Launch of the GLFx South Coast Guatemala Chapter, an initiative of the Private Institute for Research on Climate Change (ICC), the National Forests Institute (INAB) and IUFRO

As part of the celebration for the renewal of the agreement between ICC and INAB for five more years, on Wednesday, 1 June, a reforestation day was held with the South Coast Restoration Network of Guatemala in Santa Lucia Cotzumalguapa, Escuintla. The event offered an ideal setting for presenting the GLFx South Coast Guatemala Chapter.

During the reforestation day 300 trees were planted with a symbolic meaning: to highlight the joint work that ICC and INAB have done since 2011, including the implementation of 590 nurseries, the production of more than 9 million trees, and the creation of the South Coast Restoration Network of Guatemala, in which government actors, private sector, academia, municipalities, NGOs, communities and international partners participate. The event was attended by authorities and members of the ICC, INAB, the Madre Tierra sugar production company, and the Southwest University Center - CUNSUROC of the University of San Carlos of Guatemala - USAC, among others. 

The GLFx South Coast Guatemala Chapter aims at promoting forest landscape restoration in the Pacific lowlands of Guatemala and sharing experiences regionally and globally. It is an initiative of ICC, INAB and IUFRO that communicates the activities that are carried out by the South Coast Restoration Network in the Pacific lowlands of Guatemala to contribute to the restoration of the forest landscape of the country. The Chapter is part of GLFx, the Global Landscapes Forum's network of community-led Chapters and online communities of practice (CoPs) to accelerate local action towards more sustainable landscapes.

Regarding the GLFx South Coast Guatemala chapter, Alex Guerra Noriega, Ph.D., General Director of the ICC, mentioned that many efforts have been made that have not been adequately disseminated at the local, national and much less at the international level; so, as a member of the South Coast Restoration Network, he thinks it is very valuable to disseminate and share local experiences to motivate other groups to contribute to the forest restoration of our ecosystems.

"The chapter is a space where we can share many experiences and learn from groups from other countries, but also, being able to share our experience in a tropical and humid place is valuable. It is important that we join forces and learn from each other," commented Alex Guerra.

"IUFRO has been key to our experience and to helping us connect with other groups around the world; this year, by supporting the establishment of this Chapter to communicate what we have been doing for several years, bringing together different actors: communities, government institutions, companies, and universities, among others. We believe that we can learn a lot from other Chapters and that our experience can be valuable for other countries," added Alex Guerra, while thanking for the support in the creation of the Chapter for the Restoration Network.

Financial support for the Chapter is provided by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV).

Find out more and watch an introductory video at: https://www.iufro.org/science/special/spdc/netw/glfxgt/

This article was originally published at  https://glfx.globallandscapesforum.org/news/797258  and has been slightly adapted by the editor of IUFRO News.

Vienna, Austria, 21-23 September 2022 - Registration open!

The in-person/hybrid conference will address the following themes: Forests and Human Health – A One Health Perspective; Bioeconomy; Forest Degradation and Restoration; Gender (un-)Equal Networking of IUFRO;
Forest Genetic Resources for Future Resilient Forests; Forest and Water
Click to visit the conference website: https://www.iufro.org/events/all-iufro-conference-2022/

Report from a webinar on 30 May associated with the Stockholm +50 Conference

Fifty years after the landmark 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment - the first ever UN conference on the environment - Stockholm was once again the gathering point to take stock of the state of the human environment and collectively brainstorm on how to move forward. Amidst a global pandemic and a triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss, there was a renewed sense of urgency around "implementation, implementation, implementation" predicated on fairness and inclusion.
Continue at: https://enb.iisd.org/stockholm50-summary  

In the course of a webinar associated with the Stockholm+50 conference, FAO and Members of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF), including IUFRO, discussed interfaces between protection, restoration and sustainable use of forests as building blocks for a green recovery. Together they can conserve nature, better provide for human well-being, and contribute to inclusive recovery, build resilient and sustainable economies. Important commitments regarding the world's forests have been made, yet more action is necessary to scale up forest pathways as outlined in the State of the World's Forests (SOFO) 2022 https://www.fao.org/publications/sofo/2022/en/ and for making development work with the environment, especially in rural areas.

After opening remarks provided by Maria Helena Semedo, Deputy Director-General of FAO, and an introductory speech by IUFRO President John Parrotta, four panelists were given the floor and presented country cases:
Johan Ekeström, Burapha Agro-Forestry in Laos
Petri Heino, a forester who has worked many years in the promotion of Finnish wood construction
Gabriela Violeta Soto Nilo, Department for Climate Change and Environmental Services at the National Forestry Cooperation (CONAF), Chile; and
Cécile Ndjebet, Cameroon, 2022 Wangari Maathai Forest Champion, African Women's Network for Community Management of Forests (REFACOF).
Mirey Attalah, Coordinator Nature for Climate Branch at the UN Environment Programme presented concluding reflections.

