Managing forest peatsoils

Topic updates

31 January 2025

17 October 2024

Flash information on proposal numbers

The HORIZON-MISS-2024-SOIL-01 call was closed on the 8th October 2024.

137 proposals were submitted in response to this call. The breakdown per topic is indicated below:

HORIZON-MISS-2024-SOIL-01-08 (Managing forest peatsoils): 4 proposals

Evaluation results are expected to be communicated in January 2025.

Managing forest peatsoils

TOPIC ID: HORIZON-MISS-2024-SOIL-01-08

Type of grant: Call for proposals

General information

Programme: Horizon Europe Framework Programme (HORIZON)

Call: Research and Innovation and other actions to support the implementation of Mission 'A Soil Deal for Europe' (HORIZON-MISS-2024-SOIL-01)

Type of action: HORIZON-RIA HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions

Type of MGA: HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG]

Status: Forthcoming

Deadline model: single-stage

Planned Opening Date: 08 May 2024

Deadline dates: 08 October 2024 17:00 (Brussels time)

Topic description

ExpectedOutcome:

Activities under this topic will contribute to EU climate and nature protection policies and specifically respond to the Mission Soil specific objective 2 “Conserve and increase soil organic carbon stocks “, thereby supporting the implementation of the Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) Regulation ^[1] with respect to the inclusion of wetland restoration activities.

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• Improved access to knowledge and data on forest peatlands, their management, their role in carbon cycles and societal/economic/environmental values, contributing to the upscaling of carbon farming schemes and their certification under the proposed EU carbon removal certification framework ^[2].
• Management measures and innovative solutions for sustainable land and forest management are in place at the test locations to maintain and further enhance the status of forest peatlands.
• Forest managers and policymakers in EU Member States and Associated Coun can make better informed decisions on the basis of the assessment of the added value of peatland restoration approaches under different scenarios (different types of forests on peat soils) through enhanced monitoring of their benefits and trade-offs in terms of GHG emissions and removals, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, ecosystem services, and biodiversity.

Scope:

Peatlands can provide multiple ecosystem services such as timber production, climate regulation, water quality control, flood abatement, biodiversity conservation, as well as recreational benefits. However, this potential is compromised due to drainage. Alternative soil management practices for forest peat soils, in particular through the combination of rewetting techniques and forest management (with the exclusion of afforestation), have the potential to improve the environmental, climate and economic performance of peatlands, as well as reduce the impacts of forest harvesting on nutrient, sediment and dissolved organic carbon exports. In particular, practices are needed that effectively address trade-offs from forests multifunctionality and apply an integrated approach to their management (considering biodiversity, climate change challenges, bio-economy needs etc.). This topic does not cover agricultural emissions.

Proposed activities should:

• Establish demonstration(s) of sustainable, climate-positive and biodiversity-relevant forest management on peat soils, including rewetting;
• Assess the benefits of the practices regarding carbon sequestration, while taking into consideration any impacts of forest harvesting on nutrient, sediment and dissolved organic carbon exports from forest peat soils, thus providing information and indicators (such as baseline, quantification method, MRV) of the practices to maximise climate change mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity and other benefits.
• Improve monitoring techniques, including remote-sensing and field-data methods integrating technologies such as AI and robotics, and develop large-scale, minimally invasive GHG measurement facilities on re-wetted sites, to better assess biodiversity and climate aspects of forest management.
• Consider and assess the potential of demonstrated activities to be replicated and scaled up, particularly with a view to developing financial incentives under the EU certification framework, and to this end develop approaches and recommendations for policymakers and land managers.

The project(s) must implement the multi-actor approach and ensure an adequate involvement of the primary production sector and the wider forest-based value chain and all relevant actors (landowners, foresters, scientists, advisors, local/regional/national public authorities, industry, etc.) throughout the different stages of project development and implementation.

Proposals should include a dedicated task and appropriate resources to build on and collaborate with ongoing Horizon projects, notably MRV4SOC, MaRVIC, ALFAwetlands, WET HORIZONS, RESTORE4Cs and REWETand with projects to be supported through topics “HORIZON-CL6-2024-BIODIV-01-8: Conservation and protection of carbon-rich and biodiversity-rich forest ecosystems”, “HORIZON-CL6-2024-CLIMATE-01-2: Socio-economic, climate and environmental aspects of paludiculture", and "HORIZON-CL6-2024-CLIMATE-01-3: Paludiculture: large-scale demonstration“.

Where relevant, proposals should also build links with projects funded under the Mission “Adaptation to Climate Change”. Potentially, the projects funded under this topic could also cooperate with living labs and lighthouses that will be created in this and future calls of the Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’.

Proposals should demonstrate a route towards open access, longevity, sustainability and interoperability of knowledge/data and outputs, and between existing databases and models, through close collaboration with the Joint Research Centre’s EU Soil Observatory (EUSO), the upcoming EU Forest Observatory and the project SoilWISE. In particular, proposals should ensure that relevant data, maps and information can potentially be available publicly through the EUSO

[1]https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02018R0841-20230511

[2]Commission proposes certification of carbon removals (europa.eu)

General conditions

1. Admissibility conditions: described in Annex Aand Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes

Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System

2. Eligible countries: described in Annex Bof the Work Programme General Annexes

A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

3. Other eligibility conditions: described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes

Proposals must apply the multi-actor approach. See definition of the multi-actor approach in the introduction to this Mission.

The following exceptions apply: subject to restrictions for the protection of European communication networks.

4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion: described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes

5.Evaluation and award:

• Award criteria, scoring and thresholds are described in Annex Dof the Work Programme General Annexes

• Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual

• Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement: described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes

6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants: described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes

Specific conditions

7. Specific conditions: described in the specific topic of the Work Programme

Start submission

The submission system is planned to be opened on the date stated on the topic header.

Get support

Online Manualis your guide on the procedures from proposal submission to managing your grant.

Horizon Europe Programme Guidecontains the detailed guidance to the structure, budget and political priorities of Horizon Europe.

Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ– find the answers to most frequently asked questions on submission of proposals, evaluation and grant management.

Research Enquiry Service– ask questions about any aspect of European research in general and the EU Research Framework Programmes in particular.

National Contact Points (NCPs)– get guidance, practical information and assistance on participation in Horizon Europe. There are also NCPs in many non-EU and non-associated countries (‘third-countries’).

Enterprise Europe Network– contact your EEN national contact for advice to businesses with special focus on SMEs. The support includes guidance on the EU research funding.

IT Helpdesk–contact the Funding & Tenders Portal IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc.

European IPR Helpdeskassists you on intellectual property issues. CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk–the European Standards Organisationsadvise you how to tackle standardisation in your project proposal.

The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment– consult the general principles and requirements specifying the roles, responsibilities and entitlements of researchers, employers and funders of researchers.

Partner Search Serviceshelp you find a partner organisation for your proposal.