Launching the ForES Ecosystem Service Tool: Advancing Sustainable Forestry Through Natural Capital Accounting
- Isabel Power
- 2 hours ago
- 5 min read
Earlier this month, Natural Capital Ireland was delighted to take part in the launch of the ForES Decision Support Tool at the School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin.
The launch event celebrated the completion of the ForES Decision Support Tool, and the collective effort behind it. We extend our sincere thanks to the entire ForES project team for their insightful presentations and continued commitment, and to the many stakeholders who have contributed their expertise over the past four years. In particular, we acknowledge the support of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) as funders, Coillte Nature as project partners, and the Irish Timber Growers Association for its role on the steering group.
The ForES Decision Support Tool, along with reports and additional project outputs, is now publicly available on our website: 👉 https://www.naturalcapitalireland.com/fores-project
Why ForES Matters: Forestry at a Critical Moment
Forestry in Ireland is at a crossroads. While forests are widely recognised for their role in producing timber, they also deliver a much broader range of benefits that are essential to society. These include carbon sequestration to combat climate change, habitat for biodiversity, water regulation, soil protection, recreation, and wellbeing.
Despite decades of afforestation programmes, Ireland remains the least forested country in Europe, with forest cover at approximately 11%. National targets aim to increase this to 18% by 2050, highlighting the need not just for more forests, but for forests that are managed sustainably and multifunctionally.
Balancing timber production with biodiversity protection, climate mitigation, and other public goods presents a significant challenge for forest managers and policymakers. Decisions often involve trade-offs, long time horizons, and uncertainty. The ForES project was designed to address this complexity by providing evidence-based tools that help decision-makers visualise outcomes, test scenarios, and better understand how management choices influence ecosystem services over time.
The ForES Project: Background and Vision
ForES (Forests and Ecosystem Services) is a four‑year sustainable forestry research project that began at the end of 2021. It is a collaboration between natural scientists and practitioners, led by Trinity College Dublin, in partnership with University College Dublin and Coillte Nature, with funding from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).
The project builds directly on the foundations laid by INCASE (Irish Natural Capital Accounting for Sustainable Environments), Ireland’s pioneering national biodiversity and natural capital accounting project. While INCASE focused on national‑scale accounts, ForES takes the next step: applying Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) at the forest site and estate level, where management decisions are made.
The core aim of ForES was to co‑develop a decision support tool for forest managers that integrates ecological evidence, stakeholder priorities, and future scenarios into a transparent and structured framework.
A Natural Capital Accounting Approach
At the heart of ForES is a Natural Capital Accounting approach, which provides a systematic method for recognising, measuring, and valuing nature and the services it provides.
Using this framework, the ForES team assessed both the quantity and quality of forest stocks, including tree species composition, age structure, soils, and habitats, and the flows of ecosystem services derived from those stocks. These services include:
Commercial timber production
Carbon sequestration and storage
Water retention and regulation
Biodiversity value
Recreation and cultural benefits
By linking ecological data with management practices, Natural Capital Accounting enables a more complete understanding of how forests contribute to economic, environmental, and social outcomes.
From Measurement to Decision-Making: Modelling Futures
What sets ForES apart is how this accounting framework is combined with Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) modelling to support decision-making under uncertainty.
This is the first project in Ireland to integrate Natural Capital Accounting with BBN modelling of ecosystem service supply. Together, these methods allow the tool to explore how different drivers (such as forest composition, management interventions, policy priorities, or environmental change) influence future outcomes.
Through this approach, forest managers can:
Compare alternative land management scenarios
Examine trade-offs between timber production and other ecosystem services
Explore “what if” questions in a structured and transparent way
Support decisions that align with multiple objectives at site and estate level
Rather than producing a single “optimal” answer, the ForES tool supports learning, dialogue, and informed judgement, making it particularly valuable in complex decision contexts.
The ForES Decision Support Tool
The ForES App is an interactive, web-based decision support tool designed for exploratory futures analysis. It allows users to engage directly with the results of the research and to test how different assumptions shape possible future pathways for Irish forests.
What the Tool Offers
We Map
Forests provide timber, but also support biodiversity and deliver other public benefits. The tool maps specific forest sites using a Natural Capital Accounting approach, quantifying forestry stocks and the flows of ecosystem services.
We Measure
By assessing the quantity, quality, and location of forest assets, the tool estimates flows of timber production, carbon sequestration, water retention, biodiversity value, and recreation.
We Model
Users can explore different land management scenarios to see how decisions influence outcomes over time. This supports robust and transparent decision-making to enhance sustainability across multiple objectives.
The app is particularly useful for foresters, researchers, policymakers, and practitioners who want to integrate futures thinking into analysis, strategy, and planning.
🔎 Explore the tool here: https://fores.shinyapps.io/ForES-app/
A Collaborative, Multidisciplinary Effort
Simply put, the ForES project combines expert knowledge and data to help people understand how different forest management choices affect benefits like climate action, timber, nature, and recreation.
The success of ForES reflects the strength of collaboration across disciplines and sectors. Natural Capital Ireland recognises the contribution of a multidisciplinary team spanning ecology, forestry, modelling, policy, and practice.
The ForES Team
Prof Jane Stout – Vice President for Biodiversity & Climate Action, Provost’s Office & Professor in Botany, Trinity College Dublin
Prof Yvonne Buckley – Professor of Zoology, Trinity College Dublin
Prof Mary Kelly-Quinn – Associate Professor, University College Dublin
Kathleen Conroy – PhD Candidate, Trinity College Dublin
Owen Small – Research Assistant / Project Manager, Trinity College Dublin
Eoin O’Connor – Master’s Student, University of Groningen & Physics BSc, Trinity College Dublin
Dr Matheus Fragoso Etges – Postdoctoral Researcher, University College Dublin
Dr Ciarán Fallon – Director of Coillte Nature & Managing Director of the Nature Trust
Declan Little – Ecologist, Coillte Nature & The Nature Trust
Their combined expertise ensured that the tool is scientifically robust, grounded in real-world forestry practice, and responsive to stakeholder needs.
Why ForES Is Important for Ireland’s Future
As Ireland works towards ambitious climate, biodiversity, and land-use goals, tools like ForES are essential. They help bridge the gap between policy objectives and on-the-ground decisions, ensuring that forests are managed in ways that deliver long-term public value alongside commercial returns.
By making ecosystem services visible, measurable, and comparable, the ForES Decision Support Tool supports a shift towards evidence-based, natural capital-informed decision-making, which is a core ambition of Natural Capital Ireland.
The ForES project outputs will continue to inform forestry, policy, and research in the years ahead. The tool represents not an endpoint, but a foundation for ongoing learning, adaptation, and collaboration.
Learn More
All ForES project outputs, including reports and access to the Decision Support Tool, are available here:
The ForES team encourages people not only to use the tool but also to share feedback and ask questions, and upcoming ForES publications will provide more technical detail on the project’s methods, so keep an eye on the links for updates.
Natural Capital Ireland looks forward to supporting the continued use and development of natural capital approaches that help value, protect, and restore Ireland’s natural environment, now and for future generations.
ForES Instagram: @foresproject
ForES LinkedIn: ForES Project
ForES website: www.for-es.ie