IUFRO President John Parrotta set the scene by further elaborating on the three building blocks: Protection, restoration and sustainable use of forests. He pointed out that "despite their well-document importance to people and our future, forests continue to be lost or degraded in many parts of the world, and those who depend on them most directly are the first to suffer as a result.  Clearly, the central role of forests in supporting life on this planet is not adequately valued by many governments and others whose investments and land management activities in other sectors currently drive deforestation and forest degradation."

"However, there is a lot of good work and progress being made," John Parrotta said, "for example, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides an important framework for policy coordination and planning at the national level, recognizing the interdependencies among Sustainable Development Goals."

The webinar was moderated by IUFRO Executive Director Alexander Buck and can be rewatched at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6Xz3KJYezg

Report by Xiping Wang, USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, Coordinator of IUFRO Research Group 5.01.00 Wood and Fiber Quality https://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-5/50000/50100/, and Alexis Achim of Université Laval, Coordinator, IUFRO Working Party 5.01.04 Wood Quality Modeling
https://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-5/50000/50100/50104/

The 22nd International Nondestructive Testing and Evaluation (NDTE) of Wood Symposium was held on May 24-27, 2022, at Université Laval in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada (https://www.ndtesymposium.org/). The event was co-hosted by the Renewable Materials Research Center (CRMR) of Université Laval, the USDA Forest Service Forest Products Laboratory (FPL), the Forest Products Society (FPS), and sponsored by (IUFRO) RG 5.01.00 Wood and Fiber Quality, Mississippi State University and FPInnovations. Originally scheduled for May 2021, the conference was postponed for one year due to the global pandemic. This was the first NDTE symposium to be held in a hybrid mode: In-person + Virtual.

The goal of this NDTE of Wood Symposium was to disseminate information on the latest research advances and improvements in the field of wood quality and non-destructive testing and bridge the gap between research and practical applications. This event brought together a variety of interest groups ranging from wood formation, structure, physics, chemistry, to wood utilization. All, however, share the common goal of understanding the fundamental properties of wood materials, examining how environment, silviculture, genetics, and other factors affect these properties, and how the property changes and variations influence the utilization of wood resources.

After opening comments by Dr. Alexis Achim, the co-chair of the 22nd symposium, participants were welcomed by Dr. Robert Beauregard, the Executive Vice Rector of Academic and Student Affairs at Université Laval. The Symposium's general session included keynote presentations providing an overview of recent research and development on in-forest wood quality assessments and the cutting-edge research on industrial CT scanning of wood materials.

A total of 48 scientists, technology developers, practitioners and students from 17 countries (Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Ethiopia, Germany, Hungary, Iran, Japan, Latvia, Nigeria, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United States) attended the event (Photo 1). From among these, 34 attended in person and 24 attended online. In addition to the general session, the program included six technical sessions, one poster session, and one mixed online session to accommodate individuals who could not attend in person due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 49 technical presentations were delivered during the 3-day conference, including 47 oral presentations and 2 poster presentations.

The technical content of the symposium has been captured in 324 pages of proceedings, which can be accessed from the FPL website https://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgtr/fpl_gtr290.pdf or from CRMR's website (CRMR_Université Laval https://www.ulaval.ca/la-recherche/unites-de-recherche/centres-de-recherche-reconnus/centre-de-recherche-sur-les-materiaux-renouvelables-crmr).

During the symposium's banquet, special recognition awards were presented to Dr. Alexis Achim, Professor at Université Laval and Director of the Renewable Materials Research Centre in Canada, for his leadership as a co-chair in organizing the event, and to Ms. Claude Durocher and Dr. Rosilei Garcia, Research Associates at Université Laval, for their supporting efforts. Special recognition awards were also presented to Dr. R. Bruce Allison for his distinguished service in the symposium series and efforts to extend the field of nondestructive evaluation to practicing arborists and to Mr. Frank Rinn for his outstanding technology transfer efforts in the field of nondestructive evaluation of wood. Following the 3-day technical sessions, a post-symposium tour of Old Quebec from the perspective of wooden heritage was organized and guided by a historian and an architect specialized in heritage.

