Activities and events

Task Force on Traditional Forest Knowledge

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON FOREST RELATED TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND CULTURE

Seoul, Republic of Korea
5 to 9 October 2008

Organized by:
The Conference was organized jointly by Korea Forest Research Institute, Seoul National University, the Society for Forest and Culture with sponsor of United Nations University and IUFRO Task Force on Traditional Forest Knowledge.

Objectives of the conference:
The conference brought together international experts in forestry, cultural history, ethno-botany, traditional knowledge, landscape planning, and agriculture. The conference participants mainly came from, but not necessarily limited to, northeast Asia. The conference was to provide opportunities for scientists and specialists to exchange and share each country’s ideas and traditional practices and tried to find common practices applicable to modern forested landscape management.

Second Announcement and Call for Papers
Registration form
Conference webpage

Deadlines:
Submission of abstracts: 10 August 2008 (extended)

IUFRO Workshop:
There was a workshop for Writing Traditional Forest Knowledge State-of-Knowledge Report – Asian Regional Chapter. Please refer to the second announcement for details

Further information:
Mr. KOO, Ja-choon, Department of Forest Sciences, Seoul National University
Phone: +822 880-4754 Fax: +822 888-2214
Email: selenium78(at)hotmail.com

Byong-Yi Choi
Email: cby9192(at)snu.ac.kr

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON TRADITIONAL FOREST-RELATED KNOWLEDGE AND SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT IN AFRICA

Accra Ghana
15-17 October 2008

For further information on the Conference please see the conference web site.

Deadlines:
Submissions of abstracts:    July 31, 2008
Notification of acceptance:   August 15, 2008
Submission of extended abstracts of accepted papers
and posters for conference proceedings:  September 20th, 2008.

Further information:
Prof. Alfred Oteng-Yeboah, otengyeboah(at)yahoo.co.uk
Dr. John Parrotta, jparrotta(at)fs.fed.us

Sustainable Forest Management and Poverty Alleviation: Roles of Traditional Forest-related Knowledge

17-20 December 2007, Kunming, China

Click here to view the powerpoint presentations of the Kunming meeting

The conference was organized by the IUFRO Task Force on Traditional Forest Knowledge, in collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Forestry (CAF), Korea Forest Research Institute (KFRI), Seoul National University (SNU), and the Asia Pacific Association of Forestry Research Institutions (APAFRI); as well as other member institutions in the Asia Pacific region, and other related regional and international agencies.  The conference was hosted by Sustainable Forest Research Centre of Chinese Academy of Forestry.

Conference Overview

The Asia Pacific region has one of the world’s highest diversity of ethnicities, languages and cultures. The region has also two of the ancient civilizations, India and China, both with recorded histories that date back many thousands of years. The region is the home of very rich ancient wisdom that had been passed down through the generations. A major portion of this is directly or indirectly linked to its vast stretches of forests, which have been the lifeline for the millions of people living in and around them. Although most of these age-old techniques and practices had been deemed outdated and no longer relevant to present day forestry, increasingly they are being re-discovered and explored for solving current problems. In the process, issues such as equitable benefits sharing and intellectual property rights have surfaced.

The conference will gather stakeholders and interested parties to share and exchange information and experiences related to the various aspects of traditional forest-related knowledge (TFRK) in the Asia Pacific region. It will also highlight the importance of TFRK towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals and sustainable forest management, and encourage further development on incorporating TFRK in models of sustainable practices. The conference will cover the following topics:

• Economic, ecological and cultural dimensions of TFRK in Asia and the Pacific
• Facing globalization: Issues of  intellectual property rights and equitable sharing of benefits
• Conservation and utilization of TFRK for achieving sustainable livelihoods of local communities
• Joint initiatives and utilization of traditional and modern scientific knowledge in forest management activities
• Development of good practices incorporating both traditional knowledge and modern sciences in forestry education, research and forest management activities
• Forestry policies recognizing the role of TFRK in achieving SFM and MDGs
  

Archive of Documents provided:

First Announcement and Call for Papers – 2nd Annoucement – Registration Form.

More information can be found soon on the Conference Website at www.apafri.org/

Contact persons:

Dr. John Parrotta (IUFRO Task Force on Traditional Forest Knowledge)- jparrotta(at)fs.fed.us
Dr. Liu Jinlong (Chinese Academy of Forestry) – liujl(at)caf.ac.cn
Dr. Sim Heok-Choh (APAFRI) – simhc(at)frim.gov.my

SHARING INDIGENOUS WISDOM: AN INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUE ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2007
Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA
11-15 June 2007

Organized by: IUFRO Task Force on Traditional Forest Knowledge, the Sustainable Development Institute of the College of Menominee Nation, U.S. Forest Service.

