Hello all Mark your calendars! I just wanted to let you know that our session for IUFRO in Stockholm, 2024 was approved. The title is “*Mini-Symposium: Resilience of Forest Biodiversity to Climate Change and Pests: Civic Engagement and Conservation in Seed Banks, Public Gardens, and Wild, Urban, and Agroforestry Landscapes*” This has been organized by myself, Jill Wagner, Sean Hoban, Lara Salido and Denita Hadziabdic. I shared with the rest of you because I would love for you to submit for a talk, a poster, or to participate in a panel discussion and/or spread the word to others. The submissions will open soon (details coming February 10). The speakers will be selected by the organizing committee as well as the session organizers. Here is a link to the meeting and submission details and description: https://iufro2024.com/iufro-world-congress-2024/aim-and-scope/ https://iufro2024.com/call-for-congress-abstract *Mini-Symposium: Resilience of Forest Biodiversity to Climate Change and Pests: Civic Engagement and Conservation in Seed Banks, Public Gardens, and Wild, Urban, and Agroforestry Landscapes* *To conserve biodiversity, multiple approaches can be taken on the ground. This mini-symposium (Panel, Flash-talks & Posters) represents experts who focus on complementary aspects of conservation and reforestation; threat assessment, seed collecting and banking from wild trees, collective action and civic engagement, the roles of public gardens in conserving genetic resources, developing genetic resistance to pests to conserve biodiversity, and the importance of conserving genetic diversity in the face of pests and climate change.* *Seed is the unit by which biodiversity is propagated, and therefore, protected. There is ever increasing pollination disruption with shifting local climate conditions and more fragmented and degraded native ecosystems. As forests and genetic diversity are lost, so are mother trees for seed collection, in a time when people want to greatly scale reforestation efforts. In addition to potential declines in seed crops, global trade, biodiversity loss, and fragmentation increase the threat of emergent insect and pathogen outbreaks, resulting in local or range-wide extinction of iconic tree species. Therefore, there is a global need for threat assessments, seed collection and banking of native tree species.* *In the context of the above challenges and solutions, public gardens and arboreta are critical to the resilience of forests and society. In addition to acting as living collections, seed sources, and refugia of tree species, public gardens serve as biodiversity hotspots in cities, and meeting places for public and volunteer conservation efforts and outreach. As sentinels, trees in public gardens can be used to proactively detect emergent disease threats. Through collective action, exchange of information, public engagement, and local expert knowledge, “think global, act local” could be applied to aid proactive efforts to protect forest biodiversity from the next major pests across the world. Local experts and civic ecologists can accomplish this by collecting seed and observing trees in native environments, plantations, public gardens, and urban forests.* *Breeding or human-directed genetic improvement presents a practical solution for restoration of species that are impacted by emergent pest epidemics, climate change, or other threats. The utility of breeding to protect biodiversity also depends on the prior establishments of seed banks and other germplasm resources. It is critical to generate a prior understanding of the diversity of populations of tree species valued for their ecological, horticultural, or economic and commercial characteristics, the observed or potential effects of threats to those populations, and the role diversity could play in recovery of species.* We look forward to seeing the submissions of you and your colleagues to this event. Best regards, *Geoff Williams, PhD International Sentinel Network Coordinator* *Forest Service * *International Programs* *Office of the Chief* *Office: +1 (202) 263-9231* *WhatsApp: +1 (208) 874-7604 **geoffrey.williams(a)usda.gov &lt;geoffrey.williams(a)usda.gov&gt; * 3101 Discovery Dr., Suite F Lansing, MI 48910 www.fs.fed.us <https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fs.fed.us%2F&data=04%7C01%7C%7Ccd9bcaf69e89481c690908d96e53ef0c%7Ced5b36e701ee4ebc867ee03cfa0d4697%7C0%7C0%7C637662129034536018%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=Of%2BbKUO09cmZAtp1Yc5HQAko8%2FDCFcCljGfe0TgcuDg%3D&reserved=0> www.fs.fed.us/about-agency/international-programs <https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fs.fed.us%2Fabout-agency%2Finternational-programs&data=04%7C01%7C%7Ccd9bcaf69e89481c690908d96e53ef0c%7Ced5b36e701ee4ebc867ee03cfa0d4697%7C0%7C0%7C637662129034536018%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=TCGz6T4SF%2BEXgTfdPuzFP6Pu0wtYi53tfemmjyakkLQ%3D&reserved=0> *Caring for the land and serving people*