It has a Piedmontese lead partner in one of the 14 projects co-funded on the Interreg Alpine Space 21-27 program. It is the project Forest EcoValue, an ambitious program, coordinated by Finpiemonte, which gathers partners from 5 European countries and involves 10 national and international organizations engaged, in various capacities, in environmental protection.
Forest EcoValue aims to bring innovation to alpine territories and communities, which are crucial for the resilience of the territory and indispensable in providing ecosystem services. Alpine forests are threatened by climate change and land degradation, leading to a diminished capacity to provide these services. Maintenance costs are high, and public resources and revenues from the traditional timber supply chain are insufficient.
Therefore, the goal of this project is to mobilize additional resources by developing sustainable business models for forest management and maintenance.
The start of the project's work took place recently at Finpiemonte's headquarters: 28 participants from different European countries took part in the meeting including, in connection from Salzburg, a representative of the technical secretariat of the Alpine Space Program.
Michele Vietti, President of Finpiemonte, commented, "We are proud to have taken on the task of coordination for such a challenging project, which addresses the issue of systematic management of forests and more generally of the alpine territory, which in Piedmont arouses great interest and attention from many stakeholders and institutions. This is the first in a series of European projects on which Finpiemonte has applied, addressing other topical issues, such as the development of financial instruments to support innovation and the achievement of ESG standards by SMEs“.
(Source: Finpiemonte S.p.A. press release)