Interview with Professor Donald G. Hodges
Head of the Department of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries at the University of Tennessee, USA; IUFRO Division 4 Coordinator and Chair of the All-IUFRO Conference Scientific Committee

Don Hodges is the Coordinator of IUFRO Division 4 Forest Assessment, Modelling and Management https://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-4/. He is supported by a coordination team including Bianca Eskelson from the University of British Columbia, Canada, Temesgen Hailemariam from Oregon State University, USA, and Arne Pommerening from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Don is also the Chair of the Scientific Committee of the All-IUFRO Conference "Forests in a Volatile World – Global Collaboration to Sustain Forests and Their Societal Benefits", an in-person event with hybrid participation in Vienna, Austria, on 21-23 September 2022: https://www.iufro.org/events/all-iufro-conference-2022/

Professor Hodges, you are Head of the Department of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries at the University of Tennessee, USA. What made you decide to study forestry and become a scientist as a young person?

I spent most of my free time in the forest – hiking, hunting, and fishing. It just seemed like forestry was the obvious choice as a profession. I really didn't think about being a scientist, or going into research, until I was finishing my undergraduate degree. I enrolled in a seminar with a forest economics professor and that provided all the push I needed.

Do you think young people still find forestry, wildlife and fisheries an attractive career path? Can you share experiences from your university?

I think definitely so. I have seen a good deal of change in the motivations though. While we still attract a number of students with backgrounds similar to mine, exposed to forests and natural environments as a child or coming from a rural background, we are seeing a growing number of students from urban areas and who may not have spent much time in a forest environment.

As a result, they may not have as much of a utilitarian perspective as in the past but are concerned about forests for a variety of reasons – carbon storage, biodiversity, and other ecosystems services.

In IUFRO you coordinate Division 4 Forest Assessment, Modelling and Management What do you consider to be the most important emerging issues for the research in Division 4?

It's difficult to narrow it down to a few issues, but some of the major research areas are closely related to the theme of the All-IUFRO Conference in Vienna: Forests in a Volatile World - Global Collaboration to Sustain Forests and Their Societal Benefits.

Specifically, how do we monitor forest conditions on a landscape, and even global, scale in the face of a rapidly changing biophysical and geopolitical environment. How do we model these complex ecological and social environments and project future conditions. And finally, what management systems are needed to meet the demands for the ever-expanding goods and services that forests can provide.

Assessing, modelling and management, more figuratively speaking, are also among your tasks as chairman of the scientific committee of the upcoming All-IUFRO Conference this September. Can you tell us more about the scientific committee and your work?

The Scientific Committee has been fantastic! They were asked to develop the theme and format of the conference in a very short time period. In a sense the themes were self-evident given the problems we are dealing with at the moment in terms of climate change, the pandemic, and more recently the war in Ukraine. We quickly determined what were the primary themes to include.

The harder part was determining the format, and I was particularly impressed with the great ideas that the CSC members developed and developed quickly. They have continued to work hard to pull everything together, and deal with the hybrid nature of the conference. I also have to give a great geal of credit to the IUFRO Headquarters staff. They have been fantastic on all counts, and particularly patient with a less than organized chair.

Can you give us a brief sneak preview of the main scientific program elements and highlights of the conference?

I won't go over the six themes since they are described on the website, but I will point out that we have two very exciting keynote addresses to focus the conference on the conference theme as detailed in the title and the six thematic plenary sessions will build upon the keynotes to discuss the state of the art in these six areas.

The last session will provide an opportunity to visit the central points that have arisen from the conference and provide all participants an opportunity to join in a discussion of the next steps. I also will add that a wonderful field trip has been developed around the conference and should provide an excellent foundation for the three days.

Could you say in one sentence why anyone should participate in the All-IUFRO Conference?

Maybe two sentences. First, I think the themes and focus of the conference are the major issues we are facing as a research organization and society, and this is an excellent opportunity to re-engage and work together to chart a path forward.

Second, I am very excited that this is the first IUFRO-wide conference we have held with an in-person component since the pandemic began and I am looking forward to seeing so many friends!

Thank you for this interview!

https://www.iufro.org/events/all-iufro-conference-2022/programme/

The conference will include six scientific plenaries that involve a panel presentation, lightning talks and associated posters, a wrap-up session focused on the connections to global change, a conference dinner, as well as a professional field trip (https://www.iufro.org/events/all-iufro-conference-2022/#c34338).

Keynote speakers
Prof. Dr. Daniela KLEINSCHMIT, University of Freiburg, Germany, and IUFRO Vice-President
Dr. Florian KRAXNER, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Austria

Plenary Sessions

Find session flyers at: https://www.iufro.org/events/all-iufro-conference-2022/programme/

• Forests and Human Health – A One Health Perspective
• A Forest-based Bioeconomy
• Forest Degradation and Restoration
• Gender (un-)equal networking of IUFRO:
• Creating new spaces and thinking
• Forest Genetic Resources for Future Resilient Forests
• Forests and Water

and much more...

