Invitation to IUFRO 1.02.04 Meliaceae Working Party in Curitiba
by Sheila Ward
Dear Colleagues:
Please consider attending the business meeting of the Meliaceae Working
Party 1.02.04 to be held at IUFRO 2019 on Tuesday October 1 at 12:00-12-50
at R16 – PG. This Working Party serves as a forum for the exchange of
information on the sustainable management and genetic resources of
Meliaceae, particularly the Swietenioideae, for all interested parties and
countries. (See
https://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-1/10000/10200/10204/ )
The agenda includes
1) Finding new coordinator and deputy coordinators
2) Making better use of Working Party listserv to discuss Meliaceae issues.
3) Populating IUFRO webpage (Publications and references; Expertise offered
by Unit; Toolbox
4) Accomplishments
5) Setting future goals
6) Planning future activities
7) Other
Hope to see you there!
Sheila Ward
5 years, 2 months
- 1
- 0
Fwd: IUFRO NEWS 8, 2019
by Sheila Ward
Dear Meliaceae Working party:
Below is the IUFRO Issue 8 2019 newsletter. Past editions of the newsletter
can be found at: https://www.iufro.org/publications/news/electronic-news/
Regards,
Sheila Ward
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: IUFRO Headquarters <office(a)iufro.org>
Date: Tue, Sep 3, 2019 at 5:42 AM
Subject: IUFRO NEWS 8, 2019
To: Dear IUFRO Officeholder <mahoganyforthefuture(a)gmail.com>
[image: IUFRO News]
Issue 8/2019
IUFRO NEWS 8, 2019
Dear IUFRO Officeholder:
We are happy to present to you issue 8 of IUFRO News 2019, volume 48. The
newsletter is also available for download as a PDF or Word file at:
https://www.iufro.org/publications/news/electronic-news/.
You are welcome to pass on this newsletter to your colleagues!
To find out more about IUFRO, just visit https://www.iufro.org and follow
our blog http://blog.iufro.org/, Twitter: @iufro <http://twitter.com/IUFRO>
and IUFRO Facebook entries <https://www.facebook.com/iufro>.
Alexander Buck
*IUFRO Executive Director *
*IUFRO News is widely distributed among IUFRO Members, officeholders and
other interested groups. If you would like to publish in IUFRO News,
contribute to the IUFRO website content or promote a publication via IUFRO
Spotlight, do not hesitate to contact us at IUFRO Headquarters:
office(a)iufro.org <office(a)iufro.org>*
At each IUFRO World Congress, the following awards for scientific work are
presented:
Scientific Achievement Award (SAA)
<http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=6853#c29094>
Outstanding Doctoral Research Award (ODRA)
<http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=6853#c29093>
IUFRO Student Award for Excellence in Forest Science (ISA)
<http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=6853#c29091>
Best Poster Award (BPA) <http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=6853#c29092>
The IUFRO World Congress Host Scientific Awards
<http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=6853#c29095>
Scientific Achievement Award Winners 2019
S. Ellen MACDONALD <http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=6853#c29084>
José Leonardo de MORAES GONÇALVES
<http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=6853#c29083>
Maria NIJNIK <http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=6853#c29082>
David J. NOWAK <http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=6853#c29081>
Elena PAOLETTI <http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=6853#c29080>
Marielos PEÑA-CLAROS <http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=6853#c29079>
Terence C.H. SUNDERLAND <http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=6853#c29078>
Margarida TOMÉ <http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=6853#c29077>
Daowei ZHANG <http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=6853#c29076>
Junyong ZHU <http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=6853#c29075>
Outstanding Doctoral Research Award Winners 2019
Angela L. de AVILA <http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=6853#c29073>
Sarah L. BURNS <http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=6853#c29072>
Andrea HEVIA CABAL <http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=6853#c29071>
Verónica F. LOEWE MUÑOZ <http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=6853#c29070>
Lichao JIAO <http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=6853#c29069>
Rubén VALBUENA <http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=6853#c29068>
Ida WALLIN <http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=6853#c29067>
Zhen YU <http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=6853#c29066>
René ZAMORA-CRISTALES <http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=6853#c29065>
Student Award for Excellence in Forest Sciences Winners 2019
Shankar ADHIKARI <http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=6853#c29063>
Katharina ALBRICH <http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=6853#c29062>
Shourav DUTTA <http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=6853#c29061>
Ange RAHARIVOLOLONIAINA <http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=6853#c29060>
Andrea M. VÁSQUEZ FERNÁNDEZ <http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=6853#c29059>
Khalil WALJI <http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=6853#c29058>
Wangari Maathai Award
The Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) will provide the Wangari
Maathai award to one extraordinary individual for improving our forests and
the lives of people who depend on them! *More*
<http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=6853#c29086>...
