Posts Tagged ‘forest management’

IUFRO Spotlight #88 – Using a social science lens on the forest bioeconomy

IUFRO Spotlight #88 – Using a social science lens on the forest bioeconomy

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Graphic showing two drawn faces; one has a forest as a background, the other has a city as a background.
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.

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The world is fighting forest fires in the midst of a pandemic

The world is fighting forest fires in the midst of a pandemic

Interview with Dr. Andrey Krasovskiy originally published in French: https://journalmetro.com/perspective/2477417/monde-lutte-feux-de-foret-pandemie/
On 25 June 2020 by Miguel Velazquez, Métro World News

Dr. Andrey Krasovskiy is a Research Scholar working with the Ecosystems Services and Management Program (ESM) of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Austria: https://iiasa.ac.at/

He is a Member of the IUFRO Task Force “Fire$: Economic Drivers of Global Wildland Fire Activity”: https://www.iufro.org/science/task-forces/global-wildland-fire-activity/

Q: What is the outlook for forest fires this year?
Forest fires are likely to keep the dynamics from previous years. Along with the problematic regions, such as Amazon, where forest fires are driven by deforestation, and Indonesia, where extremely vulnerable peatland areas are located, considerable fire events are to be expected in boreal forests of Russia, the US, and Canada. The forest fires might also show relative increase compared to previous years in Central European countries. There is a danger that post-quarantine human activities will further add to forest fire frequency in the Mediterranean region, as well as globally.

Skeeze on Pixabay
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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

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Treatment of regenerating natural tropical forests aiming at enhancing productivity, biodiversity and resilience. Photo: Michael Kleine, IUFRO.

“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.

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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

IUFRO Vice-President Shirong Liu at 2019 IUFRO World Congress in Curitiba, Brazil. Photo courtesy of Congress Organizing Committee.

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.

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Forest Restoration: enabling environment and mobilizing stakeholder’s support in Guatemala

With the Archaeological Park and Ruins of Quirigua, a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site, and its national tree, Ceiba sp., the fifth blog post is in Guatemala. The name of the project is Chimaltenango Restoration Initiative, in Guatemala, Central Highlands.

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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

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“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.

Haida Heritage Centre at sunrise. Photo: Ngaio Hotte.

“But,” he said, “actually putting these into practice is challenging.”

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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.

Photo: Safia Aggarwal, FAO
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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

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How does one decide how to manage a forest ethically?

Ema Image by arqgilson from Pixabay

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.

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IUFRO Spotlight #65 – Tying up loose ends in gender equality in forestry

IUFRO Spotlight #65 – Tying up loose ends in gender equality in forestry

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Social movement by indigenous women (temporarily) stops mining inside community forest in Odisha, India.
Social movement by indigenous women (temporarily) stops mining inside community forest in Odisha, India. Credit: Landing Together Film/Purabi Bose, date 28/08/2016

“In recent years gender equality in forestry has received a lot of attention – or lip service, anyway – but that’s not good enough. There exist a lot of loose ends at the practice and at the policy level,” said Dr. Purabi Bose, author, social environmental scientist, filmmaker and deputy coordinator of the IUFRO Gender and Forestry Research Group.

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IUFRO - The International Union of Forest Research Organizations