Prior to the Symposium, a technical workshop "Nondestructive Testing and Evaluation of Wood for Cultural Uses" was held at the CRMR of Université Laval (Photo 2). It included coursework by Dr. Robert Ross of USDA FPL on the state-of-the-art in NDE as applied to historic artifacts and structures; a presentation by Ms. Laurence Boudreault of CRMR on black ash as a culturally important species for basketry in Waban-Aki Nation; and a presentation by Dr. Martin Simard of Center for Northern Studies, Canada on dating historic buildings.

The 23rd International NDTE of Wood Symposium will be held in Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil!  Dr. Raquel Gonçalves, professor at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) will be the local host! Stay tuned for further information.

Report by Sandra Rodriguez, Coordinator Joint IUFRO-IFSA Task Force on Forest Education https://www.iufro.org/science/task-forces/forest-education/

Forest ecosystems provide many products and services and, thus, support the economy and the livelihoods of more than 300 million people around the world. However, traditional business models have jeopardized the ability of forests to recover from disruption. Therefore, it is necessary to find alternatives for operating forest-related businesses. The concept of social forest entrepreneurship aims to promote sustainable production and consumption and, thus, contributes to increasing the quality of life of forest dwellers and stakeholders. 

The training course that took place on 1 May 2022 in the context of the World Forestry Congress in Seoul, Korea, was attended by 20 participants from 12 different countries. It was organized by the Joint IUFRO-IFSA Task Force on Forest Education and the Task Force Unlocking the Bioeconomy and Non-timber Forest Products https://www.iufro.org/science/task-forces/bioeconomy-and-non-timber-forest-products/ with kind support from Reforestamos Mexico, IFSA and the Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua, Mexico.

The training emphasized the need for foresters to listen to communities and understand that different groups of people have different sets of values that frame how they access and use the forest. It also stressed the importance to communicate with other stakeholders, to investigate non-timber forest products, and to propose solutions that can be integrated into sustainable forest value chains.

Evaluations by students confirmed that the topic was relevant and that there was a demand for continuing this type of training in greater depth and allocating more time to it. The students also highlighted three main lessons learned during the workshop:

• The importance of youth in creating nature-based solutions
• The power of entrepreneurship to transform the business as usual in the forest sector
• The importance of recognizing the myriad of forest goods and services that can be capitalized to contribute to enhancing people's quality of life

Pre-Congress Event at the XV World Forestry Congress Seoul, South Korea. Report by Sheila Ward, Deputy Coordinator of IUFRO WP 1.02.04 https://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-1/10000/10200/10204/, and Coordinator of IUFRO WP 4.02.01 https://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-4/40000/40200/40201/

This workshop was held on 1 May 2022 in the context of the World Forestry Congress in Korea, with twelve in-person participants from the International Forestry Students' Association (IFSA, https://ifsa.net/). The workshop was offered by the International Society of Tropical Foresters (ISTF, https://tropicalforesters.org/). The workshop focused on how to prepare an application for the ITTO Fellowship program. Workshop participants hailed from the Philippines, Germany, Serbia, Italy, Madagascar, Indonesia, Korea, USA (Puerto Rico), India and Colombia.

The students heard the particulars of the ITTO program from Sheila Ward (ISTF; photo) and Takumi Akama, former Fellowship Assistant at the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO, https://www.itto.int/). Sandra Rodriguez-Piñeros, ITTO Fellowship recipient and Co-coordinator of the Joint IUFRO-IFSA Task Force on Forest Education https://www.iufro.org/science/task-forces/forest-education/, offered her thoughts on a good application.

Participants then broke up into small groups to help each other develop answers to questions posed by the ITTO application. These included 1) What activity will you apply for under the fellowship (conferences, training, technical document preparation, graduate studies, etc.)? 2) What professional benefit do you expect to derive from FAO fellowship support for the intended project? 3) How will the work I do under the fellowship contribute to the ITTO plan and mission? and 4) How will I disseminate the information resulting from the fellowship to enhance sustainable forest management in my home country?

Hopefully the students went away from the workshop with a better idea of what the fellowship application entailed and good starts on the answers to these questions. One piece of advice was to start the application well in advance of the deadline!

Maria Paula Sarigumba, Vice-president of ISTF, and Nick Brokaw, ISTF member, assisted students with questions. The main resource person for the workshop was Sheila Ward, Executive Director of ISTF, Associate Coordinator of IUFRO WP 1.02.04, and Coordinator of IUFRO WP 4.02.01.