IUFRO Website Features
IUFRO Blog <http://blog.iufro.org/>
Noticeboard <https://www.iufro.org/discover/noticeboard/>
Proceedings Archive <http://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=75>
Scientific Summaries <https://www.iufro.org/?id=79>
RSS Feeds <https://www.iufro.org/?id=3745>
Newsletter Archive <https://www.iufro.org/index.php?id=147>
______________________________________________
*IUFRO News issue 8, 2019, IUFRO Congress Scientific Awards, published in
early September 2019 by IUFRO Headquarters, Marxergasse 2, 1030 Vienna,
Austria. Available for download
at: https://www.iufro.org/publications/news/electronic-news/
<https://www.iufro.org/publications/news/electronic-news/> Contact the
editor at office(at)iufro.org <wolfrum(a)iufro.org> or
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unsubscribe from IUFRO News, please reply to this newsletter by e-mail
(burger(at)iufro.org <burger(a)iufro.org>).
Imprint: https://www.iufro.org/legal/#c10402
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5 years, 3 months
- 1
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Fwd: IUFRO Press Release: Putting a Halt to Tropical Forest Loss is a Matter of Human Survival
by Sheila Ward
Dear IUFRO Meliaceae Working party:
Below is an IUFRO communication on Tropical Forest Loss.
Regards,
Sheila Ward
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: IUFRO Headquarters <office(a)iufro.org>
Date: Mon, Sep 9, 2019 at 3:58 AM
Subject: IUFRO Press Release: Putting a Halt to Tropical Forest Loss is a
Matter of Human Survival
To: Dear IUFRO Officeholder <mahoganyforthefuture(a)gmail.com>
<http://www.iufro.org/>
* International Union of Forest Research Organizations *
IUFRO Press Release: Putting a Halt to Tropical Forest Loss is a Matter of
Human Survival
*PRESS RELEASE: Putting a Halt to Tropical Forest Loss is a Matter of Human
Survival*
(Vienna, 9 September 2019) Never before, it seems, have forests received as
much public attention as at present. Sadly, the reasons for this are most
distressing: forest fires of unprecedented dimensions all over the globe; a
growing lack of resistance of trees to stressors such as drought, pests and
diseases; and the uncontrolled exploitation of forests in environmentally
sensitive areas.
PDF for download
<https://www.iufro.org/fileadmin/material/media/iwc19-press-release-deforest…>
[image: © LEOFFREITAS/FLICKR/GETTY IMAGES]
© LEOFFREITAS/FLICKR/GETTY IMAGES
In this context, it is crucial to emphasize the particular importance of
tropical forests for global well-being and, consequently, the urgency to
effectively curb deforestation and forest degradation.
"Tropical forests are a globally significant resource for a number of
reasons – their role in carbon storage, their biodiversity value, their
role in sustaining local livelihoods, and their role in regulating the
atmospheric hydrological cycle", emphasizes the representative of Latin
America and the Caribbean on the Board of the International Union of Forest
Research Organizations (IUFRO), Dr. Manuel Guariguata of CIFOR, Peru.
"A growing body of evidence accumulated over the last few years strongly
indicates that tropical deforestation disrupts the movement of water in the
atmosphere, causing major alterations in rainfall over vast distances
potentially leading to drought in key agricultural areas worldwide. This
has tremendous implications for the world's food security. That is, the
forests cause the rainfall, not the other way around", he explained.
