1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Augsburg
Region
Europe
Native title of the NBS intervention
Bergwaldoffensive
Short description of the intervention
The ‘Mountain Forest Initiative’ was launched in 2009 by the Bavarian Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forestry to restore the protective function of the vulnerable alpine forest in light of climate change, and was ongoing until 2014. To create a general sense of ownership in the process, the Mountain Forest Initiative sought the involvement of different stakeholders at the local level (e.g., private forest owners, land-use related authorities, hunters, nature conservationists, and tourism associations) (Ref. 1).
Address

German Alps
Bavarian region
Germany

Location
The NBS is a city-wide initiative, the GIS point marks the centre of the city
Type of area before implementation of the NBS
Natural Heritage Area/Untouched nature
Website of the intervention
https://keep.eu/projects/11686/
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
unknown
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
2009
End date of the intervention
2014
Present stage of the intervention
Completed
Goals of the intervention
1. Adaptation to climate change (Ref. 2)
2. Inter-sectoral coordination in forest management (Ref. 1)
3. To facilitate measures for adaptation to climate change in private forests (Ref. 1)
4. Protection of biodiversity (Ref. 1)
5. Avoidance of natural hazards (Ref. 1)
6. To improve the age and species distribution of individual stocks (Ref. 1)
7. Encourage cross-border networking in integrated risk management (Ref. 5)
8. To decrease the flood risk (Ref. 5)
Quantitative targets
Unknown
Monitoring indicators defined
1. Mean annual temperature in °C (Ref. 5)
2. Multiannual (30a) precipitation change relative to 1961-1990 (Ref. 5)
3. Water temperature change (Ref. 5)
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
Climate change adaptation
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Habitat and biodiversity conservation
Green space creation and/or management
Water management (SDG 6)
Flood protection
Inclusive and effective governance (SDG 16)
Inclusive governance
Effective management
Climate change adaptation: What were the goals of the NBS?
Reduce the impacts of climate risks events on urban places and communities
Climate change adaptation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?
Renaturalization of rivers and other water bodies
Habitats and biodiversity conservation: What types of conservation goals are / were defined for the NBS intervention?
Species-focused
Ecosystem-focused
Habitats and biodiversity conservation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?
Protect and enhance urban habitats
Preserve and strengthen existing habitats and ecosystems
Create new habitats
Reduce negative impacts and avoid the alteration/damage of ecosystem
Protect species
Undertake specific measures to protect species
Means for conservation governance
Manage biological resources for conservation and sustainable use
Create and use scientific knowledge for conservation
Capacity building
Implementation activities
1. Introduction of silvicultural measures (Ref. 1)
2. Rejuvenation of tree stands (Ref. 1)
3. Re-creation of protected areas in privately-owned and community forests (Ref. 1)
4. The promotion of the three main species (spruce, fir, and beech) in a site-adapted mixture (Ref. 1)
5. Risk prevention management (Ref. 3)
6. The size of natural flood plains, floodwater conduits, and basins increased (Ref. 5)
Type of NBS project
Strategy, plan or policy development
NBS domain and interventions
Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented
Blue infrastructure
Lakes/ponds
Rivers/streams/canals/estuaries
In-land wetlands, peatlands, swamps, and moors
Other
Parks and urban forests
Large urban parks or forests
Please specify "other blue area"
Regeneration of forest lakes and wetlands was an important part of the creation of the natural flood protection systems (Ref. 1).
Vegetation Type
Trees
Please specify how many trees were planted
Unknown
Amenities offered by the NBS
Unknown
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Regulating services
Local climate regulation (temperature reduction)
Air quality regulation
Carbon storage/sequestration
Flood regulation
Habitat and supporting services
Habitats for species
Maintenance of genetic diversity
Scale
Spatial scale
Meso-scale: Regional, metropolitan and urban level
Beneficiaries
Primary Beneficiaries
National-level government
Local government/Municipality
Non-government organisation/Civil Society
Private sector/Corporate/Company
Citizens or community groups
Governance
Governance arrangements
Co-governance with government and non-government actors
Non-government actors
Coalition with multiple of the above
Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative
In a number of pilot programs realized within the project, the early involvement of different stakeholders was considered crucial by a state of Bavaria (Ref. 1). To achieve this goal and create a general sense of ownership in the process, the Mountain Forest Initiative sought the involvement of different stakeholders at the local level (e.g., private forest owners, land-use related authorities, hunters, nature conservationists, and tourism associations) (Ref. 1).