Report by PK Thulasidas, Deputy Coordinator, IUFRO Working Party 5.06.02 - Utilization of planted teak https://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-5/50000/50600/50602/

The International Teak Information Network (TEAKNET, http://teaknet.org/) successfully organized a Side Event titled "New opportunities for the Teak Sector in the post-COVID Scenario" in, Seoul, Republic of Korea, on 5 May 2022 at FAO's XV World Forestry Congress. The Side Event was organized by TEAKNET in association with IUFRO's teakwood Working Party and ITTO Japan in a hybrid mode, which enabled participants to join remotely from different time zones across the globe. The session was moderated by Dr. S. Sandeep, TEAKNET Coordinator. Some 40 participants from different countries attended the Side Event.

Teak is one of the most valuable tropical hardwoods in the world. As part of the sustainable management of teak resources, TEAKNET is currently collaborating with ITTO Japan in the implementation of ITTO's Teak Mekong project in the Greater Mekong sub-region. The specific objectives of the session were to examine the multiple aspects of sustainable teak management in the Mekong sub-region and the impacts of climate change on natural teak forests; to showcase the good practices of conservation, management and sustainable use of teakwood products, and to give an update of the forthcoming 4th World Teak Conference (WTC) in Ghana during 5-8 Sept 2022.

Dr. Michael Kleine, Deputy Executive Director of IUFRO, highlighted in his (virtual) welcome remarks the longstanding association of IUFRO with TEAKNET in support of its activities. Over the years, IUFRO through its Special Programme for Development of Capacities (IUFRO-SPDC, https://www.iufro.org/science/special/spdc/) has repeatedly provided financial resources for the participation of forest scientists in scientific events and conferences organized by TEAKNET such as past World Teak Conferences (WTC) in Thailand and Ecuador and will continue its support for the upcoming WTC in Accra, Ghana during September 2022.

Read the full report at: https://www.iufro.org/fileadmin/material/science/divisions/div5/50602/wfc2021-korea-teaknet-side-event-report.pdf

Find out about the upcoming WTC in Ghana: https://www.worldteakconference2020.com/
Further reading: The Global Teak Study. Analysis, Evaluation and Future Potential of Teak Resources (2017):
https://www.iufro.org/publications/series/world-series/article/2017/06/21/world-series-vol-36-the-global-teak-study-analysis-evaluation-and-future-potential-of-teak-reso/

Report by Robert Bardon, Deputy Coordinator, IUFRO Working Party 9.01.03 - Extension and knowledge exchange https://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-9/90000/90100/90103/

The IUFRO – Extension & Knowledge Exchange 2022 Conference titled "Knowledge Exchange for the Modern Era: Empowering People / Providing Solutions" took place on April 26, May 3, and May 10, 2022, via Zoom, and was kindly hosted by North Carolina State University, USA. A total of 56 participants from Canada, Columbia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Nigeria, Scotland, Slovenia, United States watched the webinar.

Extension plays a key role in empowering individuals and communities to take action. This virtual conference, conducted over three sessions, celebrated the successes of what extensionists do every day in their 'extension' lives. The conference offered opportunities to learn from each other and build strong partnerships from local to international.

Key topics included:

• Adaptive Learning Models
• Training Techniques and Technologies
• Engaging Traditional and Underserved Audiences
• Citizen Science, Crowdsourcing, and Public Engagement

The three separate sessions were attended by IUFRO members from several countries and time zones. The presentations were very well received, and discussions were lively and educational. The attendees were unanimous in their appreciation and support of the conference host (Dr. Robert Bardon), and the conference planning committee. A short business meeting was held and the IUFRO EKE members from Italy and Slovenia jointly agreed to host IUFRO EKE in Trieste, Italy in the fall of 2023.

The presentations were recorded and are available on the EKE website at:
https://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-9/90000/90100/90103/publications/

Report by Bianca N.I. Eskelson, Coordinator of IUFRO Research Group 4.01.00 Forest Mensuration and Modelling https://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-4/40000/40100/

The IUFRO 4.01.00 webinar series "Forest Mensuration and Modelling Chats" highlights forest mensuration and modelling research across a variety of research areas and allows for scientific exchange across the globe, while ongoing travel restrictions related to COVID-19 make the organization of in-person meetings challenging.
The latest two webinars in the series were held in April and May 2022 and focused on "Forest carbon modelling: challenges and examples from Canada" (27 April) and "Building your single-tree simulator in R with SiTree" (30 May), respectively.

The Forest Carbon Modelling webinar attracted 30 participants from Chile, Canada, USA, Germany, Nigeria, Peru, Uganda, Norway, Brazil and was kindly hosted by the University of British Columbia, Canada. Dr. Céline Boisvenue, Research Scientist with the Canadian Forest Service, provided an overview of forest carbon modelling in the Canadian Forest Service. She presented her current efforts that aim at improving how forest carbon is modelled through flexible and transparent methods, with a specific example where regionally fitted, trait-based biomass accumulation modelling (LandR Biomass_core model) can inform carbon dynamics.