The drivers of deforestation are multiple and they interact in many ways:
Poverty; poor legal enforcement; unclear and/or overlapping land use
designations by uncoordinated government agencies; agroindustrial expansion
by influential elites; price hikes of international commodities such as
cocoa or coffee; and poor government capacity to enforce land use change
legislation in agricultural frontiers. Deforestation driven by commercial
agriculture and cattle rearing is a persistent problem across tropical
countries, as are uncontrolled mining of precious minerals and illegal
logging activities.
Yet, there are many possible solutions and tools to tackle the problem of
deforestation and to help make forests more resilient to climate change.
Some of the solutions, according to Dr. Guariguata, are:
*Securing access and tenure rights to Indigenous communities*.
There is scientific evidence across Amazon basin countries, for example,
that supports the contention that management by indigenous communities
helps to curb deforestation, reduce forest carbon emissions, and conserve
biodiversity.
*Encouraging the agro-industrialist private sector to adopt voluntary
sustainability standards aiming at zero deforestation*.
It is important to understand, among other things, that the implementation
of private sector commitments to halt deforestation currently varies across
products. For example, voluntary sustainability standards for palm oil are
most advanced, followed by cocoa and soy. In contrast, standards for coffee
and beef lag behind, despite the fact that cattle raising for beef is one
of the main causes of tropical deforestation.
*Improving the coherence and complementarity of forest conservation and
sustainable use policies*.
This applies not only to different government agencies with a forest
mandate and across government levels, from the local to the national, but
also to all stakeholders in the landscape such as local communities,
agriculture and forestry enterprises, environmental NGOs and civil society
at large. They have to talk with each other and work with each other in
constructive ways to effectively curb deforestation, reconcile conflicting
land uses and restore degraded land to build future more resilient and
diverse landscapes
The widespread nature of the problems of deforestation, forest degradation
and land-related conflicts, especially in tropical regions, and the equally
widespread nature of their negative effects as they ripple outward across
cultures and borders, will be addressed in many of the scientific sessions
at the IUFRO World Congress in Curitiba, Brazil, on 29 September – 5
October 2019.
Related Congress outcomes will be disseminated broadly to stakeholders and
the international media. In this way, IUFRO seeks to make a substantial
contribution to raising public awareness regarding these and other
important issues. IUFRO, as a strictly scientific, independent, non-profit,
non-governmental and non-discriminatory organization, offers platforms such
as itsWorld Congress in Brazil for in-depth scientific discussion and
interdisciplinary research to provide the material for evidence-based
decisions.
Professor Mike Wingfield, President of IUFRO, makes the point that
"Evidence shows that IUFRO can achieve the greatest positive impact on
management and policy decisions affecting forests and people by addressing
critical problems where they occur. This is especially true in
collaboration with the scientists and research institutions in affected
countries and regions, and then broadly communicating their findings. It is
my sincere hope that the members of the global IUFRO scientific community
and our stakeholders share this view. Importantly that we will be able to
use the Congress as a platform for open discussions on critical issues, for
sharing knowledge and for offering advice based on sound scientific
evidence."
*25th IUFRO World Congress*:
http://iufro2019.com/
*Media contact*:
Gerda Wolfrum, International Union of Forest Research Organizations
(IUFRO), wolfrum(a)iufro.org
###########
The *International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO)* is the
only worldwide organization devoted to forest research and related
sciences. Its members are research institutions, universities, and
individual scientists as well as decision-making authorities and other
stakeholders with a focus on forests and trees.
*______________________________________________You are receiving this
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5 years, 3 months
- 1
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Fwd: Forests under Climate Change – Knowledge Exchange between Austria and Africa
by Sheila Ward
Dear IUFRO Meliaceae Working party:
Below is an IUFRO Communication about Forests under Climate Change.
