From tradition to innovation: Insights into trends in forest-related employment and tertiary education
Despite their differences in e.g. climate, culture, and culinary preferences, you might be curious to find out what Brazil, China, Finland, Germany, Indonesia, South Africa and United States of America have in common.
The seven countries represent 42.7% of the global forest cover; and six out of the seven countries were among the top producers of forest products globally in 2018. Thus, the forest sector contributes significantly to their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and creates a high number of full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs (FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment Report, 2015). But when we speak about jobs, do we know what changes are happening in forest-related employment in these countries? What are the major drivers of these changes? What is the state of forest-related green jobs there? How are the countries’ forest-related tertiary education programmes addressing these changes? And what is the future of forest-related employment and education in these countries?
IUFRO Headquarters is a family I will never forget. I still remember when I found out that I had been accepted as a trainee at IUFRO Headquarters in Vienna. I was working in my home office in a remote town in the middle of a country far south in Latin America, organizing the 50th anniversary of the International Forestry Students’ Symposium (IFSS), when I read that e-mail and realized my life was about to change. I started shouting and jumping for joy because finally this corona nightmare was over, and I was going to achieve my dream of working at an international organization in Europe. Austria was my destination and IUFRO my challenge.
My name is Mirjana Volarev, and I am from Serbia. I am an environmentalist and a forester with a passion for climate policy. I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Serbia at the Faculty of Forestry, University of Belgrade, and my Master’s degree in Environmental Sciences and Policy at the Central European University in Vienna, Austria.
10 Years of REDD+: Outcomes and Socio-Ecological Impacts
Report by Mirjana Volarev, IFSA Intern at IUFRO
On 28th and 29th September 2021 IUFRO organized the digital IUFRO World Day event. During this event, participants had the opportunity to travel virtually across the globe and discover a wide array of forest research topics in over 70 live sessions and a similar amount of static information items.
The power of social innovation to increase the wellbeing of forest-dependent communities in the Carpathian and other mountain regions
The IUFRO Working Party 4.05.05 Social innovation and entrepreneurship organised a special session of the6th Forum Carpaticum entitled “The power of social innovation in mountain areas to steer a sustainable governance of nature”. Scientists from over the world were brought together (online) to discuss the emergence and development of social innovation in the Carpathian Mountains and beyond. The Forum’s presentations included a conceptual talk based on findings on social innovation in mountain forestry from H2020 SIMRA project coordinated by James Hutton Institute, topics on how social innovation can offer transformative opportunities to forestry in Ukraine; communities’ empowerment through carbon forestry in Slovakia; impacts of social innovation on inequalities in mountain–lowland relationships in Swiss Alps; citizen science and adopting Living Lab approach to foster sustainability transformations and foster biodiversity conservation through participatory management of nature protected areas, and others.
IUFRO and the International Forestry Students’ Association (IFSA) – through a Joint IUFRO-IFSA Task Force on Forest Education (JTF) – have joined forces with Reforestamos in developing an ambitious “how-to” forest-based entrepreneurship guide for use throughout Latin America.
Reforestamos is a Mexico-based NGO with a mission to safeguard forest landscapes needed for sustainable development in the region. It has, among other initiatives, supported the creation of small and growing businesses by people living in and from the forests.
The result of the IUFRO-IFSA-Reforestamos collaboration is the Guide to Forestry-Based Entrepreneurship.
A series of webinars, originally seen as a temporary response to some of the travel constraints imposed by the COVID pandemic, will most likely continue after post-COVID equilibrium is restored.
Release-recapture experiment with Hylurgus ligniperda. Photo by Nicolas Meurisse.
“In light of the current pandemic, many scientific meetings were cancelled – including the many meetings that IUFRO Working Parties (WPs) and other units host each year,” said Dr. Jeremy Allison of the Canadian Forest Service and coordinator of IUFRO’s WP 7.03.16 that deals with Behavioral and Chemical Ecology of Forest Insects.
Cover design for Ambio special section by Alex Giurca
In many countries, forests are important sources of renewable biomass and figure prominently in bioeconomy strategies.
Forests can be stretched beyond their traditional applications and used in textiles, chemicals, and cross-laminated timber, among other things, and can provide climate and ecological benefits, lead to rural employment opportunities and add to regional growth.
Helping ensure that forest bioenergy is environmentally sustainable
Can removal of woody materials from forests for renewable bioenergy production be environmentally sustainable? A recent review in Energy, Sustainability and Society demonstrates that a wide range of environmental and social values can be protected when harvesting forest biomass, such as harvest residues, salvaged sub-merchantable trees, diseased or dead trees, and whole-tree thinnings.
Skidding non-merchantable insect-damaged white pine from an abandoned pasture that reverted to poor-quality forest in South Stratford, Vermont. Material was then chipped at roadside. Photo credit: David Paganelli
Doctor Recommended: Systematic Evidence Evaluation to arrive at the best decision
Systematic reviews originally emerged in the field of medical science to synthesize and evaluate all available evidence to arrive at the best (most informed) decision. This process, which brings together information from a range of sources and disciplines, also plays an important role in informing debates and decisions on forests and environment. With a view to improving forest policy and practice, the online course “Systematic Evidence Evaluation on Forest Landscape Restoration” was organized as a collaboration between IUFRO’s Special Programme for Development of Capacities (IUFRO-SPDC) and Oxford Systematic Reviews (OXSREV), from March 22nd-26th, 2021.
Participants across three continents from 21 countries successfully completed the course.