• Field trip
• Mentoring event "Get involved in IUFRO"
• Event of the Directors' Forum
• In-person poster sessions
• Presentation of awards
• Book presentations
• Information about the IUFRO World Congress 2024
• Conference dinner

Deadline for submission:  13 October 2022

XXVI IUFRO World Congress 2024
Stockholm, Sweden; 23-29 June 2024
FORESTS AND SOCIETY TOWARDS 2050
Congress website:  https://iufro2024.com/

The Congress Scientific Committee invites submissions of session proposals for the 2024 IUFRO World Congress. In line with the spirit of the Congress title "Forest and Society towards 2050", the Congress Scientific Committee is developing a program that will highlight the forest contributions to the UN 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Congress program will reflect the forest science community's diverse contributions across the full range of natural and social science disciplines, with special emphasis on the themes and subthemes, which are available at:  https://iufro2024.com/congress-themes

Callfor session proposals:  https://iufro2024.com/session-proposals
Also visit:  https://www.iufro.org/events/congresses/2024/

Report by João Carlos Azevedo, Coordinator of IUFRO Working Party 8.01.02 Landscape Ecology https://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-8/80000/80100/80102/

The symposium on "Forest expansion, landscape dynamics and ecosystem services in Europe", organized by the IUFRO Landscape Working Party at the IALE (International Association for Landscape Ecology) 2022 European Landscape Ecology Congress, took place on July 14.

About IALE 2022:  https://www.iale2022.eu/home.html
Also find the book of abstracts there!

Hosted by João Carlos Azevedo, Working Party (WP) Coordinator, and Pinar Pamukcu Albers, WP regional coordinator for Europe, it was the goal of the symposium to address forest expansion in Europe and its impacts on landscape patterns, functioning and the wellbeing of society at several scales. The symposium aimed to provide a science-based background for Europe to debate:  i) the role of forests in the process of increasing socioecological and climate resilience, ii) the processes of transformation in forest cover and their relations to landscape sustainability and resilience, and iii) the participation of forest and landscape scientists and practitioners in forest landscape change.

The event started with introductions of the topic of the symposium, IUFRO and the IUFRO Landscape Ecology WP. This was followed by seven presentations covering research in forest landscape change in Europe, in particular on the Iberian Peninsula and in Central Europe, and its drivers and effects. Research conducted on the Iberian Peninsula highlighted socioeconomic (depopulation, abandonment) and physical (climate) drivers of change and increasing fire hazard with risks for biodiversity conservation and the supply of ecosystem services. The cases from Germany and Poland underscored the importance of existing and expanding forests for ecosystem functions and services, but also the risks related to disturbances such as windstorms.

The symposium ended with a debate centered on how landscape change affects landscape resilience and sustainability in Europe. The contributions of participants focused mostly on the existence of tradeoffs between ecosystem services and risks. It is uncertain whether further forest expansion increases landscape sustainability and resilience due to the growing risks and potential degradation associated with it. Landscape management should be stressed in areas of forest expansion to maximize benefits while minimizing risks.

The symposium was organized in the framework of the IALE-IUFRO Working Group on Forest Landscape Ecology. The IUFRO Landscape Ecology Working Party and IALE have been cooperating formally since the establishment of the IALE-IUFRO Working Group in 2007:  https://www.landscape-ecology.org/page-18078

Find out more at:  https://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-8/80000/80100/80102/activities/

Report by Francesco Chianucci, Deputy Coordinator of IUFRO Working Party 8.02.01 Key factors and ecological functions for forest biodiversity https://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-8/80000/80200/80201/

Meeting website:  https://www.bottoms-up.eu/en/networking-tools/training-schools.html

On 20-22 June 2022, a Training School was organized within the framework of the COST Action CA18207 "Biodiversity of Temperate Forest Taxa Orienting Management Sustainability by Unifying Perspectives" (Bottoms-Up https://www.bottoms-up.eu/en/) and involved IUFRO Unit 8.02.01. The Action challenge is to increase the degree of sustainability of European temperate forest management for overall ecosystem (multi-taxon) biodiversity. The Training School in Lisbon, Portugal, attracted 35 participants from 22 countries and was the second of a set of Training Schools aimed at providing theoretical and practical tools for studying multi-taxon biodiversity in forest ecosystems with an emphasis on bridging the gap between theory and practice.
Key issues discussed included:
 
Standardized EU protocol for linking forest structure and multi-taxon diversity
Theoretical and field sampling procedures for collecting multi-taxon diversity data
Theoretical and field sampling procedures for collecting forest structure data

The Training School in Lisbon provided the first practical implementation of the standardized protocol for multitaxon studies developed by the Cost Action Bottoms-Up. The use of common standardized procedures and established open-source solutions can support largest comparability and share of data at spatially extensive scales. The acquired field training data will contribute to enrich the EU-level Cost Action data platform.