Regards,
Sheila Ward
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: IUFRO Headquarters <office(a)iufro.org>
Date: Tue, May 28, 2019 at 12:12 PM
Subject: Forests under Climate Change – Knowledge Exchange between Austria
and Africa
To: Dear IUFRO Officeholder <mahoganyforthefuture(a)gmail.com>
<http://www.iufro.org/>
* International Union of Forest Research Organizations *
Forests under Climate Change – Knowledge Exchange between Austria and Africa
Forests under Climate Change – Knowledge Exchange between Austria and
Africa
PDF for download
<https://www.iufro.org/fileadmin/material/events/r20-aws-summit-2019/r20-aws…>
- Importance of forests and trees for climate protection highlighted at
R20 Austrian World Summit
- Special focus on Africa, where particularly high impacts of climate
change are expected
- New Austrian initiatives for promoting science cooperation and
networking with African partners towards greater sustainability
(Vienna, 28 May 2019) Forests are the largest terrestrial carbon store.
They can sustainably produce woody biomass to replace fossil fuels; and
solid wood products can substitute other energy intensive materials. In
addition to their crucial role in mitigating the worst impacts of climate
change, forests provide a multitude of ecosystem goods and services that
are vital to human well-being and to the protection of biodiversity.
Climate change, however, also severely threatens forests and trees. It is
adding to a range of other pressures on forest ecosystems, such as
population pressure and the increasing need for agricultural land.
A breakout session at the R20 Austrian Climate Summit 2019 focuses
specifically on the role of forests in Africa, where many people are highly
dependent on forest goods and services and, consequently, most vulnerable
to climate change. The event is organized jointly by the Austrian Federal
Ministry for Sustainability and Tourism (BMNT), the Austrian Federal
Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMBWF), and the International
Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO), and takes place on 29 May
at the University of Vienna. Three renowned experts from Africa will talk
with Austrian representatives from government and research about the
opportunities and challenges for people and the environment related to
forests, trees and forest products in the face of climate change and about
collaboration with Austrian partners.
Maria Patek, Director-General for Forestry and Sustainability, Austrian
Federal Ministry for Sustainability and Tourism (BMNT), underlines
Austria's global responsibility for addressing climate change and the
sustainable management of forests, "Fostering cooperation on forest-related
matters and building strong networks is essential to our approach. We
believe that our strong focus on knowledge sharing, capacity building and
facilitating networks for exchange accelerates the impact on the fight
against climate change." This is why Austria also hosts the International
Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO). With over 600 member
organizations in 126 countries IUFRO is a network that fosters science
collaboration worldwide for underpinning sound decisions on global
sustainability challenges.
New instruments which Austria has developed in support of research
cooperation and networking between Austrian and African academic
institutions are pursuing the same goal on a broader scale.
"In addition to bilateral cooperation programs between Austria and African
countries such as South Africa, we are now also utilizing the new global
program for 'Development Research Cooperation', in which most African
countries can participate. Furthermore, in cooperation with the University
of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, and our mobility agency
OeAD GmbH, we will start to build up the Austrian-African research network
'Africa-UniNet' later this year with the aim to create a basis for
long-term cooperation and dialogue", says Barbara Weitgruber, Director
General for Scientific Research and International Relations of the Austrian
Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMBWF).
All these initiatives share the common goal of contributing towards
overcoming challenges locally and globally and, thus, towards achieving the
Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
###
Media contacts:
Gerda Wolfrum (IUFRO), wolfrum(at)iufro.org <wolfrum(a)iufro.org>
Stephanie Oberleitner (BMNT) stephanie.oberleitner(at)bmnt.gv.at
<stephanie.oberleitner(a)bmnt.gv.at>
Information:
https://www.iufro.org/events/other-major-events/r20-austrian-world-summit-2…
*______________________________________________*
*You are receiving this message, because you are an IUFRO member or
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5 years, 3 months
- 1
- 0
Fwd: IUFRO Congress Spotlight #73 - A Quest for Fairness in Forest Management Decisions: Integrating Indigenous Rights, ...
by Sheila Ward
Dear IUFRO Meliaceae Working party:
Below is IUFRO Spotlight #73. Other Spotlights can be found at:
http://www.iufro.org/media/iufro-spotlights/
Regards,
Sheila Ward
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: IUFRO Headquarters <office(a)iufro.org>
Date: Mon, Sep 16, 2019 at 5:45 AM
Subject: IUFRO Congress Spotlight #73 - A Quest for Fairness in Forest
Management Decisions: Integrating Indigenous Rights, ...