Traditional wisdom and its associated knowledge about forests and other ecosystems are keys to the development of sustainable natural resource policies and practices.  This conference, the 2nd in a series of regional meetings of the IUFRO Task Force on Traditional Forest Knowledge, was held to foster dialogue on traditional indigenous knowledge and how this is being incorporated into models and practices for sustainable development. Presentations and discussions were structured around the Menominee model of sustainable development that conceptualizes sustainable development as the process of maintaining balance and reconciling inherent tensions between the various dimensions of sustainability, i.e., land & sovereignty; economics; technology & science; institutions; human perception, activity & behavior; and natural environment. It explored how this and other successful models of sustainability allow for the preservation of indigenous lands, sovereignty and culture while providing for integrated economic development, institutional capacity building and technological advancement. Topics and issues closely related to the central aims of the IUFRO Task Force included:
   

• The history of the relationship of formal forest science and traditional wisdom and knowledge in forest management;
• Application of traditional knowledge in forest ecosystem assessments and management;
• Indigenous community priorities for forest research and collaborative forest management in support of community development goals;
• Evaluations of case studies on joint initiatives and utilization of traditional and formal scientific knowledge in forest management activities;
• Development of good practices for including both traditional knowledge and formal science in forestry education, research and forest management activities.

The meeting attracted over 100 participants from 12 countries, including indigenous people from Latin America, the Asia and Pacific region, Africa, Indian Tribes in the U.S., and First Nations in Canada. It also included numerous forest scientists, educators, students, forest managers and planners. The conference provided a forum for indigenous peoples’ voices on traditional wisdom, knowledge and values, problem-solving and research in support of sustainable indigenous communities. Among the recurring themes throughout the conference was a shared understanding of the critical importance of respect for the wisdom of elders and the the link they represent between past and present generations, and a general, although certainly not universal, appreciation that collaboration between indigenous peoples and mainstream society is critical for future generations and preservation of the environment.

The meeting organizers are grateful for the support provided by the Ford Foundation and the U.S. Forest Service and the warm hospitality extended to all conference participants by the Menominee and Oneida people. 

The proceedings of the conference will be published in early 2008 by the Sustainable Development Institute of the College of Menominee Nation in collaboration with the IUFRO Task Force on Traditional Forest Knowledge and the U.S. Forest Service. More information, including presentations, can be found on the conference website – http://www.sharingindigenouswisdom.org/.

ABOUT THE USE OF FOREST TREES – EXTRAORDINARY RENEWABLE RAW MATERIALS

Baden, Lower Austria, Austria: 14-17 September 2006

Symposium organized by: IUFRO Research Group 6.07.00 – Forest and Woodland History & IUFRO Task Force on Traditional Forest Knowledge

There is growing awareness from the part of international forest science and policy as regards the significance and relevance of local and indigenous knowledge about forests and traditional possibilities of utilisation, as well as the need to take account of this knowledge in the development of political strategies which aim at sustainable forest management. The protection, documentation, and utilisation of forest-related, tradition-based knowledge is in the focus of numerous political discussions held within national, regional and international organisations and forums.

The development of a society practicing sustainable management is one of the great challenges with which industrial nations are faced at the beginning of the 21st century. One of the hopes of the “sustainable economy

CULTURAL HERITAGE AND SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT: THE ROLE OF TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE

Italian Academy of Forestry Science, Firenze, Italy
8-10 June 2006

Organized by: IUFRO Research Group 6.07.00 – Forest History, IUFRO Task Force on Traditional Forest Knowledge

Traditional forest knowledge and innovative forest management practices developed by rural communities over the centuries have contributed significantly to the world's natural and cultural heritage, not only by creating and maintaining landscapes of outstanding beauty, but also by helping to sustain production of multiple goods and services that enhance livelihood security and quality of life. The theme of the conference reflected the significant overlap of interests between the holders and users of traditional forest knowledge and a number of policy and planning issues and initiatives within the European Union, the broader European region, and the global forest policy community. These relate to:

• increasing recognition of the importance of traditional forest management practices in maintaining cultural landscapes;
• development and refinement of social/cultural criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management;
• the increased recognition of the contributions of traditional forest knowledge to sustainable forest management reflected in recent deliberations of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD); and,
• ongoing activities of numerous intergovernmental organizations, regional bodies, individual governments, communities, research organizations and NGOs worldwide focused on the protection and development of traditional ecological knowledge and its application to sustainable natural resource management.
  

The meeting attracted 120 participants from 24 countries, including forest scientists, forest managers and planners, forest policy experts, and representatives from a variety of international organizations and forest policy bodies, including representatives from the UNFF, FAO, UNCCD, UNESCO, the Council of Europe’s European Landscape Convention, and the MCPFE Liaison Unit.

During the technical sessions a total of 66 papers and 15 posters were presented and discussed, covering a range of topics relevant to the conference theme and the global priority topics of the IUFRO Task Force, with an emphasis on forest history and the relationship between traditional knowledge and formal forest science in the creation and maintenance of cultural forest landscapes.

The conference represented  a further step in the implementation of the Vienna declaration n.3 of the MCPFE concerning “Preserving and enhancing the cultural dimension of sustainable forest management in Europe