Rewatch: Webinar of IUFRO Research Group 4.01.00 - Forest mensuration and modelling; 27 April 2022 – YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrD1cpNaxCs  

The Single-tree Simulator webinar had 42 participants from Bhutan, Taiwan, South Africa, Germany, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Finland, USA, Sweden, Chile, Norway, Thailand, Turkey, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Nepal, India, and Peru. It was also kindly hosted by the University of British Columbia.

Dr. Clara Antón Fernández, Research Scientist with the Division of Forest and Forest Resources, NIBIO (Norwegian Institute for Bioeconomy Research), Norway, provided an overview of SiTree, a single-tree simulator that she built in R.

Vignettes
https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/sitree/vignettes/SiTree.html  
https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/sitree/vignettes/TestEquations.html   
Code ocean capsule https://codeocean.com/capsule/3789289/tree  

Find a collection of forest science and forestry functions, data and vignettes by Carl Vigren (SLU) github:
https://github.com/Silviculturalist/forester/tree/main

Rewatch at: Webinar of IUFRO Research Group 4.01.00 - Forest mensuration and modelling; 30 May 2022 – YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEFsmk3l0zY  

Find out about previous and upcoming webinars at:
https://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-4/40000/40100/activities/

Report by Rasoul Yousefpour & Marielle Brunette, Coordinator and Deputy-Coordinator of IUFRO Working Party 4.04.07 - Risk analysis https://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-4/40000/40400/40407/

The conference held in Nancy, France, on 31 May – 2 June 2022 was kindly supported by INRAE, Labex ARBRE, BETA lab (Bureau of Theoretical and Applied Economics) and AgroParisTech. It was attended by 35 participants from France, Germany, UK, Denmark, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Serbia, Myanmar, Brazil and Turkey. Meeting website: https://workshop.inrae.fr/iufro-risk-analysis-nancy/

This international conference focused on potential conflicts emanating from the divergences in terms of expectations that various actors have of the forest. The expectations of society, in particular, can sometimes be in conflict with forest expectations in terms of ecology or economy. Thus, public access to a forest can be facilitated (construction of access roads, recreational areas, etc.) to the detriment of the preservation of biodiversity. However, expectations can also converge, when society is more and more inclined to use wood, which again is in line with the economic expectations placed on the forestry sector. This means that interests can be either convergent or divergent between the various actors of the society.

The risks associated with conflict situations can generate inertia and "non-action", which is undesirable in a context of climate change. Indeed, forests have a role to play in terms of mitigation and for this they must adapt. These conflicts could then generate "non-adaptation" or "bad adaptation", which would be harmful. This multi-disciplinary theme definitely led to interesting and varied presentations. The conference managed to focus attention on all the issues mentioned above and, thus, to truly address emerging topics in forestry.

Key topics of the conference included:

• Multiple risks in forests and their future patterns to be dealt with
• Statistical approaches to analyze big data and learn from past and recent events
• Forest management approaches to realize multi-functional forests
• Forest sector interactions with other sectors such as water, infrastructure
• Global biodiversity issues
• Socio-economy of forest management in 21st century
• Forest insurance schemes
• Payment for ecosystem services

Participants concluded that most of the nature-based solutions involving forests are not based on scientific findings and quantitative results, but mostly on agreements between supply and demand parties. Novel technologies and modelling approaches can support better decision-making processes regarding forest resources especially when dealing with the risks and uncertainties inherent in long term forest decision making. Participants evaluated the main disturbance agents throughout European forest landscapes including fire, wind and insects and concluded that the new adaptation measures are essential to safeguard ecosystem health and services.

Selected papers will be published in a topical collection in Springer Journal "Annals of Forest Science".

Professor Kazuo Suzuki is a well-known forest scientist, who was a professor of Mycology and Forest Pathology at the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Tokyo, Japan from 1983 to 2005, where he became a professor emeritus in 2005. He was a professor at Nihon University from 2005 to 2007, and President of the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (FFPRI) of Japan from 2007 to 2015. He was a member of the Science Council in Japan from 2000 to 2011.

Between 1991 and 2003 he organized annual workshops and conferences of Biotechnology Assisted Reforestation (BIO-REFOR) as director and/or coordinator in cooperation with IUFRO. The BIO-REFOR project fully supported by Japan assisted in the building of reforestation capacities among young scientists from developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region. From 1996 to 2000 he was Deputy Coordinator and from 2001 to 2005 Coordinator of IUFRO Division 7 "Forest Health". Professor Suzuki has been leading and/or advising IUFRO-J (a group of IUFRO member institutes in Japan) since 1991, thus greatly contributing to IUFRO for more than 15 years.