To: Dear IUFRO Officeholder <mahoganyforthefuture(a)gmail.com>
[image: IUFRO Spotlight]
IUFRO Congress Spotlight #73 - A Quest for Fairness in Forest Management
Decisions: Integrating Indigenous Rights, ...
*IUFRO Spotlight issues up to September 2019 will primarily focus on the
XXV IUFRO World Congress that will take place on 29 September-5 October
2019 in Curitiba, Brazil.*
*Individual Congress sessions will be highlighted in order to draw
attention to the broader Congress themes, the wide variety of topics that
will be addressed at the Congress and their importance on a regional and
global scale.*
*Visit the Congress website at http://iufro2019.com/
<http://iufro2019.com/> or https://www.iufro.org/events/congresses/2019/
<https://www.iufro.org/events/congresses/2019/>.*
A Quest for Fairness in Forest Management Decisions: Integrating Indigenous
Rights, Practices and Knowledge
PDF for download
<https://www.iufro.org/fileadmin/material/publications/spotlights/congress-s…>
[image: Photo showing Haida Heritage Centre at sunrise. Ngaio Hotte]
Haida Heritage Centre at sunrise. Ngaio Hotte
"The practices, rights and knowledge of Indigenous Peoples in forestry are
being increasingly recognized by national policies, international treaties
and by business arrangements such as certification," said Dr. Stephen Wyatt
of the School of Forestry at the University of Moncton in New Brunswick,
Canada.
"But," he said, "actually putting these into practice is challenging."
Dr. Wyatt, will be one of the presenters at a IUFRO World Congress session
in Brazil this fall, entitled: *Indigenous and Traditional Peoples and
their Forests: Governance, Dialogue and Power for Rights and Recognition*.
A second related session: *Indigenous and Traditional Peoples and their
Forests: Values, Knowledge and Practices for Management and Livelihoods*
will be held later the same day.
"What we have to remember is that traditional knowledge is typically based
on very-long term experience of a particular location, whether this
concerns usable plants, animal behavior, water management or environmental
changes," he said. "This knowledge can be of vital importance for
contemporary management.
"There will be a total of 21 presenters in the two sessions; all reflecting
different aspects of Indigenous Peoples' knowledge, management and
governance of forests," he said. "They will be presenting research from 13
different countries in South, Central and North America, Africa, Asia and
Europe.
"While each culture is distinct, Indigenous values are often centered
around respect for the forest and an acknowledgement of the complex
inter-relations within forest ecosystems – a precursor of much of our
scientific rhetoric about sustainable management."
There are many obstacles that can block acceptance of traditional knowledge
in forest management, Dr. Wyatt explained. "Some are institutional – the
exclusion of traditional knowledge holders from forest management planning
processes.
"Others lie in the Indigenous communities themselves, where elders who hold
the knowledge are dying or where customs impose restrictions on knowledge
sharing."
Among presenters, Andrea Vásquez Fernández has been working with the
Ashéninka and Yine Peoples from the Peruvian Amazon to understand
"intercultural respect," in a context where ideas of "development" are used
to justify resource exploitation by outsiders, over the preferences of the
Indigenous occupants.
Dr. Wyatt noted: "Forest managers are typically trained in forest science
methods that originated in 19th century Europe. They may not appreciate the
importance or the usefulness of knowledge that is transferred orally
through stories, instead of being printed in a textbook."
The Congress sessions, he added, are aimed at sharing experience and
research about how those Indigenous rights, practices and knowledge can be
incorporated into forest management practices.
"The nature of obstacles faced by Indigenous Peoples varies greatly across
the world," Dr. Wyatt said. "Speakers in the sessions will be describing
some of these obstacles in different situations, and will also be
presenting some of the ways to overcome these.
"They have a variety of solutions to offer. Some are based in institutional
changes – regulations or consultation practices. Others may involve
educational techniques for forest planners, or for Indigenous Peoples.
"Yet others relate to good old-fashioned scientific fieldwork – getting out
in the forest, studying the environment and learning from people who have
been doing it for generations, he said.