Key actors - initiating organization
Regional government
Land owners
Private sector or company
Public space owned by the city
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
Regional government
Local government/municipality
Non-government organisation/civil society
Citizens or community group
Private sector/corporate actor/company
Land owners
Private sector or company
Public space owned by the city
Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used
Co-planning (e.g. stakeholder workshops, focus groups, participatory mapping)
Dissemination of information and education
Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys, community meetings, town halls)
Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)
Co-management/Joint management
Citizen oversight (e.g. boards, advisory)
Policy drivers
NBS intervention implemented in response to an Regional Directive/Strategy
Yes
Please specify the "Regional Directive/Strategy"
The AdaptAlp project was implemented within the Alpine Space Programme, an EU transnational cooperation program for the Alps. AdaptAlp project aims at mitigation of climate change (a rise in temperature and changes in precipitation conditions) in the Alpine region (Ref. 2). The project, thus, also extends to the Bavarian Alps, where Mountain Forest Initiative takes place (Ref. 7).
NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan
Unknown
NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan
Yes
Please specify the "local regulation/strategy/plan"
Bavarian Mountain Forest Initiative. By means of implementing the Initiative, the Bavarian government wants to establish collaborative arrangements between various stakeholders to facilitate measures for adaptation to climate change in private forests (Ref. 6).
Mandatory or voluntary intervention
Voluntary (spontaneous)
Enablers
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS vision/strategy/plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
1. Bavarian Mountain Forest Initiative is developed within the international project AdaptAlp which aims at mitigation of climate change (a rise in temperature and changes in precipitation conditions) in the Alpine region (Ref. 2).
2. Within the AdaptAlp project, partners from the seven Alpine countries (including Germany) worked together to promote regional development in the cooperation area in a sustainable way (Ref. 7).
Presence of GI / NBS research project - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
Ref. 1: Böhling, K., Arzberger, M. B. (2014). New modes of governance in Bavaria's alpine forests: The ‘Mountain
Forest Initiative’ at work, https://mediatum.ub.tum.de/doc/1280819/1280819.pdf
Subsidies/investment for GI / NBS in the city - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
The Initiative is co-financed by the budget of the state of Bavaria (Ref. 2) and the European Regional Development Fund (Ref. 3).
Co-finance for NBS
Yes
Co-financing governance arrangements
Yes
Co-governance arrangement
A fund / grant
Was this co-governance arrangement already in place, or was it set up specifically for this NBS?
Already in place
Financing
Total cost
€2,000,000 - €4,000,000
What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?
2 900 000 EUR (Ref. 2)
What are the total amount of expected annual maintenance costs?
Unknown
What is the expected annual maintenance costs of the NBS or GI elements?
Unknown
Please specify cost savings
Unknown
Please specify total cost (EUR)
The total costs of the Initiative comprised of 2,9 Million Euro (Ref. 2)
Source(s) of funding
Public regional budget
EU funds
Type of fund(s) used
Earmarked public budget
Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)
Non-financial contribution
Unknown
Business models
Risk reduction model
Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?
Public actor (e.g. municipality)
Type of innovation
Social
Governance innovation
Please specify social innovation
In forest policy, the new modes of governance, which range from the international to the local level and include multiple actors and sectors, aim at decentralization, the introduction and diffusion of market-based instruments, and use of participatory approaches (Secco et al., 2013). Interaction, shared responsibility and intersectoral coordination are considered constituting elements of these new governance models in forestry (Hogl et al., 2008a,b; Secco et al., 2011), thus mirroring trends in the governance of natural
resources, namely: (a) the involvement of an enlarged set of actors in order to define and ensure the effectiveness of key measures, and (b) ‘procedures to choose and foster desirable states as needed’ (Newig and Kvarda, 2012: 29) (Ref. 1).
Novelty level of the innovation
Unknown
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
Unknown
Replicability/Transferability
Unknown
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
Unknown
Impacts, benefits
Environmental impacts
Climate change
Strengthened capacity to address climate hazards/natural disasters
Water management and blue areas
Increased protection against flooding
Green space and habitat
Increased green space area
Increase in protected green space areas
Increased number of protection areas
Description of environmental benefits
Climate change:
-Strengthened capacity to address climate hazards/natural disasters: Risk prevention management studies undertaken (Ref. 3).

