IUFRO Spotlight #76 – Transforming Forest Landscapes to Meet Current and Future Needs and Challenges
IUFRO Spotlight #76 –Transforming Forest Landscapes to Meet Current and Future Needs and Challenges
“Forest landscapes (FLs) are often the basis of local economies and social identity,” said Professor Andreas Bolte, Head of Institute at the Thünen Institute of Forest Ecosystems in Eberswalde Germany.
“In past, many forests have been heavily degraded by unsustainable practices, and today they are still under heavy pressure worldwide through the loss and degradation of forests, conversion to other land uses and, increasingly, climate change,” he said.
Read more…IUFRO Spotlight #75 – IUFRO Task Forces: A multi-disciplinary approach to addressing forest challenges around the globe
IUFRO Spotlight #75 – IUFRO Task Forces: A multi-disciplinary approach to addressing forest challenges around the globe
Current forest-related challenges are best addressed from a multi-disciplinary perspective.
Integrating knowledge from biophysical and socioeconomic sciences can provide more complete analyses of forest issues. These, in turn, are of more direct value to forest decision makers and practitioners.
That’s one of the primary reasons underlying the IUFRO Task Forces (TFs).
“The TFs serve as the platforms for scientists from different disciplines to work together and contribute their wisdom to the most pressing forest issues and international challenges,” said Dr. Shirong Liu, IUFRO Vice-President for Task Forces.
Read more…Congress Spotlight #74 – Computer Science Solutions to Better Understand Forest Cover and Land Use Changes in Brazil
Congress Spotlight #74 – Computer Science Solutions to Better Understand Forest Cover and Land Use Changes in Brazil
Using 21st century technology to examine the dynamics of land use and land cover (LULC) in tropical forests over time, and how those forests are affected by the changes, will be among the subjects discussed at the IUFRO World Congress in Brazil shortly.
Read more…Congress Spotlight #73 – A Quest for Fairness in Forest Management Decisions: Integrating Indigenous Rights, Practices and Knowledge
Congress Spotlight #73 – A Quest for Fairness in Forest Management Decisions: Integrating Indigenous Rights, Practices and Knowledge
“The practices, rights and knowledge of Indigenous Peoples in forestry are being increasingly recognized by national policies, international treaties and by business arrangements such as certification,” said Dr. Stephen Wyatt of the School of Forestry at the University of Moncton in New Brunswick, Canada.
“But,” he said, “actually putting these into practice is challenging.”
Read more…How will the Sustainable Development Goals affect forests and people?
How will the Sustainable Development Goals affect forests and people?
Since Agenda 2030 was launched in 2015, plenty of attention has been paid to the contributions which forests can make to its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, relatively little attention has been given to the possible impacts which the SDGs will have on forests, forest ecosystems and people benefitting from forests, and how this might contribute to, or undermine, the role forests play in improving human well-being and protecting the environment.
Read more…Congress Spotlight #72 – Radioactive Contamination and Forests: Learning Lessons from Chernobyl and Fukushima
Congress Spotlight #72 – Radioactive Contamination and Forests: Learning Lessons from Chernobyl and Fukushima
Forests, except in the most severe cases, are quite resilient to radioactive contamination and will continue functioning normally.
That is one of the surprising takeaways from the nuclear accidents in Chernobyl and Fukushima.
Read more…Congress Spotlight #71 – High Time to Again Pay More Attention to Ecological Processes in Sustainable Forest Management
Congress Spotlight #71 – High Time to Again Pay More Attention to Ecological Processes in Sustainable Forest Management
Human needs and our environment continue to change. Because of that, forest management practices, in terms of sustainable forest management (SFM), need to be updated, said Dr. Liu Shirong, Professor of Forest Ecology and Hydrology and President of the Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, China.
Congress Spotlight #70 – Explaining forest research findings to non-scientists: Some tools and ideas to facilitate communication
Congress Spotlight #70 – Explaining forest research findings to non-scientists: Some tools and ideas to facilitate communication
Communication has been defined as the process of passing information and understanding from one person to another. But, to be effective, the information passed must be in a language and terminology that the person or persons receiving it will understand.
Read more…Congress Spotlight #69 – Sifting through underlying values and ethics to make sound nature management decisions
Congress Spotlight #69 – Sifting through underlying values and ethics to make sound nature management decisions
How does one decide how to manage a forest ethically?
One could simply say: do the right thing. But, the right thing for whom? And defining right and wrong – concepts that can vary according to moral climate or individual circumstance – is not all that simple.
Read more…Congress Spotlight #68 – Forest Trees and the Climate Change Challenge: Survival May Mean Diving into the Gene Pool
Congress Spotlight #68 – Forest Trees and the Climate Change Challenge: Survival May Mean Diving into the Gene Pool
Because of climate change, forest tree species have three options. They can adapt, migrate, or extirpate.
“The outcome depends upon the tree species and population, its genetic variation, its reproductive biology and flowering synchronization, its migration potential and whether the environments in the areas it can migrate will be hospitable enough to allow it to survive,” said Dr. Paraskevi Alizoti of the Laboratory of Forest Genetics and Tree Improvement in the School of Forestry and Natural Environment at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.
Read more…