The call also seeks to identify projects that integrate the monetary and non-monetary valuation of natural assets and ecosystem services of mixed and irregular forests in management models or whose application has resulted in significant changes in the habitats where the valuation was conducted.

Although the scope of this project is limited to SUDOE region, the call is also open to papers, case studies and projects developed in similar habitats in other places in the world.

The articles, case studies and projects received will be assessed according to objectives, scope, level of ambition, valuation (qualitative, quantitative and monetary), lessons learned and integration into the decision-making process. The focus will be on showcasing a variety of natural capital valuation methodologies for valuing the benefits provided by complex forest’s ecosystem services and that offer potential for replication.

The selected papers and case studies will be included in a technical report for land managers and policy makers and will be used to develop a decision tree to support decision-making to ensure the sustainable management of complex forests in Southwestern Europe. On the other hand, the selected projects will be included in a compendium of best practices to support the development of an intelligent specialisation strategy for the conservation and sustainable management of complex forests in SUDOE.

Both materials (technical report and compendium) will be publicly available and presented in different relevant workshops and events in Europe. All papers, case studies and projects proceeding from the open call that are not finally selected will be included in a specific final annex to both documents, in case they fulfil the requirements.