Future short-term missions and Training Schools will be organized by the Bottoms-Up COST Action to further support and create a synergy of local research efforts in a wider international perspective.

Report by Isabel Munck, Deputy Coordinator of IUFRO Working Party 7.02.02 – Foliage, shoot and stem diseases https://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-7/70000/70200/70202/

Invasive forest pathogens and climate change are threatening the health and sustainability of our forest ecosystems. Promising disease management techniques are being developed to control forest diseases which include breeding, genetics, nanotechnologies and silviculture.

The meeting titled "Foliar, Shoot, Stem and Rust Diseases of Trees - Forest Diseases During Global Crises" took place from 27 June to 1 July 2022 at the University of New Hampshire (UNH), Durham, NH, USA. It involved IUFRO Units 7.02.05 Rusts of forest trees and 7.02.02 Foliage, shoot and stem diseaseshttps://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-7/70000/70200/70205/ and was kindly hosted by USDA Forest Service (USFS) and supported by UNH, USFS, New Hampshire Division of Forests and Lands. Fifty participants from 14 countries, 14 USA States, 2 Canadian Provinces, and 5 continents gathered to exchange latest findings in pathogens research.

Plant pathogens do not recognize boundaries, therefore maintaining a global perspective when it comes to forest health protection is essential. This international conference meets every 2 to 4 years and provides a great opportunity for discussion among colleagues working globally with rust, foliage and stem diseases of forest trees. The groups had not met since COVID affected global travel. A couple of speakers had to participate remotely, but the rest of the oral presentations (45), the poster (6) session, and two field trips were in person. It was delightful to meet with people in person again, brainstorm, and learn from each other in a field setting.
Key issues discussed included:  invasive forest pathogens; disease management and control; plant defense; climate change; rust, foliage, shoot, and stem diseases.

Two field trips were organized. During the first one on 28 June to the Urban Forestry Center in Portsmouth, NH, participants examined beech bark disease & Neonectria target canker on birch, white foliar diseases, Caliciopsis canker, WPND, drought, low density white pine management, white pine group, Bot canker-Diplodia tip blight of oak or stem decay, sentinel garden pathogens and insects, white pine blister rust, ash/marsh grass rust, cedar/apple rust and rusts on wild plants like blackberry, violets, Canada may flower. The second field trip took place in College Woods at the UNH campus in Durham, NH during the afternoon of 30 June. Participants saw white pine blister rust, college woods and management of UNH forests, beech leave disease control plot, and Caliciopsis damage to wood product at the Thompson School Sawmill.

The next meeting will take place in three years (2025) at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL in Switzerland. Both 7.02.02 and 7.02.05 WPs will again join forces to co-host this meeting.

A special issue of the journal Frontiers in Forests and Global Change is in preparation:  Foliar, Shoot, Stem and Rust Diseases of Trees IUFRO 2022 | Frontiers Research Topic (frontiersin.org)

Report by Augusto Zanella, Deputy Coordinator of IUFRO Working Party 8.02.03 Humus and Soil Biodiversity 
https://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-8/80000/80200/80203/

"The purpose of the webinar was to spread the idea that something can be done to stop climate change and the loss of biodiversity on our planet; and that we are all on the front line and can do something, individually and collectively", said organizer Augusto Zanella, University of Padua, Italy.

The meeting was related to the final congress of a research program called ALBA (Albarella Biodiversity Environment Laboratory). Albarella is an island near Venice, and the University of Padua, in collaboration with the inhabitants of the island gathered in the "Associazione Comunione Isola di Albarella", financed this research, which aims to promote the sustainable development of the island.

The central question on the first day of the webinar was:  Is it necessary to investigate "extreme situations" to find the remedies we can use to counter global warming?

It is essential to understand the extreme in order to move forward. All presentations highlighted the fact that we are still poorly informed about the origin of life. There is a knowledge gap regarding the period between the origin of life 3 billion years ago and the organisms from 600 million years ago that we find fossilized. We know very little about organisms that can live under extreme conditions and survive global warming. Tardigrades eat bacteria; they could exist before more complex animals appeared. We know little about soil, which is surely the medium where life on our planet started. Algae and bacteria probably formed the soil before the existence of higher plants. There is a lot of work to be done to disseminate at least the little we have learned so far about these aspects.

The second day focused on the question:  Are humans so unscientific when it comes to exploiting the Earth's resources?

Humans are very scientific in exploiting the planet's resources. However, they know still little about the biology and ecology of planet Earth. Much remains to be known if we want to live in harmony and in good health on a living planet like ours. We don't know how to manage water; we know little about the forest functioning; we know that insects may be very useful; we know little about biodiversity-friendly agriculture; and still too little about the factors that generate and influence the planet's climate.

