The next All - Division Conference of IUFRO Division 5 - Forest Products will be held in tropical Cairns, Australia on June 4th - 8th, 2023. The call for abstracts has opened and details of the twenty-four themed sessions including S21 IAWA-IUFRO Wood Identification Symposium titled “Promoting Data-driven Methods for Species and Origin Identification of Forest Products” can be found at www.iufro-div5-2023.com/copy-of-call-for-session-proposals.

This IAWA-IUFRO Symposium is to have an exchange of experiences and ideas on how scientific research can support a sustainable supply chain of forest products and legal timber trade, through the development of data-driven wood identification tools or technologies.The program will encourage open dialogue around the following topics: a) Can a xylarium network and an integrated wood identification system guarantee a legal timber trade; b) Can the development of integrated wood identification technology enhance the regional and/or international timber and wood products export and import activities among countries? c) Do different regulations in each country complicate the development of axylarium network? The syposium will be held for two hours and each speaker will have fifteen minutes to deliver key messages with an interactive Q&A.

During this conference, other two sessions regarding wood identification S22 “From Wood Anatomy to DNA: Species and Provenance Tracking for Modern and Archaeological Woods” and S23 "Interdisciplinary Wood Identification Approaches for Supply Chain Transparency" will be held.

The deadline for abstract submission is postponed to October 3rd, 2022.

The knowledge about recognition and utilization of the most important internationally traded timbers is of prime importance to forestry and the wood industry as well as timber trade and even control authorities. As an important tool for this purpose, the database of macroHOLZdata developed at the Thuenen-Institute for Wood Research has been programmed as an app for smartphones and tablets. The “macroHOLZdata” is an innovative digital tool for macroscopic wood identification and information retrieval for educational facilities and professionals in the wood industry and trade. The app offers:

1.  interactive identification of 150 common trade timbers (hardwoods and softwoods) based on macroscopic features to be observed with the unaided eye or with a hand lens,
2.  high-quality colour illustrations of wood characters and timbers featuring transverse (10x) and longitudinal surfaces (natural size),
3.  complete timber descriptions accompanied by high-quality colour illustrations depicting characteristic wood features,
4.  database offering pertinent information on wood properties, processing, and utilization,
5.  a textbook (glossary) with definitions, explanations, procedures, etc. for most features used in the description of the timbers in terms of wood structure, properties, and utilization (specific information retrieval),
6.  innovative tool for teaching at vocational schools and higher educational facilities with a wood technology and forestry-related curriculum (also suitable for Do-It-Yourself education).

The app is also suited for further education and training in forestry and timber industry as well as self-study for all those interested in wood.

Please download the app from the App Store (iOS) and Google Play (Android) using the search term macroholzdata.

The 2022 International Youth Forum for Wood Anatomy and the 9th IAWA-China Group Annual Meeting will be held on December 9-12, 2022 in Guangzhou, China. The theme of the conference is “Wood Anatomy and Wood Utilization - Future for Ecozoic Era and Community”. The meeting is organized by International Association of Wood Anatomists (IAWA), IAWA China Group and South China Agricultural University, co-sponsored by Division 5 (5.16.00 and 5.06.00) of International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) and International Academy of Wood Science (IAWS). 

PhD candidates or early career researchers who have completed their PhD no longer than five years are cordially invited to submit their abstracts by October 20th, 2022, and to attend the International Youth Forum for Wood Anatomy open in the afternoon of December 10th and in the morning of December 11th, 2022. The newly established Sherwin Carlquist Award by IAWA will be given to excellent speakers of the Youth Forum for Wood Anatomy with certificates and grants.

Please visit http://www.iawa-website.org/en/Meeting/Future_Meetings/article_204.shtml for more details.

A new article on the inference of origin of Pterocarpus wood by chemical method authored by Cady Lancaster et al. was recently published. The article is available: 

Inference of origin of Pterocarpus timber by chemical profiling of ambient ionization mass spectra | Request PDF (researchgate.net)

The 8th IAWA-China Group Annual Meeting and 2021 International Youth Forum for Wood Anatomy was held online on November 13-14, 2021, organized by IAWA-China Group in Chengdu, China, co-sponsored by IUFRO and IAWS together. More details please visit: http://iawa-website.org/en/News/article_192.shtml 

The abstracts (both in English and Chinese) of this meeting are available online under the download menu of the IAWA website (http://www.iawa-website.org/en/Downloads/Publications/index.shtml). You may find worthwhile researches about recent progress of Wood Identification.

In 2022, IAWA with IUFRO and IAWS will co-organized the 9th IAWA-China Group annual meeting at South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China.