IUFRO Task Forces are established on a temporary basis during each 5-year IUFRO Board term to advance inter‐disciplinary cooperation in forest research fields that span two or more IUFRO Divisions. Their focus is on emerging key issues that are of great interest to policy makers and groups inside and outside the forest sector, and contribute to international processes and activities. Since 1991, over 30 IUFRO Task Forces have brought together scientists, policy-makers and other stakeholders to conduct innovative work across a broad range of topics (for more information on these earlier Task Forces please visit: http://www.iufro.org/science/task-forces/former-task-forces/).

Since April 2015, ten new Task Forces were approved by the IUFRO Board:

• Contribution of Biodiversity to Ecosystem Services in Managed Forests
• Sustainable Planted Forests for a Greener Future
• Forest Biomass Network
• Forest Adaptation and Restoration under Global Change
• Climate Change and Forest Health
• Forests and Biological Invasions
• Forests, Soil and Water Interactions
• Resources for the Future: Transformation in Forest Use
• Foresight for Forest Sector Planning
• Forest Education

Further details on these Task Forces may be found on their respective webpages.

Proposals are now being accepted for new Task Forces. Please see http://www.iufro.org/download/file/22927/91/Call_for_Task_Force_proposals_Feb_2016_pdf/ for more details, or contact John Parrotta (Vice-President for Task Forces, Special Programmes, Projects and IUFRO-led Initiatives) at jparrotta(at)fs.fed.us.