On the third day participants asked:  Can we do it?

It will be difficult but there are ways out! Albarella will lead by example. If Albarella's optimistic model is adopted at the planetary level, the air temperature should not increase by more than 1°C compared to the current value.

The technical means should not be overlooked, of course, but bringing about the necessary change in society seems almost impossible. Mitigating the climate by living in an unequal society with only few very rich and many very poor people is unthinkable, and we cannot continue to consume more than we can produce on our planet.

There is no general awareness of the dangers that lie ahead of us; we are not willing to renounce the well-being acquired at the expense of the planet; we would like to eat healthier and better; we would like more free time; we all know how this story will end but we all hope for a different ending.
Did we watch too many movies with a happy ending? (Report abridged by the editor.)

Videos will be available at:  https://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-8/80000/80200/80203/activities/

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 webinar in the series "Forest Mensuration and Modelling Chats" on 19 July discussed "Modelling growth of natural forests with scarce data:  challenges and a proposal". It attracted participants from 71 countries and was kindly hosted and sponsored by the University of British Columbia, Canada, and organized by IUFRO RG 4.01.00.

In the webinar Dr. Christian Salas-Eljatib, Professor at the Centre for Ecosystem Modelling and Monitoring at the Universidad Mayor, Chile, provided an overview of current efforts to build a tree-level distance-independent growth model for natural Nothofagus-dominated forests in Chile. He specifically discussed the data limitations and proposed ways to make the most of the available data. Link to the Simulator Pellín:  http://www.simuladorpellin.com/

Video recording of the webinar at:   https://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-4/40000/40100/publications/

The webinar series is meant to highlight forest mensuration and modelling research across a variety of research areas and allow for scientific exchange across the globe, while ongoing travel restrictions related to COVID-19 make the organization of in-person meetings challenging.

The next webinar is scheduled for September 27, 2022, 6:05-7:00am PDT. Dr. Guillermo Trincado, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Forest Science and Natural Resources at the Universidad Austral de Chile will talk about "Growth and yield modeling of fast-grown intensively-managed forest plantations in Chile:  A long term collaborative research effort."

Find the registration link athttps://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-4/40000/40100/activities/

The IUFRO Ecology and silviculture of pine Working Party 1.01.10 and Centro PINUS – a Portuguese NGO focused on maritime pine – invited foresters and researchers from all over the world to join the second of their international webinar series on 13 July 2022.

In this webinar dedicated to the management of Monterey pine (Pinus radiata) in Chile a wide audience was reached including representatives of the forestry sector, researchers, students and also decision-makers from different countries.

Rodrigo Ahumada was the guest speaker of this session. Sesions hosts Nuno Calado, board member of Centro PINUS, and Teresa Fonseca, University of Tras-Os-Montes and Alto Douro, and Coordinator of IUFRO WP 1.01.10 - Ecology and silviculture of pine https://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-1/10000/10100/10110/, kindly provided this report.

The recorded webinar is available at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cer_l3pBcoI
Centro PINUS and IUFRO will keep organizing this webinar series.

Online (hosted by Northeast Forestry University and North Carolina State University)
Heather Coleman, Sofía Alejandra Valenzuela Aguila, Jonas Lafave, Carsten Külheim, Ying-Chung Jimmy Lin
IUFRO Working Party 2.04.06Molecular Biology of Forest Trees https://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-2/20000/20400/20406/

The 2020 IUFRO Tree Biotechnology Conference is the biennial meeting on genomics, molecular biology and biotechnology of forest trees, associate with the IUFRO Working Party 2.04.06 Molecular Biology of Forest Trees. This year's meeting was held in online in coordination with the 2nd Forest Tree Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Conference on July 6th to 9th and was hosted by Dr. Vincent Chiang, Dr. Chuanping Yang and Dr. Wei Li (Northeast Forestry University and North Carolina State University). In addition to a robust scientific program, the meeting celebrated the first awardees of the newly created IUFRO WG 2.04.06 Award:  Excellence in Forest Molecular Biology and Genomics, which was presented to Dr. Jacqueline Grima-Pettenati. Dr. Jack Wang was the recipient of the associated Early Career Award.

The conference covered five topics over the course of three days:  1) Forestry and Climate Change, 2) Genomes and epigenomes, 3) Wood biology, physiology, development and uses, 4) Genomic variation in breeding and genetic studies, and 5) Regulations and biosafety of GMOs. The scientific presentations at the conference highlighted cutting-edge advancements in many facets of forest biotechnology research, including applications of genomic selection in forest genetics and breeding, tree physiology, stress response, molecular breeding, wood development, "omics" technologies, and the social and economic impacts of genetically modified (GM) trees.

