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Activities and events

TF Transforming Forest Landscapes for Future Climates and Human Well-Being

Current Task Force Events

  • Monthly Forest Restoration Talks: Ecosystem Restoration on a Landscape Level - how can it work in practice? Speakers from all Green Deal ecosystem restoration cluster projects; online; 13 March 2024, 16:00 CET. Webinar homepage - Registration     
     
  • Monthly Forest Restoration Talks: COP28 recap: implications for forests, ecosystem restoration and nature conservation. online; 14 February 2024, 16:00 CET. Speakers: Trevor Walter, leader of WWF's Transformational Initiative on Landscape Restoration in LAC, and Alice Bisiaux, environmental lawyer and land allocation and forest conversion expert at European Forest Institute’s International Partnerships Facility. Webinar homepage  
     
  • Monthly Forest Restoration Talks: Unveiling the Future of Christmas Trees in the Era of Climate Change: Navigating Forest Disturbances. online; 13 December 2023, 16:00 CET. Speaker: Christina Dollinger, Technical University of Munich. Webinar homepage   
     
  • Monthly Forest Restoration Talks: Assisted translocation of tree populations in support of European forest carbon sink potential; online; 8 November 2023, 16:00 CET. Speaker: Silvio Schüler, Bundesforschungszentrum für Wald (BFW). Webinar homepage  
     
  • Monthly Forest Restoration Talks: (In)Coherences in EU Forest-Related Policies under the framework of the Nature Restoration Law; online; 18 October 2023, 15:00 CET. Speakers: Metodi Sotirov, Senior Researcher & Assistant Professor in Forest and Environmental Policy, University of Freiburg; Simon Fleckenstein, Project Researcher and PhD Candidate in Forest and Environmental Policy, University of Freiburg. Webinar homepage  
     
  • Monthly Forest Restoration Talks: New Standards of Practice to Guide Ecosystem Restoration – Views from Science and Practice; online; 11 October, 16:00 CET. Speakers: George Gann, International Policy Lead, Society for Ecological Restoration (SER); Michael Kleine, Deputy Executive Director & Coordinator, International Union of Forest Research Organizations, Special Programme for Development of Capacities (IUFRO-SPDC). Webinar homepage 
     
  • Monthly Forest Restoration Talks: Public perceptions of Forest Restoration in different regions of the world; online; 20 September 2023, 16:00 CET. Speakers: Vianny Ahimbihiswe, Thünen Institute; Åsa Granberg, SUPERB Swedish demo; Moses Kazungu, WSL. Webinar homepage 
     
  • Monthly Forest Restoration Talks: Situating forest restoration with digital methods; online, 14 June 2023, 4:00 PM CEST. Speakers:  Jonathan Gray, Senior Lecturer in Critical Infrastructure Studies, King’s College London, & Rina Tsubaki, Communications Manager, European Forest Institute. Webinar homepage
     
  • Monthly Forest Restoration Talks: Restoration Policy Accelerator: a journey to inspire, innovate and streamline policies to restore 50 million hectares in Latin America and the Caribbean and 100 million hectares in Africa; online, 10 May 2023, 4:00 PM CEST. Speaker:  René Zamora Cristales, Senior Manager Restoration Policy & Forest Economist, World Resources Institute. Webinar homepage
     
  • Monthly Forest Restoration Talks: Billions of trees? The how, where and don'ts of tree planting; online, 12 April 2023, 4:00 PM CEST. Speaker:  Giorgio Vacchiano, Associate Professor, University of Milan. Webinar homepage
  • Monthly Forest Restoration Talks: Governments commit to forest restoration, but what does it take to restore forests?; online; 8 March 2023, 4:00 PM CET. Speakers: Stephanie Mansourian, Environmental Consultant at Mansourian.org, & Mercy Derkyi, Senior Lecturer, University of Energy and Natural Resources. Webinar homepage
     
  • Monthly Forest Restoration Talks: European forest restoration: urgently needed, but where and how?; online; 8 February 2023, 4:00 PM CET.  Speakers: Gert-Jan Nabuurs, Wageningen University, Iciar Alberdi, Spanish National Research Council, Jürgen Bauhus, University of Freiburg, Harald Mauser, EFI, Sara Filipek, Wageningen University. Webinar homepage 
      
  • Monthly Forest Restoration Talks: Forest Landscape Restoration and local community involvement - delivering on the promises to succeed in restoration; online; 11 January 2023, 4:00 PM CET. Speaker: Markus Hoehl, Z.U.G., Germany. Webinar homepage 
     
  • Monthly Forest Restoration Talks: Biodiversity as a key asset for forest restoration in Europe; online; 14 December 2022, 4:00-5:30 pm CET. Speaker: Bart Muys, SUPERB. Webinar details  
     
  • Monthly Forest Restoration Talks: If nature is the solution, what is the problem? A perspective from forest landscape restoration; online; 9 November 2022, 4:00-5:30 pm CET. Speaker: John Stanturf, IUFRO Task Force "Transforming Forest Landscapes". Webinar details 

Activities of interest to the Task Force

Webinar "Transforming Forest Landscapes for Future Climates and Human Well-Being"; online 24 February 2021, 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM CET. Registration: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/6268848365681423373 


Task Force activities

We propose an initiative including three thematic areas: (1) scenario analyses and projections, (2) best practice approaches for FL preservation, restoration and adaptive management, and (3) FL outreach and educational programme (focused on school and university programs as well as practicing professionals and policymakers, incl. R & D initiatives with the private sector). For all themes, a close collaboration of natural, social and educational scientists from all divisions (1 to 9) is foreseen. Thus, the TF activities integrate and do not duplicate the IUFRO division activities. Moreover, participating key experts from World Resource Institute (WRI), Global Landscape Forum (GLF), International Institute of Applied System Analysis (IIASA), Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), EFI Resilience Center and EUFORGEN will ensure a high-level international network activity.