During a ceremony on 30 May, Dr. Nakashizuka (on the photo to the right of Professor Suzuki), International Council Representative of IUFRO, read the Citation and handed over the certificate of the award to Professor Suzuki. Dr. Tsuboyama, Alternate Representative, presented the trophy, and Dr. Toma explained the trophy story (and kindly provided the photo).

At the end of the ceremony, Professor Suzuki made a short speech, "In forest and forestry research, it is essential to have the experience of feeling with the body. At the same time, it is necessary to review the rules and principles of the past. Just as the professional Shogi player Sota Fujii is breaking the traditional winning strategies by utilizing AI, a new way of looking at things that are not based on conventional concepts is also necessary for forest and forestry research. For this purpose, the power of every individual is essential, and I hope that each of you will enjoy yourselves as you pursue your research and return the results to society."

Dr. Mariko Inoue of the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (FFPRI) Japan received an award for her work "Forest education for sustainable use of natural resources" from the Japanese Forest Society. Dr. Inoue is among the first female scientists to receive this award.

She has led the study of forest education in Japan and has systematically and theoretically reviewed vocational, professional, and environmental education for the general public including children. She argues that more practical applications for a sustainable society should be taken into consideration and in addition launched some forest education practices for the general public.

Through IUFRO, Dr. Inoue, who is a former Deputy Coordinator of IUFRO Research Group 6.09.00 - Forest Education, brought forest education in Japan to the attention of the international community. https://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-6/60000/60900/

Congratulations to IUFRO Immediate Past President Mike Wingfield, who received an honorary doctorate from the University of the Free State, South Africa, where he began his academic career. Prof. Wingfield is the founding director of the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI) established at the University of Pretoria in 1998, stepping down from this position at the end of 2017 after 20 years. Currently, he serves as adviser to the Executive of the University of Pretoria and conducts research both in South Africa and globally.

Dr. Daniel Murdiyarso, Principal Scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) was bestowed with the honorary degree of Doctor Honoris Causa by the University of Helsinki, the oldest and largest university in Finland, on June 17, 2022. Dr. Murdiyarso, the only Indonesian scientist to ever receive this honorary degree, has been working in the agriculture and forestry field for more than 30 years. He was among the lead authors of the IUFRO-GFEP 2018 Global Assessment Report "Forest and Water on a Changing Planet: Vulnerability, Adaptation and Governance Opportunities". https://www.iufro.org/science/gfep/gfep-initiative/panel-on-forests-and-water/

On 13 June 2022, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) bestowed the Champion Award to the Brazilian Agriculture Research Corporation (Embrapa) whose "widely recognized and well proven track record in research and development, providing innovation, training and agritech solutions," was acknowledged by the FAO Awards Selection Committee. The Champion Award is FAO's highest honor.

Dr. Yeda Maria Malheiros de Oliveira of Embrapa Forestry Research participated actively in the application process for the 2021-2022 Champion Award. She was the co-Chair of the 2019 IUFRO World Congress in Curitiba, and Embrapa Forestry Research is a member organization of IUFRO.

IUFRO congratulates its Member Organization Scion on its 75th anniversary!

Since it was established in 1947, the Forest Research Institute, which is now called Scion, has played a significant role in forest research for New Zealand.

This year, the Crown Research Institute (CRI) turns 75 and continues to deliver impact for New Zealand, not just across the forestry sector, but also in the area of biomaterials, bioenergy, waste and ecosystem services. This evolution represents the increasing importance of forests, and Scion's commitment to enhancing New Zealand's prosperity, wellbeing and environment through trees. Continue at: https://www.scionresearch.com/about-us/news-and-events/news/2022-news-and-media-releases/scion-celebrates-75-years-of-forest-science-impact

Remembering Harold "Pete" Steen (1935–2022)

The Forest History Society sadly reported the passing of Harold K. "Pete" Steen, a former executive director of FHS. Dr. Steen's major research interest was in the history of forestry and related areas including forest management, forest policy and administration, forest sector development, biographies, forest research and conservation, wildlife and other topics. Harold Karl Steen received the IUFRO Distinguished Service Award in 1998 for his long and outstanding leadership of IUFRO's work in Forest History in Division 6.

Forests, Trees and the Eradication of Poverty: A Special Issue in Forest Policy and Economics
Article by Dikshya Devkota, GFEP Project Manager

A Special Issue: Forests, Trees, and the Eradication of Poverty: Potential and Limitations was recently published in Forest Policy and Economics. The articles in the Special Issue derive from the latest Global Forest Expert Panels (GFEP https://www.iufro.org/science/gfep/) assessment on Forests and Poverty (IUFRO World Series Vol. 39 https://www.iufro.org/science/gfep/gfep-initiative/panel-on-forests-and-poverty/), published by the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO).