The conference attracted a mix of students, postdoctoral fellows, and scientists from academia and industry. In all, the conference was attended by over ~570 registered participants, representing 36 countries that participated in 72 voluntary talks and over 50 poster presentations. Support for the conference was provided by Northeast Forestry University.

Overall, the conference was a success although all agree we look forward to meeting in person again. More information about the meeting can be found at http://www.treebiotech2022.com/. The next meeting will be held in Annapolis, USA in 2024, hosted by Drs. Yiping Qi and Gary Coleman and colleagues at the University of Maryland.

1^st IUFRO-Mondi Stakeholder Dialogue, Vienna, 9-10 June 2022, summary by moderator Gerald Steindlegger

As part of the IUFRO-Mondi Partnership the first Stakeholder Dialogue Meeting was held from 9-10 June 2022 in Vienna, Austria, with 24 participants. The meeting was comprised of a half-day workshop followed by a half-day field trip to the forest.

Here are the key messages from the event:

• Demands on forests have never been higher and more diverse. The discussion on how forest management can be adapted to meet these requirements in the future at times of climate change is essential.
• There is "no-one-size-fits-all" management strategy. There seems to be agreement that forest management should follow the principle of multifunctionality, to be achieved through site-specific forest stand management taking into account local circumstances and management objectives.
• Policies, incentives and regulations, particularly at the national and European levels, are major drivers of future forest management and significantly influence the provision of services from forests and trade-offs among them (wood production, carbon, biodiversity, energy).
• Reconciling the different perspectives and jointly defining future forest policy and management strategies are major challenges. Formats such as the IUFRO-Mondi Stakeholder Dialogue are valuable for sharing diverse perspectives, identifying common ground and making this information clearly visible. Science plays an important role in supporting a more rational dialogue by providing scientific evidence and presenting options for action.

This article has been shortened by the editor. Read the full summary at:  https://www.iufro.org/fileadmin/material/discover/partnerships/IUFRO-Mondi-Partnership-Stakeholder-Dialogue-Moderator-Summary.pdf

Find out more about the IUFRO-Mondi Partnership at:  https://www.iufro.org/discover/iufro-partners/mondi/

In July the first in-person meeting of the HLPF, the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, in three years reviewed five SDGs, in particular:  SDGs 4 (quality education), 5 (gender equality), 14 (life below water), 15 (life on land), and 17 (partnerships for the Goals).

SDG17, on strengthening the means of implementation and revitalizing the global partnership for sustainable development is the only Sustainable Development Goal that is reviewed annually by the HLPF.

Against this background, a session on 5 July addressed "Capacity development and partnerships to maximize the benefits of science, technology and trade for sustainable development". It focused on capacity building, and multi-stakeholder partnerships as key building blocks in an enhanced global partnership for sustainable development.
One of the speakers in this session was IUFRO Executive Director Alexander Buck. He addressed the question as to how partnerships and capacity building at the research-policy interface can actually advance science, technology, and innovation.

"When addressing SDG17, important lessons can be learned from work on forests," he said.

One of the key characteristics of SDG17 is that it cuts across other SDGs and seeks to enhance policy coherence for sustainable development. The same can be said for forests. Forests also contribute to nearly all SDGs and are governed by diverse institutions and instruments, reflecting the need for coherent forest-related cooperation and integrated actions across sectors.

"Policy coherence, however, can only be achieved if the interlinkages among the SDGs are properly understood so that relevant institutions can effectively coordinate their activities and cooperate with each other. Therefore, efforts by policy and decision makers to address these interlinkages need to be strengthened," Alexander Buck pointed out and presented an example.

"For systematically assessing the interlinkages between forests and other SDGs, a scientific mechanism has been created through the Global Forest Expert Panels, in short GFEP, providing important insights for the HLPF," he said. Of course, such efforts need to be underpinned by partnerships that effectively link science and policy at the global, but also at a domestic level.

The GFEP Initiative, for example, is coordinated by IUFRO within the framework of the CPF, the Collaborative Partnership on Forests. The CPF is an innovative voluntary interagency partnership established by the ECOSOC, the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, and comprised of fifteen international organizations, institutions and secretariats with substantial programs on forests.

In the past years, GFEP assessments have addressed the relationships between forests, as an important part of SDG15, and other SDGs, including poverty eradication, food security and nutrition, and water. The current Expert Panel is looking into the relationship between forests and human health and will present its results next year.

Thus, GFEP scientific assessments provide policy and decision makers with reliable and synthesized information. These are crucial to effectively utilize synergies and achieve optimal trade-offs between forests and other SDGs. Therewith they support a cross-sectoral, aligned and systematic implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Session recording:  https://media.un.org/en/webtv 
About HLPF:  https://hlpf.un.org/2022
IISD report:  https://enb.iisd.org/high-level-political-forum-hlpf-2022
About GFEP Initiative:  https://www.iufro.org/science/gfep/gfep-initiative/

Report by Nelson Grima, GFEP Project Manager

Representatives of the Global Forest Expert Panels Programme (GFEP https://www.iufro.org/science/gfep/) attended as observers the ninth session of the Plenary of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), which was held in Bonn, Germany, from 3 to 9 July 2022, and its associated Stakeholder Consultations, held in the same location one day before.