Within the period from 2019 to 2021, all three themes of the TF activities shall be developed in parallel. Topic-related workshops and meetings will ensure the integration of the activities. Until 2021 a set of scenarios with related projections shall be available for global regions, as well as a preliminary set of best practice approaches for selected regions. A scheme for the educational programme shall be drafted. From 2021 to 2024 a final set of best practice approaches shall be available for all regions, and the educational programme and decision support tools shall be implemented.


Within the evaluation period (2019-2021)

Activity 1: Establish scenarios and projections for future FL development referring to climate change and varying societal requirements for global regions:

  • Three continental/regional workshops setting and discussing the scope and drivers set for FL development, two of them shall be held together with FLR Innovation Workshops in collaboration with the International Forestry Students Association (IFSA), CIFOR and others bodies or institutions.
  • Model projections of FL development for global regions
    Deliverables: Continental scenarios and projections for FL development published in reports and scientific papers.

Timeline: 2019 to 2021

Activity 2: Analyses towards best practice approaches (BPA) for FL preservation, restoration and adaptive management:

  • Integrative overall analyses of the outcomes of the TF Forest Adaptation and Restoration under Global Change (e.g. workshop and literature reviews, online survey information) and TF Forests, Soil and Water Interactions (studies, literature reviews) on success and failure factors for FL preservation, restoration and management.
  • Deliverables: Publications on pros and cons of different FL approaches on preservation, restoration and management on a continental scale, information material for stakeholders
  • Timeline: 2019 to 2021

Activity 3: Developing suitable outreach and education as well as R & D schemes on FL issues for different stakeholder groups (focusing on practising professionals, policy makers and decision makers) and the public; this task shall be done in close collaboration with and complementation to the TF on Forest Education focusing on tertiary (academic) education. Collaboration with other organizations, groups, and forums working on outreach, education and decision support like GPFLR, GLF (e.g. “landscape academy”), universities (e.g. Yale “restoration online course”) to complement and inform other activities

  • Identifying suitable outreach and education approaches for the different stakeholder groups regarding the FL topic.
  • Strong collaboration with other organizations and groups working on outreach, education and DS like GPFLR, WRI, FAO and IOWG to complement other activities
  • Elaboration of specific R & D topics for the private sector
  • Drafting of specific outreach and education schemes and tools
    Deliverables: Drafts of tools (outreach, education and decision support)
  • Timeline: 2019 to 2021

Potential continuation period (2021-2024)

Activity 4: Elaboration of best practice approaches (BPA) for FL preservation, restoration and adaptive management

  • Establishing continental/regional best practice approaches for FL preservation, restoration and adaptive management based on the interactive analyses (bullet point 2)
  • Performing application and feedback workshops for BPA in selected regions of high importance for FL preservation, restoration and management
    Deliverables: BPA handbooks and guidelines, distribution of BPA briefs
    Timeline: 2021 to 2024
     

Activity 5: Implementation of outreach and education as well as R & D schemes; active collaboration with other organizations, groups, and forums working on outreach, education and DS to complement and inform other activities

  • Testing of the outreach, education and DS tools with selected stakeholders
  • Further improvement of the designed tools and materials.
  • Training and Mentoring Programme for FLR Facilitators, e.g. in Malawi and Sri Lanka in cooperation with IUFRO-SPDC (using the outreach and education material
  • Distribution and implementation activities (online, printing, presentations)
    Deliverables: Printed and online tools, reports/publications regarding the outreach, education and DS schemes and approaches.
  • Timeline: 2021 to 2024

Contribution to the IUFRO strategy

Our proposed task force has links to all five goals of the 2015 to 2019 IUFRO strategy. The most robust links are visible for goals (1) Forest for People, (2) Forest and Climate Change, (4) Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services and Biological Invasions and (5) Forest, Soil and Water Interactions, but also (3) Forests and Forest-based Products for a Greener Future is touched. The group work comprises interdisciplinary research activities in the fields of Policy and Social Science, (Forest) Ecology, Silviculture, Genetics, Education, Soil Science, and Hydrology. Thus, the topic expands the cross-divisional collaboration within IUFRO perfectly. The task force activity provides a perfect basis for both transdisciplinary research and science-society interaction on a very relevant topic of global significance. We, therefore, recommend highlighting IUFRO involvement and attention by establishing the proposed task force.


Open group character and collaborative activities

The proposed TF will be focused on scientific activities, and the TF is open to any new partner/contributor within IUFRO or from outside such as the Global Landscapes Forum community, the Global Partnership on Forest and Landscape Restoration (GPFLR) and the International Association for Landscape Ecology (IALE) among others. Thus, the group of TF members mentioned in this application represents the initial core group and may be supplemented with more scientists during the ongoing work. We will seek collaboration and networking with other scientific organisations and policy initiatives, networks and groups both within IUFRO and outside with partners like EFI, IPCC, CIFOR, UNFCCC, FAO and WRI. We already have members from different continents in our group. However, we want to attract more members for the TF activities and collaboration.


Send comments to Andreas Bolte (Task Force Coordinator)