GO-SURF: sistema di supporto alle decisioni per un approccio partecipativo alla gestione forestale

he European Forests, Biodiversity and Social Strategy, together with the Italian National Forest Strategy, recognize the critical importance of sustainable forest management in addressing new challenges. These challenges include the increased severity and frequency of extreme events such as windstorms, droughts, and insect infestations, as well as the diverse and sometimes conflicting social demands placed on sustainable forest management and forest systems. It is essential to engage both public and private forest owners and various stakeholders in the decision-making process. In this context, Forest Decision Support Systems (FDSS) are considered valuable tools for optimizing forest management and involving various stakeholders. These systems assist users in decision-making processes, considering environmental, economic, administrative, legal, and social aspects. In Europe, the European Agricultural Innovation Partnership has recognized the importance of FDSS and has funded Operational Groups (OGs) to develop innovative solutions. In the Tuscany region, within the framework of PEI-AGRI, the GO-SURF (Sustainable Forest Management Decision Support System) was funded. GO-SURF developed an FDSS based on spatial modeling to support sustainable forest management using a participatory approach. This work presents the WebGIS application “GO-SURF APP” which allows the extraction of various ecosystem services (growing stock volume, biomass, mean annual increment, and basal area) at spatial level. The participatory approach involves different forest management actors. Different FDSS users were identified, including their needs, and the development of the FDSS with common process’s objectives. This has made data accessible through a custom-developed WEB-GIS system for the forest sector, accessible to a broad audience, that can contribute to increased knowledge of forest systems in Tuscany.