The main aim of the meeting was to finalize and approve the assessment on Sustainable Use of Wild Species and the assessment on the Multiple Values of Nature and its Benefits, Including Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functions and Services. The text of the Summary for Policy Makers from both assessments was extensively discussed in the working groups, and finally an agreement among all attending delegations was reached. As a result, both assessments, each of which had been about four years in the making, were finalized and approved for publication.

Press release on publication of Sustainable Use of Wild Species:  https://ipbes.net/media_release/Sustainable_Use_Assessment_Published  

Dikshya Devkota, Project Manager with the Global Forest Expert Panels Programme(GFEP https://www.iufro.org/science/gfep/), came to Stockholm to attend the Stockholm+50 conference in late June 2022.

"IUFRO's role at the Stockholm+50 meeting is to represent the science community, underscore IUFRO's commitment to support the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and its member states and highlight the important role forests can play in the sustainable development agenda", said Dikshya Devkota.

The Stockholm+50 meeting also had a focus on how to build back better after the COVID-19 pandemic. In the light of this, she said, "A GFEP global assessment on Forests and Human Health is planned for publication in early 2023. The outcome of the assessment is timely in the context of the ongoing global policy discourses, as it will provide reliable scientific information on the interlinkages between human health, including zoonotic diseases like COVID-19, and sustainable management of forest ecosystems".
Read more at:  https://iufro2024.com/iufro-young-professional-attends-stockholm50/

Two years from the Stockholm+50 meeting, the city will host the XXVI IUFRO World Congress from 23-29 June 2024, under the theme Forests and Society towards 2050:  https://iufro2024.com/

Gabriela Gavarrete is a young Salvadoran biologist who is involved in restoring Cerro Tecana together with the organization Un Pulmón Más. Cerro Tecana is a deciduous forest part of a biological corridor of hills that surrounds the city of Santa Ana in El Salvador. For many years, it has been affected by forest fires and degradation caused by agricultural activities and urbanization.

When Gabriela presented this restoration project to the Restoration Stewards program of the Global Landscapes Forum and the Youth in Landscapes Initiative, she was selected as one of the Restoration Stewards 2022. The Restoration Stewards program supports young restoration professionals and their teams to develop their restoration projects further and raise awareness among their local communities about the importance of ecosystem restoration and healthy landscapes.

IUFRO has been involved in all stages of the Restoration Stewards program since its inception in 2020, mainly by mentoring young practitioners such as Gabriela. Her mentor has been Vianny Ahimbisibwe (MSc) from Uganda, a research scientist at the Thünen Institute of Forestry Hamburg, Germany, and is a member of the IUFRO Task Force Transforming Forest Landscapes for Future Climates and Human Well-Being.

Vianny Ahimbisibwe is also a research coordinator for the FLESRA project (Forest land and Ecosystem Service restoration in Africa) and pursuing a PhD at the Technical University of Munich. His research mainly focuses on the governance facets (power resources, values, beliefs and norms of multi-actors across scales), technical efficiency of small-holder tree-based afforestation and reforestation strategies, and cost-benefit aspects of both large and small-scale Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) initiatives in Ethiopia.

Gabriela, could you briefly describe why the work you are doing at Cerro Tecana is so important?
Forest fires, deforestation, bad agricultural practices and uncontrolled urbanization of Cerro Tecana cause the community to be unable to access the ecosystem services that are part of their fundamental rights. The Suma Un Bosque Project promotes community participation to obtain good routes for forest restoration and conservation, as well as to educate and involve people in the proper management of the ecosystem to prevent the effects of its degradation.

How did you benefit from the mentoring?
The mentoring provided by IUFRO-Global Landscape Forum has been extremely helpful in the design of restoration strategies. With the contribution of Vianny (my mentor), I have considered local farmers and also implemented an agroforestry system (a combination of maize and trees-photo a) in the area. I have also created natural barrier-stone bunds to protect seedlings (Photo b) and evaluate potential reforestation areas. The involvement of local farmers was key to the success of the restoration activities.

Vianny, how has the mentoring experience been for you?
As a mentor under the Restoration Stewards 2022, It has been a great experience with many lessons learnt thanks to Gabriela (my mentee). It involved learning and broadened my knowledge of new forest areas, challenges faced in FLR, and possible solutions to implement FLR projects successfully. Further, it highlighted that the communal forest restoration initiatives face similar challenges across South America and Sub-Saharan Africa. Therefore, the mentorship program created a platform for sharing trans-continental experiences and learning since it is a two-way communication process.