Water management and blue areas:
-Increased protection against flooding: "Increase the size of natural flood plains, floodwater conduits and basins. Think of flood risk management in terms of watersheds, not organisational structures" (Ref. 5).

Green space and habitat:
-Increased green space area: Rejuvenation of tree stands (Ref. 1).
-Increase in the number of protection areas/Increase in protected green space areas: Re-creation of protected areas in privately-owned and community forests (Ref. 1).
Economic impacts
Unknown
Description of economic benefits
Unknown
Social and cultural impacts
Social justice and cohesion
Increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
Increased sustainability of agriculture practices
Education
Increased support for education and scientific research
Description of social and cultural benefits
Social justice and cohesion:
-Increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces: "The forum has three meetings, at which the following should
happen:
(a) information and exchange, after which the distinct stakeholder
groups meet individually for opinion making;
(b) joint discussion and development of project-related suggestions; and
(c) after another external round of opinion making and interest
accommodation, a list of feasible measures is defined, and
implementation can start" (Ref. 1).
-Improvement of sustainable agriculture practices: Introduction of silvicultural measures (Ref. 1).

Education
-Support education and scientific research: "3 years of research and collaboration on
• Climate change and water regime
• Natural hazard mapping
• Risk management
New methods and recommendations
tested in pilot projects and networking initiatives" (Ref. 5). "educating key experts and risk-managers, the general public (and especially young people) is key to creating cooperation and communication" (Ref. 5).
Type of reported impacts
Achieved impacts
Indicators
Unknown
Environmental, social and economic impacts
Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
Water management (SDG 6)
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Environmental quality
Inclusive and effective governance (SDG 16)
Analysis of specific impact categories
Job creation: The NBS created ...
No information available
Negative impacts: Did the project cause any problems or concerns?
No information was found regarding negative impacts of the project
COVID-19 pandemic
This project concluded prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Methods of impact monitoring
Process of recording NBS impacts
Collection of monitoring data at specific time intervals during the project to aid evaluation
Methods used to evaluate the impacts of NBS
Measurements of biophysical aspects of the NBS (e.g. temperature, water flow)
Where can this data be accessed? Please include a link to a report or web-page.
http://www.progettostrada.net/media/convegni/Workshop_14_12_2011/Korck_AdaptAlp…
Evidence for use of assessment
Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process
Yes
Presence of indicators used in reporting
Yes
Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports
Yes
Link to monitoring/evaluation reports
http://web.archive.org/web/20110724224632/http://www.adaptalp.org/index.php?opt…
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
Yes
Link to a web-based monitoring tool
https://keep.eu/projects/11686/
Impact assessment mechanism
Name of any specific impact assessment tools
Unknown
Link to the output of assessments
http://www.progettostrada.net/media/convegni/Workshop_14_12_2011/Korck_AdaptAlp…
Use of GIS in mapping impacts
Yes
Link to GIS monitoring data
http://web.archive.org/web/20110724224632/http://www.adaptalp.org/index.php?opt…
Citizen involvement
Citizens involvement in assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Citizens involvement in the analysis of the assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Follow-up to the evaluation / assessment
Unknown
References
Web links relevant to the intervention
New modes of governance in Bavaria's alpine forests: The ‘Mountain Forest Initi…
Pro Natur & Klima - Projektdatenbank
AdaptAlp
Pilot Actions and Synthesis
The AdaptAlp Project: Impacts of Climate Change on Alpine Water Regimes -Result…
New modes of governance in Bavaria's alpine forests: The ‘Mountain Forest Initi…
Programme 2007-2013 in short
List of references
1. Böhling, K., Arzberger, M. B. (2014). New modes of governance in Bavaria's alpine forests: The ‘Mountain
Forest Initiative’ at work. Available at: https://mediatum.ub.tum.de/doc/1280819/1280819.pdf (Accessed: November 1, 2020).
2. Bundesamt fur Naturschutz (n.d.). Pro Natur & Klima - Projektdatenbank. Available at: https://www.bfn.de/themen/klimawandel-und-biodiversitaet/naturschutz-und-klimawandel/beitrag-des-naturschutzes/pro-natur-klima-projektdatenbank.html (Accessed: November 1, 2020).
3. AdaptAlp (n.d.). AdaptAlp Website. Available at: http://web.archive.org/web/20110724224023/http://www.adaptalp.org/ (Accessed: November 1, 2020).
4. AdaptAlp (2008). Pilot Actions and Synthesis. Available at: http://web.archive.org/web/20110724224807/http://www.adaptalp.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=55&Itemid=75 (Accessed: November 1, 2020).
5. Korck, Jane (n.d.). The AdaptAlp Project: Impacts of Climate Change on Alpine Water Regimes-Results and Strategies from AdaptAlp WP4. Available at: http://www.progettostrada.net/media/convegni/Workshop_14_12_2011/Korck_AdaptAlp.pdf (Accessed: November 1, 2020).
6. Böhling, K., Arzberger, M. (2014). New modes of governance in Bavaria's alpine forests: The ‘Mountain Forest Initiative’ at work. Available at: https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/forpol/v49y2014icp43-50.html (Accessed: November 1, 2020).
7. Alpine Space Programme (2013). Programme 2007-2013 in short. Available at: http://www.alpine-space.org/2007-2013/about-the-programme/asp-2007-2013/index.html (Accessed: November 1, 2020).
Additional comments
Bavarian Mountain Forest Initiative is a strategy/plan in itself. The measures within the Mountain Forest Initiative are developed locally: they are a result of the collaboration of local authorities, community groups, and different types of local stakeholders (Ref. 1).
Comments and notes
Comments
Bavarian Mountain Forest Initiative is a strategy/plan in itself. The measures within the Mountain Forest Initiative are developed locally: they are a result of the collaboration of local authorities, community groups, and different types of local stakeholders (Ref. 1).

Section 1: City-wide initiative is selected because the project is a widespread strategy and exact geographic extent is not indicated.
http://www.adaptalp.org/ was previously listed as the intervention website. As of November 1, 2020, the website appears to have no association with the NBS and is focused on promoting STEM subjects to youth.
Additional insights
AdaptAlp project carried out the assessment (see the link to the presentation below), however the concrete assessment for this project was not found. Different methodological approaches were tested in each region: from analysis of historical data and events to a mapping of hazard zones, as well as intensive communication of potential risks relating to the natural hazard event in those municipalities involved in the project (Ref. 4).
Public Images
Mountains with buildings in a field in the foreground
http://www.alpine-space.org/2007-2013/about-the-programme/asp-2007-2013/index.html