MUST DEFINE: Using a MUltiple STakeholder Dialog and Experiments to reFINE the Swedish Strategic Management Objectives for forest buffers along streams

In 2013, the forest sector’s first Strategic Management Objectives (SMOs) for environmental consideration were published.

In respect to water protection, the SMOs specify six ecosystem objectives that should be achieved with riparian buffer management.

However, no clear and measurable targets for riparian and aquatic protection are indicated in the SMOs, leading to buffers made up of single species, single storied strips of 1-2 rows of trees that easily blow down.

Further, only limited operational instructions to create buffers that fulfill all the functions listed in the SMOs are provided.

We argue that measurable targets with instructions for how to meet them would help practitioners improve water protection. The main objective of MUST DEFINE is to facilitate a dialog aimed at refining the targets of SMOs for riparian buffers.

These targets must be specific, quantifiable, and clear about what they should conserve in terms of biodiversity and ecosystem function. Moreover, we will establish several demonstration sites showing different management options within riparian buffers.

These demonstration sites will be a guide for how to create a buffer that will optimize the SMOs, as well as provide the first empirical evidence of how novel riparian buffer designs help meet targets identified in the SMOs.

Our team is uniquely positioned to do this because we represent leading researchers in the field, the managing authority for forestry issues, and an industry stakeholder.