
ForES Project
Forestry provides timber, but also supports biodiversity and supplies other public benefits, including carbon capture to tackle climate change. To enable a sustainable supply of multiple benefits from Irish forests, this project will co-develop decision-support tools for foresters. A Natural Capital Accounting approach will be used, which will allow quantification of forestry stocks, and flows of benefits, at specific forest sites. By assessing the quantity, quality and location of forest stocks, flows of commercial timber production, carbon sequestration, water retention, biodiversity and recreation will be determined. This will be modelled under different land management scenarios to provide managers will the information they need to fulfil multiple objectives at both site and estate level. This is the first project to combine Natural Capital Accounting with Bayesian Belief Network modelling of ecosystem service supply to support a structured decision-making approach in an Irish context.
Forests provide timber but also support biodiversity and other public benefits. We map specific forest sites using a Natural Capital Accounting approach to quantify forestry stocks and the various flows of benefits.
By assessing the quantity, quality and location of forest stocks, we can determine the flows of commercial timber production and other benefits such as carbon sequestration, water retention, biodiversity and recreation.
Looking at different land management scenarios, we can co-develop tools for foresters to support robust and transparent management decision-making to enhance sustainability.
Launch Event for our Decision Support Tool
The ForES project will be hosting our final stakeholder event for the launch of our Decision Support Tool developed for the management of forest ecosystem services. This event culminates our team’s work with Bayesian belief network modeling, stakeholder collaboration, and the assessment of ecosystem services at forest sites. Please share with other foresters, forest managers, and forest stakeholders that may be interested!
When: TBC
Where: Trinity College Dublin
Introduction to the Natural Capital Approach
Why Coillte is co-creating a sustainable forestry tool
Accounting for Forest Ecosystem Services through Natural Capital Accounting
Structured decision making in ForES project
Bayesian Belief Network Modelling (BBN)
Natural Capital Accounting tools in ForES
Decision Support Tool in ForES
NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE & SOCIAL MEDIA
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25/04/2025 - Invitation to join our workshops for foresters
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31/12/2024 - An end-of-year update from the ForES project team
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26/8/2024 - Our on-site day of learning at CCF forest
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30/12/2023 - Happy New Year from ForES Project
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25/08/2023 - Your ForES project update - Valuing Forest Ecosystem Services
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23/06/2023 - Welcome to the first ForES newsletter - update on our project to develop a forestry ecosystem services tool
ForES PROJECT BLOG ARCHIVE
ForES PROJECT TEAM

Prof Jane Stout
VP for Biodiversity & Climate Action, Provost's Office & Professor in Botany, Trinity College Dublin
Jane is an internationally renowned expert on pollinator and pollination ecology, and a prominent voice for biodiversity and its value. Her research seeks to understand how land management practices, including agriculture and urbanisation, affect ecological processes and the benefits of nature for humans. Jane works across disciplines, and with a broad range of stakeholders in public and private organisations to improve environmental policy and practice. She leads a large team of researchers in the Plant-Animal Interactions Research group in Botany, in the School of Natural Sciences in Trinity. She is co-founder & former Chair of the Board of Natural Capital Ireland, and co-founder & deputy Chair of the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan.
Contact: jane.stout@tcd.ie
ForES (Q4 2021 - Q1 2026) is a collaboration between natural scientists in Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin, together with practitioners in Coillte.



Funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) Research Funding Programme.





