"For example, Folaranmi Babalola will be describing how sacred forests in
Nigeria have contributed to maintaining forest diversity and supporting
livelihoods; Kazuhiro Harada will be examining new community forest
legislation in Indonesia that recognizes traditional rights and practices
in tree tapping; and Ngaio Hotte will be considering how to overcome
distrust between Indigenous Peoples and governments in Canada."
"Interactions between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Peoples are critical
here. While there are many instances of conflict and tension between
Indigenous and non-Indigenous Peoples, there are also multiple examples of
collaboration. We will be seeing both in these sessions."
The goal is to share experiences and ideas about how to make it easier for
forest scientists, managers and policy makers to better recognize
Indigenous Peoples in forestry, he added.
"But that recognition presents a variety of challenges, and requires more
than just words from forestry managers, governments and companies.
"Research around the world has developed a series of tools that can help us
respond to this challenge and enhance forest management with new
information, deeper understanding, more effective governance and greater
recognition of Indigenous Peoples. That's what we want people to take from
these two sessions," he said.
*See you at the IUFRO 2019 World Congress*!
Visit *http://iufro2019.com/ <http://iufro2019.com/>* * Look out for
*#IUFRO2019
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/iufro2019?f=tweets&vertical=default&src=hash>*
on Twitter and *XXV IUFRO World Congress 2019
<https://www.facebook.com/events/1881111872132294/>* on Facebook
------------------------------------------------
*IUFRO Spotlight* is an initiative of the International Union of Forest
Research Organizations. Its aim is to introduce, in a timely fashion,
significant findings in forest research from IUFRO member organizations
and/or involving IUFRO officeholders to a worldwide network of decision
makers, policy makers and researchers.
*The findings reported here are submitted by IUFRO Member Organizations.
IUFRO is pleased to highlight and circulate these findings to a broad
audience but, in doing so, acts only as a conduit. The quality and accuracy
of the reports are the responsibility of the member organization and the
authors.*
Suggestions for reports and findings that could be promoted through *IUFRO
Spotlight* are encouraged. To be considered, reports should be fresh, have
policy implications and be applicable to more than one country. If you
would like to have a publication highlighted by *Spotlight*, *contact:
Gerda Wolfrum, wolfrum(at)iufro.org <wolfrum(a)iufro.org>*.
The International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) is the
only worldwide organization devoted to forest research and related
sciences. Its members are research institutions, universities, and
individual scientists as well as decision-making authorities and other
stakeholders with a focus on forests and trees. Visit:
https://www.iufro.org/
------------------------------------------------
*IUFRO Congress Spotlight #73 published in September 2019 by IUFRO
Headquarters, Vienna, Austria. Available for download at:
**https://www.iufro.org/media/iufro-spotlights/
<https://www.iufro.org/media/iufro-spotlights/>*
*Contact the editor at office(at)iufro.org <wolfrum(a)iufro.org> or
visit https://www.iufro.org/ <https://www.iufro.org/?id=104>*
*You are receiving this message, because you are an IUFRO member or
officeholder or have registered for one of our web-based email distribution
lists. If you wish to unsubscribe from **IUFRO Spotlight, please email us
at: burger(at)iufro.org <burger(a)iufro.org>.*
*Imprint: https://www.iufro.org/legal/#c18944
<https://www.iufro.org/legal/#c18944>*
5 years, 3 months
- 1
- 0
Fwd: [IUFRO Div 1] IUFRO Congress Spotlight #72 - Radioactive Contamination and Forests: Learning Lessons from Chernobyl and Fukushima
by Sheila Ward
Dear IUFRO Meliaceae Working party:
Below is IUFRO Spotlight #72. Other Spotlights can be found at:
http://www.iufro.org/media/iufro-spotlights/
Regards,
Sheila Ward
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: IUFRO Headquarters <office(a)iufro.org>
Date: Wed, Sep 4, 2019 at 12:12 PM
Subject: [IUFRO Div 1] IUFRO Congress Spotlight #72 - Radioactive
Contamination and Forests: Learning Lessons from Chernobyl and Fukushima
To: Dear Reader of IUFRO News <div1(a)lists.iufro.org>
[image: IUFRO Spotlight]
IUFRO Congress Spotlight #72 - Radioactive Contamination and Forests:
Learning Lessons from Chernobyl and Fukushima
*IUFRO Spotlight issues up to September 2019 will primarily focus on the
XXV IUFRO World Congress that will take place on 29 September-5 October
2019 in Curitiba, Brazil.*
*Individual Congress sessions will be highlighted in order to draw
attention to the broader Congress themes, the wide variety of topics that
will be addressed at the Congress and their importance on a regional and
global scale.*
*Visit the Congress website at http://iufro2019.com/
<http://iufro2019.com/> or https://www.iufro.org/events/congresses/2019/
<https://www.iufro.org/events/congresses/2019/>.*
Radioactive Contamination and Forests: Learning Lessons from Chernobyl and
Fukushima
PDF for download
<https://www.iufro.org/fileadmin/material/publications/spotlights/congress-s…>
[image: Photo showing Dose rate reduction test by decontamination work in
Fukushima. Photo: FFPRI]
Dose rate reduction test by decontamination work in Fukushima. Photo: FFPRI
Forests, except in the most severe cases, are quite resilient to
radioactive contamination and will continue functioning normally.
