Dear IAWA Members: I am pleased to announce another symposium -- "Practical and scientific efforts in support of legal logging" organized by Dr. Alex C. Wiedenhoeft, Center for Wood Anatomy Research, Forest Products Laboratory. The session will bring together scholars and experts from around the world to speak about forest certification and chain of custody, international legal logging policy, training in wood identification in support of international treaties, and chemical and molecular tools for wood identification and provenancing. The mixture of scientific researchers and experts with field experience in the forests of the world promises to provide the attendees with a robust characterization of many of the problems posed by illegal logging, and will highlight some of the scientific and economic solutions to those problems. The speakers include: Dr. Hisashi Abe, FFPRI, Japan Dr. Peter Gasson, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, UK Dr. Akira Kagawa, FFPRI, Japan Dr. Gerald Koch, IWBWPFRCFFP, Germany A representative (TBA) of the Environmental Investigation Agency, USA Dr. Andrew Lowe, Adelaide Univesrity, Australia Dr. Tereza Cristina Monteiro Pastore, Brazilian Forest Service, Brazil Scott Poynton, The Forest Trust, Switzerland Dr. Wiedenhoeft also wishes to convene a discussion group of interested parties to discuss long-term international research collaboration, enforcement cooperation, and information exchange in support of legal logging; specific information about this discussion group will be distributed when it becomes available. If you are interested in attending being a part of this group, please feel free to contact Dr. Wiedenhoeft at <mailto:acwieden@wisc.edu> acwieden(a)wisc.edu to communicate your interest; this will assist in planning the logistics of the discussion group. Please remember that abstracts for papers and posters are due May 1, 2010, and that the early registration discount ends May 1, 2010 as well. I am looking forward to seeing you in fair Madison, Wisconsin, this June for what promises to be a successful and rewarding conference. Dr. Regis B. Miller, Executive Secretary of IAWA USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory Center for Wood Anatomy Research One Gifford Pinchot Drive Madison, WI 53726-2398 Tele: 608/231-9341 Fax : 608/231-9508 Email: rmiller1(a)wisc.edu ------------------------------------------ Circulated on behalf of Dave Cown by Brigitte Burger, IUFRO Headquarters