Find out more:  https://stewards.globallandscapesforum.org/about/

Watch a video:  https://stewards.globallandscapesforum.org/forests/3025/world-environment-day-with-the-team-a-tree-planting-project-tour-at-the-cerro-tecana-forest/

The Resilient Future Forests Lab (RFFL) offers demonstration opportunities to support innovative solutions to address Forest Landscape Restoration and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation challenges and uncover conflicts and synergies with other sustainable development targets including protecting and enhancing biodiversity, providing economic, social, and environmental benefits and resources. To this end, IUFRO-SPDC together with several IUFRO member organizations are implementing the "Resilient Future Forests Lab" in the Kyrgyz Republic and Uzbekistan. Visit the new webpages at:  https://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=7330

The National Institute of Forest Science (NIFoS), until 2015 known as Korea Forest Research Institute (KFRI), was founded in 1922. It is the sole national institute which carries out comprehensive research on forests, forestry and forest products to meet the diverse needs of the public and private sectors.

The Institute joined IUFRO in 1976 and currently six IUFRO officeholders are employed there. IUFRO and NIFoS can look back on a long history of collaboration with several highlights. The most prominent highlight, of course, was the XXIII 2010 IUFRO World Congress in Seoul, which was excellently hosted by the then Korea Forest Research Institute.

NIFoS has a long tradition of supporting IUFRO, especially the activities of IUFRO's Special Programme on Development of Capacities (IUFRO-SPDC), including SPDC's Scientist Assistance Program (SAP) and Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) projects, among others.

IUFRO is very grateful for this strong commitment to promoting global forest research cooperation and would like to congratulate NIFoS most heartily on its 100th anniversary. In line with the motto of the celebration "Past 100 years with the forest, the coming 100 years with the people", we look forward to the next century of excellent forest research and fruitful cooperation for the benefit of forests and people.

IUFRO was established on 17 August 1892 in Eberswalde, Germany, with only three members:  the Association of German Forest Experiment Stations and the experiment stations of Austria and Switzerland. From that time onwards IUFRO has grown constantly to become a worldwide organization now representing more than 15,000 scientists in over 600 Member Organizations in more than 120 different countries. More than 700 researchers, representing a broad range of scientific backgrounds and disciplines serve as Coordinators of IUFRO Divisions, Research Groups, Working Parties or Task Forces.

IUFRO originally emerged from the recognition that research collaboration was important to the future of forests and people. Since IUFRO's establishment, significant advancements have been made in understanding forest ecosystems and their sustainable management, the multiple benefits provided by forests, and the multiple threats they face. Current and future global trends, such as population growth, economic globalization, and climate change create novel challenges for forests and the people who depend on them. Addressing these challenges requires effective and efficient collaboration across scientific disciplines and sectors. Therefore, the reasons for the creation of IUFRO remain as valid today as they were 130 years ago.

Also, 50 years ago, in 1972, IUFRO decided to establish a permanent Secretariat and accepted the offer by the Austrian Government to host it. A corresponding agreement between representatives of the Government of Austria and IUFRO was signed in 1973 and since then the Secretariat, now IUFRO Headquarters, has been located in Vienna.

Read more about the history of IUFRO: 
125th Anniversary:  https://www.iufro.org/publications/general-publications/article/2017/09/20/125-years-of-iufro-published-on-the-occasion-of-iufros-125th-anniversary/
100th Anniversary:  https://www.iufro.org/publications/general-publications/article/2017/08/29/100-years-of-iufro/

In July 2022 three webinars on EU Forest Policy were held specifically for students from the Ukraine. The webinars were jointly organized by the International Forestry Students' Association (IFSA) and the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO). Experts from different Universities, Research Organizations, the private sector and the EU Commission supported the event and gave up-to-date presentations on EU forest-related policies, the EU forest strategy and trends of EU forestry:  https://ifsa.net/ifsa-iufro-summer-school-2022/

Participants did not only come from Ukraine, but only Ukrainian students and young researchers were eligible for the competition at the end of the summer school. Apart from questions to be answered, a short essay had to be delivered. The prize was a participation in the "All-IUFRO Conference:  Forests in a Volatile World – Global Collaboration to Sustain Forests and Their Societal Benefits" in Vienna, Austria on 21-23 September 2022. It includes transportation and registration fees for all four winners and accommodation for two of them. The prize is kindly supported by the German Eva Mayr-Stihl foundation.

It is our greatest pleasure to announce the winners of the IFSA-IUFRO Summer School 2022 essay competition "Forest Policy for an EU-fit Ukraine". They are Krot Oleksandr, representative of Uman National University of Horticulture; Krasnyk Tetiana and Lobchenko Ganna representatives of National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, and Kvashnytska Kateryna representative of Kyiv School of Economics.

We congratulate the winners, wish them an inspiring conference, and sincerely thank the foundation!

