Read the latest issue of IUFRO-Japan News and learn more about the IUFRO World Congress to be held on 23-29 June 2024 in Stockholm, Sweden, IUFRO Research Group 3.08.00 and many other interesting things.

The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration is a rallying call for the protection and revival of ecosystems all around the world, for the benefit of people and nature. It aims to halt the degradation of ecosystems, and restore them to achieve global goals. Only with healthy ecosystems can we enhance people’s livelihoods, counteract climate change, and stop the collapse of biodiversity. The UN Decade runs from 2021 through 2030, which is also the deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals and the timeline scientists have identified as the last chance to prevent catastrophic climate change. Led by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, The UN Decade is building a strong, broad-based global movement to ramp up restoration and put the world on track for a sustainable future. That will include building political momentum for restoration as well as thousands of initiatives on the ground. Through communications, events and a dedicated web platform, the UN Decade will provide a hub for everyone interested in restoration to find projects, partners, funding and the knowledge they need to make their restoration efforts a success.

Learn about IUFRO activities at the 9th World Forestry Week in Rome, read up on meetings such as the latest tree biotechnology conference, find new publications and more…

Understanding the adaptive potential of populations in the face of environmental challenges is crucial for effective management and conservation strategies. Genomic approaches offer valuable insights into this adaptive potential, but their application in this context still requires further development.

This Special Issue aims to delve deeper into how genomic variation influences responses to environmental pressures. By examining the genetic basis of adaptation potential, a better understanding of the mechanisms can be gained that enable populations to cope with changing environments. Such knowledge is essential for predicting how populations will respond to future environmental changes, such as climate change, new pest and disease outbreaks, habitat fragmentation and destruction, and pollution.

The School of Renewable Natural Resources (SRNR) is pleased to invite applications from emerging and established scholars for a tenure-track or tenured appointment. The appointment may be tenure-track at the rank of Assistant Professor or Associate Professor, depending on qualifications and experience. All positions will have 12-month appointment with primary responsibilities in research (~60%) and teaching (~40%).

Applicants must have earned a Ph.D. in forestry, forest ecology, or a closely related field. Areas of expertise could include forest habitat restoration, silviculture, forest hydrology, ecosystem services, and global change biology. Knowledge of forest soils or floodplain processes would be advantageous. The scope of research could include various aspects of climate change such as restoring the adaptive capacity of forests and mitigating legacy agricultural practices and altered hydrology on the structure, function, and composition of forest stands. Research relevant to forests to disturbance, wildlife habitat, and carbon sequestration would be especially useful. Teaching duties include relevant courses in the forest management and wildlife habitat undergraduate curricula and a graduate course based on expertise.

The international conference "The Forest factor" was held in Rome, Italy, on 6 and 7 June 2023, at the Roma Tre University, with the aim of placing the emphasis on the protection of forests, as an essential element in the fight against climate change, and on their vital importance for biodiversity, the carbon, water and energy cycles on a planetary scale.

On 23 October 2024 at 15:00 CEST, the Bioregions Facility and FIRE-RES are organising the first webinar of the Extreme Wildfire Events Series. The webinar brings together three innovators working on developing solutions that efficiently and effectively address wildfire risk and integrated fire management in Europe and beyond.

HoZe Solutions, Mosaico, and Trigan are innovative platforms focused on risk mitigation, community engagement, and disaster management. HoZe Solutions offers critical infrastructure owners and managers a proprietary dashboard to assess wildfire risks, visualize defensible spaces, and simulate potential wildfires based on experimental data, providing cost-effective fire suppression strategies. Mosaico focuses on proactive wildfire prevention through agro-silvopastoral practices, integrating agriculture, livestock, and forestry to restore landscapes and enhance resilience in communities like Las Hurdes, Spain. Trigan leverages AI and digital tools to empower urban communities to address shared challenges through democratic decision-making, resource allocation, and continuous feedback for disaster management. Together, these projects aim to enhance resilience and reduce wildfire risks.

With respect to climate change mitigation, the sequestration of carbon by forests and soils is one of the most important ecosystem services of terrestrial ecosystems. Therefore, large efforts have been undertaken and major political initiatives started to increase the carbon storage capacity of forests and their products. Competencies and human resources to develop projects for land-use based mitigation and knowledge of related climate policy instruments at local, national and international levels are critically needed for successful projects and policies to increase the carbon stocks in forests and forest-related landscapes. In this course participants will learn to develop and evaluate such greenhouse mitigation initiatives among other things related to recent developments in international climate change policy.

A limited number of scholarships will become available in 2025 for selected participants (for eligible candidates from developing countries) that covers a 50% reduction of the course fees, accommodation costs and daily subsistence allowance during the 8-10 days stay in Freiburg.

You are invited to apply for studying Master of Science in Tropical Forestry (academic intake 2025-27) with classes starting in October 2025. The course is taught in English language at the Technische Universität Dresden, one of the 11 German Universities of Excellence.