Spotlight #35 – Cool it! Use Forest Landscape Restoration to Fight Climate Change
The stoplight tool is essentially a simplified presentation of complex restoration initiatives, and how they may contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation and vice-versa, in a specific local context. (Image by Yougen/iStock)
Forest landscape restoration (FLR) can be a major weapon in the battle against climate change.
FLR can contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation by increasing the productivity of landscapes and by enhancing the resilience of forest ecosystems and reducing the vulnerability of forest-dependent communities.
When one considers that about 25% of the world’s land surface is being degraded in one way or another and about 15% of that land surface is considered appropriate for forest landscape restoration, it underlines both the need for significant remedial action while, at the same time, pointing to a reasonable and beneficial way to achieve that restoration. Read more…
Spotlight #34 – Investigating Potential and Risks in Biomass
Coppice woodlands once provided significant shares of biomass for thermal energy in the proximity to urban areas, while representing hotspots of biodiversity. Can we adopt traditional management practices to today’s needs and still ensure sustainable production? And how can we harmonize existing guidelines to achieve this goal? The image shows a Quercus-Carpinus dominated outgrown coppice forest that is situated within the city boundaries of Vienna, Austria. (Photo by Viktor Bruckman)
Renewable resources are critical to the sustainable future of our planet. That means biomass is being looked on, in many ways, as a potential game-changer.
It is seen as a mitigator of climate change, as a source of energy and as the source for a variety of bio-based products that range from wood to bio-plastics and composite materials.
Recognizing this, IUFRO’s newly constituted Sustainable Forest Biomass Network Task Force plans to explore the potentials and the risks of further development of biomass – specifically biomass from forests.
The Task Force is one of several organized to advance knowledge under five research themes in accordance with the IUFRO 2015-2019 Strategy. Read more…
A Conversation with a Conservation Leader: John Parrotta
John Parrotta, the national program leader for international science issues in Forest Service Research and Development, is a co-author of “Forests, Trees and Landscapes for Food Security and Nutrition: A Global Assessment Report” recently released by the International Union of Forest Research Organizations, or “IUFRO.” The report says that although conventional agriculture will remain the major source of food for people around the globe, the link between forests and food production and nutrition could be a key to ending world hunger. Read more…
Understanding African forestry research
International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) President, Prof. Mike Wingfield, hosted a gathering of 20 African forestry research leaders, senior IUFRO and postgraduate student representatives during the recent 14th World Forestry Congress 2015. Read more…
Interconnecting forests, science and people
There is a great acceleration going on in the world. The challenges that we are facing – population growth, urbanization, shortage of food and clean water, climate change and many more – are growing fast.
Research networking and global collaboration across scientific disciplines have proved to be an efficient way of generating the scientific knowledge that is indispensable for finding viable solutions to these problems. Read more…
The forestry environment is changing – and research institutions need to respond
Directors of forest research institutions – mainly from Africa – discussed future management strategies in a side event entitled “Crossing science boundaries for the benefit of forests and people” organized by the IUFRO Directors’ Forum.
Forest research is critical for forestry and natural resource management. But, as a recent survey among IUFRO member organizations – universities and research centers – clearly shows, forest research can no longer be viewed in isolation. It is being more and more recognized as part of a larger context and has become increasingly cross-sectoral. Read more…
Local approach is crucial to making forest and landscape restoration a success
A 3-day training workshop on science-policy interactions for forest and landscape restoration took place on 4-6 September 2015 in Durban, South Africa, prior to the World Forestry Congress. The workshop was organized by IUFRO’s Special Programme for Development of Capacities (SPDC) in collaboration with the World Resources Institute (WRI), and brought together a group of 14 early and mid-career scientists, educators and professionals from developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. http://www.iufro.org/science/special/spdc/actproj/twdurban/ Read more…
Learning how others deal with forest & landscape restoration and applying new knowledge at home
Interview with four participants of the IUFRO-SPDC/WRI training workshop on science-policy interactions for forest and landscape restoration on 4-6 September 2015 in Durban, South Africa, prior to the World Forestry Congress: http://www.iufro.org/science/special/spdc/actproj/twdurban/
Mercedes Sá from Argentina
Mercedes Sá is a Forestry Engineer from Argentina. She works for the national government in the Directorate of Forestry. She is not a traditional scientific researcher because her every day work is related with the supervision of conservation and management plans of native forestry resources, including restoration activities, that all the provinces of Argentina approve for the compensation of environmental services under the framework of a National Law. Read more…
Spotlight #33 – Connecting the Dots among Forests, Soils and Water
When one thinks of forests, the immediate thought is most likely of trees. That makes sense.
But forests and trees don’t exist in isolation. Things that affect – and are affected by – forests range from human activities to climate; from water and soils to insects and disease and from economics to forest products, to name just a few.
Bitter Springs Mataranka, Northern Territory, Australia. Photo: markrhiggins (Fotolia)
With that in mind, the IUFRO 2015-2019 Strategy focuses on five research themes: Forests, Soil and Water Interactions; Forests for People; Forests and Climate Change; Forests and Forest-based products for a Greener Future; and Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services and Biological Invasions. Read more…
Investing in Knowledge Generation, Capacity Building and Education in Forestry
IUFRO fosters discussions on respective needs and benefits at a number of side events during the XIV World Forestry Congress in September in Durban, South Africa.
http://www.iufro.org/events/other-major-events/wfc-2015/
Climate change, food and water security, biodiversity conservation, and reliable, clean energy are some of the global challenges society is facing today. All have in common that they are highly interconnected and that they are all related to forests and forest management in some ways. Therefore our sustainable development will highly depend on how we manage and use forests in future and how we include forests in meeting the big challenges ahead. Read more…