IUFRO's Immediate Past President Professor Mike Wingfield, a professor at the University of Pretoria's (UP) Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI), is the recipient of the annual Harry Oppenheimer Fellowship Award for his research into disease-causing fungi.

Prof Wingfield's winning project – titled ‘Quest to unravel the origin and ecology of two human pathogenic fungi and expand the base of medical mycology in South Africa' – focused on fungi that cause diseases in humans in South Africa and elsewhere in the world. Through his project, Prof Wingfield hopes to learn more about where disease-causing fungi live naturally, to better understand them and to avoid the diseases they cause.

Read more:  https://www.up.ac.za/news/post_3087717-university-of-pretorias-prof-michael-wingfield-wins-harry-oppenheimer-fellowship-award

The Policy Brief summarizes the key messages of the GFEP report "Forests, Climate, Biodiversity and People:  Assessing a Decade of REDD+", and includes lessons learnt over the past ten years of REDD+ implementation, as well as outcomes of a stakeholder consultation.

Click to download it in Spanish and English:  https://www.iufro.org/science/gfep/follow-up-studies/biodiversity-forest-management-and-redd-2021/
You can obtain hardcopies by writing to:  schimpf(at)iufro.org.

Forests and trees play a vital role in meeting the world's increasing demand for water and need to be managed for water-related ecosystem services, according to the guide co-published by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO), the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, the United States Forest Service and partners. This guide is now also available in French.

FAO, IUFRO et USDA. 2022. Guide sur la gestion des forêts et de l'eau. Études FAO:  Forêts no 185. Rome.
https://doi.org/10.4060/cb6473fr

Although the joint EFI-IFSA-IUFRO Capacity Development Project "Global student networking and green jobs in the forest sector" already ended earlier this year, the products and information developed continue to be very valid.

The most recent products are these three videos on Forest Education and Employment: 

• What do students need to know?
• What do universities need to know?
• What do policy makers need to know?

Playlist:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxiOPkiaHiI&list=PLgGJUc-re_I-narnDhwrZLAzr3sE2LiSG  

About the project:  https://ifsa.net/efi-ifsa-iufro-project/

Brazilian Scientists Dedicating Their Research to the Amazon
Watch this documentary by Deutsche Welle and meet female researchers from Brazil who are committed to increasing the understanding of and knowledge about the Amazonian biome: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-TYUqSG1ao (in Portuguese)

One of them is Dr. Nathália Nascimento, an earth system scientist at the University of São Paulo, who has also worked on the Science Panel for the Amazon (SPA). For IUFRO's Global Forest Expert Panels (GFEP) Programme she kindly served as an expert in the stakeholder consultation that accompanied the latest assessment report on REDD+ available for download at:
https://www.iufro.org/science/gfep/follow-up-studies/biodiversity-forest-management-and-redd-2021/

During this consultation, stakeholders in the Amazonia, Cerrado, and Atlantic Forests of Brazil provided their views on REDD+ implementation, and on how the latest GFEP report can contribute to future discussions on the topic.

Dr. Nathália Nascimento conducted the stakeholder consultations on GFEP's behalf and summarized the results in this video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmgRfjykTw8  
A related report will be published soon.

Wood is renewable, recyclable, climate friendly and incredibly versatile. A journey into how this material can help shape a healthier global economy.

By Thais Linhares-Juvenal, Senior Forestry Officer, and Malgorzata Buszko-Briggs, Team Leader on Outreach, Forestry Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Forests are not just the lungs of the Planet:  they have huge potential, if managed sustainably, to become a major source of welfare, income and renewable products as part of a healthier global economy. However, a major shift in thinking is needed so that this potential – worth trillions of USD in net benefits globally – is harnessed. In short, we need to change the way that people think about wood.

(…) As the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations outlines in its flagship report, The State of the World's Forests 2022, increasing sustainable forest use and developing sustainable forest-based value chains is fundamental to support green recovery and resilient economies. But we must act now to make a difference for future generations by reimagining and repurposing one of the Planet's oldest natural resources. With sustainably produced wood, we can grow the solution.

Read all:  https://www.lifegate.com/sustainable-wood-planet  
Also:  State of the World's Forests 2022, available in six languages at:
https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/cb9360en 

By Julia E. Fa, Manchester Metropolitan University and Center for International Forestry (CIFOR), Indonesia; Stephan M. Funk, Nature Heritage; and Robert Nasi, Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Indonesia
(Dr. Nasi is an IUFRO officeholder.)

The hunting of wild animals for their meat has been a crucial activity in the evolution of humans. It continues to be an essential source of food and a generator of income for millions of Indigenous and rural communities worldwide. If the use of wildlife resources is to continue by those who depend on it, sustainable practices must be implemented. This title is also available via Open Access on Cambridge Core. Hardback 978-1-107-11757-0 
Paperback 978-1-107-54034-7