[IUFRO Div 4] Invitation to submit abstracts for T1.34 entitled "Transitioning to Continuous Cover Forestry in Times of Climate Change and Energy Crisis"

Dear Colleagues, On behalf of the session organisers, I would like to invite you to submit abstracts for oral talks and posters as part of T1.34 entitled "Transitioning to Continuous Cover Forestry in Times of Climate Change and Energy Crisis" of the IUFRO World Congress held at Stockholm on 23-39 June 2024. Please submit your abstracts by June 2nd 2023 at https://www.appinconf.com/kas/Abstract?projectName=iufro2024abstracts. Best wishes, Arne Pommerening Session organisers: Arne Pommerening, Aine Ni Dhubhain, Jørgen Bo Larsen, Per Angelstam, Hubert Hasenauer T1.34 Transitioning to Continuous Cover Forestry in Times of Climate Change and Energy Crisis Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF) is forest management based on ecological principles with a view to avoid degradation effects. Throughout the world and in the literature the concept goes by many semi-synonyms which do not exactly mean the same but are headed approximately into the same direction. For example, one of these semi-synonyms is nature-based forest management. CCF has a long history in Central Europe but is comparatively new to other parts of the world. Currently the popularity of CCF is on the increase again for its potential to mitigate climate change, to increase or at least maintain biodiversity in forest ecosystems, to provide valuable tools for forest conservation and to enhance the appeal of woodlands used for recreation. Recently the EU forest strategy for 2030 stated clearcutting should be “used only in duly justified cases, for example, when proven necessary for environmental or ecosystem health reasons” and the strategy promotes “the creation or maintenance at stand and landscape level of genetically and functionally diverse, mixed‐species forests.” Early in 2022, the European Forest Institute (EFI) has launched a new strategy underpinning CCF principles with scientific evidence. It is particularly the early phase of transitioning towards CCF, i.e. the introduction of CCF to a country or region where this management type has not been commonly used before, which usually constitutes a major challenge for forest practice and stakeholders. For example, this was the situation 20 years ago in Ireland and in the UK and CCF is now being considered for introduction in the congress host country Sweden. A long-standing and crucial question is how natural disturbances can be more directly included in the design of CCF methods. The recent global energy crisis has added another challenging facet to implementing CCF and methods like the coppice selection system and coppice with standards may now assume greater importance than they did in the past. A topic close to the heart of forest practice is the important question how, in the context of these current challenges, the sustainability of ecosystem goods and services can be ensured in CCF and its variants. Effective methods of safeguarding ecosystem goods and services may, for example, require forest inventory designs to be adopted. --- Arne Pommerening, PhD (Göttingen), Habilitation (Vienna) Professor in Mathematical Statistics Applied to Forest Sciences Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences SLU Faculty of Forest Sciences Department of Forest Ecology and Management Skogsmarksgränd 17 SE-901 83 Umeå Sweden http://www.pommerening.org<http://www.pommerening.org/> http://blogg.slu.se/forest-biometrics Twitter: @ArneTanYrOnnen New textbook: Individual-based methods in forest ecology and management<https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030245276> New book on academic mentoring: Staying on top in academia<https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030654665>