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.
2021 World Wood Day: Carbon Capture and Storage in Forests, Wood and Non-Wood Products
Report by Hiromi Waragai, Dare to Explore! Trainee at IUFRO Headquarters
Photo: Welcome Message from IUFRO President Dr. John Parrotta
World Wood Day (WWD) is celebrated on 21 March every year in order to highlight wood as an ecofriendly and renewable biomaterial and to raise awareness on the key role wood plays in a sustainable world through biodiversity and forest conservation. Various physical activities such as children’s events, folk art workshop, an international woodcarving show, music performances, tree planting and woodturning demonstrations usually characterize the event. Due to the spread of COVID-19, however, 2021 WWD was celebrated fully online on the day with the traditional scientific symposium as main activity. The other activities will be spread over the entire year and presented via social media. IUFRO President John Parrotta offered a welcome address that can be watched here: World Wood Day 2021 Welcome Message from IUFRO President Dr. John Parrotta – YouTube
Alignment and planting in SMM Komitibanda. Photo: Forest College & Research Institute, Telangana, India
The world is degraded. Worldwide, according to a 2018 UNESCO publication, land degradation affects 3.2 billion people – about 40% of humanity.
The degradation is human caused, drives species extinction, intensifies climate change, and adds to mass human migration and increased conflict, the report indicated.
So, a critical question becomes: how do we build or, perhaps more accurately, rebuild a sustainable world?
What’s your name and affiliation, and what’s your role in Division 6?
My name is Taylor Stein, and I am a professor of ecotourism and natural resources management in the School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences at the University of Florida in the US. I happily serve as a deputy for IUFRO in a few areas. I am one of three Deputy Coordinators for Division 6, overall, but I also happily serve as Deputy Coordinator for Working Group 6.03, Nature Tourism, where I had previously served as Coordinator.
Riparian vegetation and landscape in Mongolia, a country where freshwater resources are scarce – Photo by Alexander Buck, IUFRO
More than 500 years ago Leonardo da Vinci said: “Water is the driving force of all nature.”
There is a corollary that could easily be added to da Vinci’s truism: Water is greatly aided and abetted in that role by forests.
Forests play an integral role in the water cycle by enhancing the world’s supply of clean water. Much of the globe’s freshwater is provided through forested catchments.
