Photo by: Eduardo Cartes Rodriguez
SHOVEL READY!
Attendees at the EKE conference in Christchurch, New Zealand prepare to plant native trees at the Rongoā Garden
Here's to another successful and informative EKE meeting - in one of the most beautiful and diverse countries I have ever seen! There were 51 attendees at the 2018 IUFRO EKE working party meeting, held in Christchurch, New Zealand, 9-13 September. Our wonderful local host was Scion, a Crown Research Institute specializing in research, science and technology development for the forestry, wood product, wood-derived materials, and other biomaterial sectors.
The focus of this year’s meeting was technology and how we can increase adoption of such by stakeholders and communities. Presentation topics ranged from teaching forest nursery workers in Chile strategies for more efficient use of water and nutrients, to the use of UAV’s in forest management and planning in the southern United States.
In addition to attending presentations, participants spent some time at the Rolleston forestry field sites learning about the effects of genetic and environmental factors on radiata pine (Pinus radiate) clones. They also learned about the “Red Zone” – an area where 7000 homes were removed due to unstable conditions after the 2011 earthquake, now entangled in conflicts around next steps in restoration. A definite highlight was a visit to the site of a Rongoā Garden and Kahikatea grove restoration project, where each attendee got to plant a few trees as part of the Māori community’s effort to restore native trees and plants.
Photo by: Eduardo Cartes Rodriguez
IUFRO World Congress in Curitiba, Brazil
EKE will be partnering with 4 other education focused IUFRO working parties for a session at the upcoming IUFRO World Congress in Brazil. The session, led by the IUFRO-IFSA Joint Task Force on Forest Education is entitled: Effective education strategies for the next generation of forest professionals. Due to the large number of session proposals received, the Congress Scientific Committee Chair requested that we all coordinate on a single session. Stay tuned for the call for abstracts!
http://www.iufro2019.com/
Photographer: Christian Brodbeck via UAV (i.e.drone)
Other EKE News
Since 2019 is a World Congress year we will not have a separate EKE meeting. So we are looking ahead to 2020 for our next meeting, with the location yet to be determined.
We are sad to say goodbye to Sally Upfold, who had to step down from her position as EKE deputy this year. We will miss her! Fortunately for us, Bill Hubbard from the USA has agreed to step in as Sally's replacement. Welcome Bill!
That's all for now. I'll be back in touch soon with more IUFRO news!
Regards,
Janean
EKE WP Coordinator:
Janean Creighton (United States)
Deputies:
John Pineau (Canada)
Ales Poljanec (Slovenia)
Bill Hubbard (United States)
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