The IUFRO-led CPF joint initiative, GFEP, provides a mechanism for effectively communicating scientific information and expertise to governments and intergovernmental processes related to forests and trees. The core activity of the GFEP initiative is global reports and accompanying policy briefs prepared by a panel of thematic experts on key forest-related issues. Since its initiation in 2007, the GFEP initiative has completed seven thematic reports on Climate Change (2009), International Forest Governance (2011), REDD+ (2012), Food Security (2015), Illegal Timber Trade (2016), Forests and Water (2018), and Forests and Poverty (2020).

This Special Issue and the GFEP assessment on Forests and Poverty uncover the potential of forests and tree-based systems to contribute to achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 1: No Poverty. They synthesize available scientific evidence on the role of forests and tree-based systems to alleviate and, ultimately, eradicate poverty. The publications also highlight key messages and implications for decision-makers as well as areas where further research is needed.

Evidence shows that forests and tree-based systems can support rural livelihoods, provide a buffer function in maintaining livelihoods, and represent natural insurance against external and global shocks such as climate change impacts or infectious diseases. Although forests and trees have the potential to contribute to poverty alleviation, their benefits to human well-being and the costs of their exploitation are unevenly distributed. It is, therefore, vital that policy and management measures are tailored to each specific context, rather than a 'one size fits all' approach.

Read the special issue, Forests, Trees, and the Eradication of Poverty: Potential and Limitations at:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/forest-policy-and-economics/special-issue/108M6M1C9XS  

Find more information about IUFRO's GFEP Programme, including all previous GFEP assessment reports and policy briefs, at:  https://www.iufro.org/science/gfep/  


Circularity Concepts in Forest-based Industries

The UNECE/FAO publication on "Circularity concepts in forest-based industries" focuses on the transition to forest-based products, from the fashion industry to plastics, and looks at what it means for industries to not only be circular but also sustainable and environmentally neutral in the long term.

This study analyses the existing and possible limitations to circular approaches in forest-based industries, namely the woodworking industry (focusing on sawn wood processing, bioenergy production and wood in construction), the furniture industry, the paper and pulp industry as well as industry using cellulose-based fibres and cellulose-based plastics.

Learn more and download at:  https://unece.org/info/publications/pub/367742  


Impacts of Climate Change on the Boreal Forest Ecosystem
Scientific Opinion of the Panel on Alien Organisms and Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment. ISBN: 978-82-8259-390-8

Climate change will lead to more extreme weather and forest damage, and in this century will significantly change Norwegian forests. Greater diversity of trees and other organisms can make the forest more robust and resistant to changes. This is the key message in a knowledge summary made by the Scientific Committee for Food and Environment (VKM) for the Norwegian Environment Agency.

"Based on the knowledge we have today, Norwegian forests will be moderately to heavily affected by climate change from now towards the end of the century. The degree of impact depends on whether greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase, stabilize, or decrease over the next decades," explains Kyrre Kausrud, scientific leader for the project.

The summary is based on a comprehensive review of scientific studies and covers most aspects of the structure of the forest ecosystem, including biodiversity, and function, such as carbon storage.
Publication link:  https://vkm.no/english/riskassessments/allpublications/climatechangeandeffectsontheforestecosystem.4.3ab0c18c17889d7716c94c99.html


NEW: The International Journal of Wood Culture

The International Journal of Wood Culture (IJWC) publishes papers on all aspects of wood and other plant materials such as bamboo, rattan, and bark and their role in art, culture and society in the past, present and future. IJWC was initiated as Wood Culture Journal in 2011 by the International Wood Culture Society (IWCS), a non-profit organization based in California, USA, and committed to the research, education and promotion of wood culture. IWCS and World Wood Day Foundation are the current sponsors of IJWC.

