A cross-sectoral, aligned and synergistic implementation of the SDGs needs to consider the role of forests and trees in poverty alleviation. As this requires reliable and synthesized scientific information, GFEP, the Global Forest Expert Panels initiative, has made "Forests and Poverty" the focus of its seventh assessment. More…

As the major international policy platform for forest- and tree-related issues, the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) held its 14th session from 6-10 May at UN Headquarters in New York, USA. IUFRO was well represented and contributed substantially to bringing scientific evidence to the attention of policy and decision-makers. More…

Educators need help on the "What" and "How" of Forests: This support can be supplied together with forest professionals and education start-ups. There is need to provide updated content and engaging methods of delivery to provide teachers with the tools to engage students at all levels. More…

"Act now" was the key message of this year's R20 Austrian Climate Summit on 28-29 May in Vienna. In addition to the main conference a series of breakout sessions was organized with in-depth panel discussions. One of these sessions focused on Forests under Climate Change – Knowledge Exchange between Austria and Africa. More…

Forests, urban forests, and green spaces play an important role in improving the health and wellbeing of people and should therefore be incorporated into public health systems and policies to promote mental and physical health. Read about the World Conference on "Forests for Public Health" on 8-11 May, 2019 in Athens, Greece. More…

The motto of the Congress on May 20-23 in Montpellier, France, was "Strengthening links between science, society and policy". The event contributed to bridging the gap between agroforestry science and its practical implementation especially for food security, biodiversity conservation and mitigation of climate change effects. More…

On May 20-22 the IAWA-IUFRO International Symposium on "Updating Wood Identification" took place in Beijing, China. It focused on recent advances in wood image analysis and database establishment, DNA barcoding techniques, chemical fingerprint techniques as well as policy implementation and combatting illegal logging. More…

The biennial conference of IUFRO RG 7.01.00 Impacts of air pollution and climate change on forest ecosystems was held in Nanning, China, on 13-17 May. New approaches were presented regarding the use of vegetation in urban environment to reduce the concentrations of air pollutants or the impacts of climate change on carbon sequestration, for example. More…

The joint meeting of the IUFRO Working Parties on Shoot, foliage and stem diseases and on Wilt diseases took place on 6-10 May in Figline Valdarno (Florence), Italy. The spectrum of diseases addressed by the two Working Parties has become quite diversified and, thus, the list of diseases addressed at the meeting was long. More…

IUFRO Honorary Member Heinz Schmutzenhofer, IUFRO's Secretary and then Executive Secretary between 1988 and 2003, celebrated his 80th birthday on 16 May 2019. The IUFRO Headquarters team was happy to congratulate him personally.