IJWC is a fully Open Access journal and uses Editorial Manager for online submission. The founding editor is Harvey Green, Northeastern University (emeritus professor), Boston, MA, USA. IUFRO Officeholders Michael Grabner (editor-in-chief) and Charlotte Chia-Hua are members of the editorial board.
https://brill.com/view/journals/ijwc/ijwc-overview.xml?language=en&msclkid=87801074d10e11ec8ccf29ee766c1fed

Further reading: Report from the World Wood Day (WWD) 2022 Virtual Event, 2022 WWD Online Symposium and the Fourth IUFRO Forest Products Culture Colloquium, 21-22 March, https://www.iufro.org/fileadmin/material/science/divisions/div5/51500/wwd22-dubai-report.pdf  


June 2022 CFA Newsletter

The June 2022 issue of the Commonwealth Forestry Association Newsletter includes a statement by IUFRO President John Parrotta following March's leading article "Response to COP26 and deforestation pledges" by Roger Leakey. In his statement Dr. Parrotta emphasizes the importance of the role that the forest science community is playing by providing decision makers and spatial planners with the knowledge required to make informed choices about the environmental, social and economic costs, benefits and trade-offs of forest and land management options.

Among other things, the newsletter highlights the situation of forestry education in Nigeria, presents a summary of the recent World Forestry Congress in Seoul, informs about forest restoration initiatives and the development of deforestation, and discusses the findings of the "2022 State of the World's Forests" report by FAO.

Link: https://www.iufro.org/fileadmin/material/discover/nb-CFA-Newsletter-June-2022.pdf


Ozone modelling and mapping for risk assessment: An overview of different approaches for human and ecosystems health
Authors (including IUFRO officeholders): Alessandra De Marco, Hector Garcia-Gomez, Alessio Collalti, Yusef Omidi Khaniabadi, Zhaozhong Feng, Chiara Proietti, Pierre Sicard, Marcello Vital, Alessandro Anav, Elena Paoletti
Environmental Research, Volume 211, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2022.113048

Continuous large-scale O3 concentrations measurement is crucial but may be unfeasible because of economic and practical limitations; therefore, quantifying the real impact of O3 over large areas is currently an open challenge. Thus, one of the final objectives of O3 modelling is to reproduce maps of continuous concentrations (both spatially and temporally) and risk assessment for human and ecosystem health. Authors reviewed the most relevant approaches used for O3 modelling and mapping starting from the simplest geo-statistical approaches and increasing in complexity up to simulations embedded into the global/regional circulation models, and pro and cons of each mode are highlighted.


The Plan B for Romania's Forests and Society

This publication edited by Alexandru Giurca and Daniel Paul Dima was a joint effort of 24 authors from seven countries who shared their views on how the Romanian forest-based bioeconomy can thrive. The project was supported by several international sponsors and organizations, including the European Forest Institute and the Transylvania University of Brasov (IUFRO Members). The book also contains an inspiring foreword from HRH The Prince of Wales.

The authors of the book propose that the European and Romanian forest-based bioeconomy narrative builds on three multifaceted pillars:
An integrated approach to natural resource management
A culture of innovation including both technological and social innovation
A multi-layered governance approach including a variety of stakeholders in the decision-making process
Find out more at:  https://bioeconomy-romania.info/  


Call for Manuscripts: Sustainable Land-Based Bioeconomy Development
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2022

Guest Editors: Dr. Stefanie Linser, Dr. Martin Greimel, Prof. Dr. Andreas Pyka
Details:  https://www.mdpi.com/journal/land/special_issues/land_bioeconomy

To give account of current approaches and implementations, the editors welcome paper contributions in the form of either empirical research or conceptual/theoretical works on selected perspectives of a land-based bioeconomy through policy analysis, literature reviews and indicator-based monitoring mainly in the following categories:

• Development of the bioeconomy concept
• Economic perspectives of a land-based bioeconomy
• Environmental concerns in a sustainable land-based bioeconomy
• Socio-cultural aspects in sustainable land-based bioeconomy development
• Transformational pathways for a knowledge-based sustainable bioeconomy development
• Monitoring, assessment and reporting approaches for a land-based bioeconomy

Call for Submissions: Special Issue of Forestist on 'Climate Change and Forest'
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2022

Forestist implements the open access publication model. The main topics are climate change; the impact of climate change on forests; forestry and carbon sequestration; land cover change effects on forestry and climate change; monitoring and reporting of climate change over forests; climate smart forestry; impact of climate change on forest management; carbon sequestration and forests interaction; carbon management in forests.
Date of publication: January 2023
Details:  https://forestist.org/EN


Call for Nomination of Experts to Review the 2023 Global Sustainable Development Report
Deadline for nominating experts: 20 July 2022

The Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR) is mandated by the United Nations Member States originally in "The Future We Want," the outcome of the 2012 "Rio +20" conference on sustainable development. Within the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, the GSDR contributes to the follow-up and review of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and provides a major input to the High-Level Political Forum. The next report is expected to be released in September 2023.

The International Science Council (ISC) and the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) are looking for experts to review the second-order draft of the 2023 Global Sustainable Development Report. Details:  https://council.science/nominations-gsdr-2023/