That is one of the surprising takeaways from the nuclear accidents in
Chernobyl and Fukushima.
It may be necessary to prevent people from entering heavily contaminated
forests for many years and the edible forest products from such areas
cannot be used. But there are no reports of loss or damage to forest
ecosystem services such as watershed protection, biodiversity and carbon
storage.
At the IUFRO World Congress in Brazil this fall, scientific sessions will
examine radioactive contamination in forests and the consequences for both
forestry and affected communities.
Dr. Satoru Miura, Director of Japan's Center for Forest Restoration and
Radioecology, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, is the chair
of coordinators at a session entitled: *Current understanding and future
challenges for forest research after the two nuclear accidents of Chernobyl
and Fukushima*.
When the Fukushima nuclear accident occurred in 2011, "we did have the
advantage of the lessons of Chernobyl," said
Dr. Miura. Japanese scientists were able to use a large number of
scientific papers and reports from the Chernobyl nuclear event and its
consequences to inform their decisions and actions regarding Fukushima.
For the forest scientists that meant the ability to begin monitoring the
forests and the concentration of radioactivity in forest products
immediately. Valuable initial data were gathered and, as the 10-year
anniversary of Fukushima approaches, a comprehensive overview of what has
been learned is being compiled.
Dr. Miura notes that, "after the Chernobyl accident it was quickly realized
that ‘radioecology' is a multidisciplinary field that needs the
complementary skills of physicists, chemists, biologists, mathematicians,
engineers, social scientists, psychologists and others to fully understand
the impacts of radioactive contamination on forests and other ecosystems."
In Japan, cross-disciplinary workshops have been held that allowed
researchers from a number of disciplines to exchange opinions on what could
be done to manage the consequences of Fukushima.
The underlying principle for the management of contaminated forests is that
it must be "realistic and pragmatic," he said. Cost-benefit analyses and
accurate modelling of future contamination, among other things, have been
suggested as indispensable parts of the process.
Options to mitigate negative impacts range from abandoning timber crops,
delaying or bringing forward timber harvesting, applying fertilizers such
as lime and potash from the air to reduce the uptake of radiocaesium by
trees, restricting game hunting and wild food gathering as well as
restricting public access.
In both Chernobyl and Fukushima, some chromosomal abnormalities of wildlife
such as field mice and some structural abnormalities of coniferous tree
species have been reported, but there have been no reports of fatal effects
on wildlife.
"The effects of radioactive contamination vary widely, depending on the
type and level of the accident, the tree type, soil type, topography,
socio-economic conditions and local and national responses," he said.
Chernobyl's "Red Forest" – a plantation about 2-3 km west of the Chernobyl
reactor – is the only documented case of organisms in forests being killed
by radiation.
There, in a narrow, 200-300 metre area of destruction, Scots pines died
within weeks of receiving extremely high radiation doses. Birch species
have since quickly colonized the open spaces left by the dead pines and
trees immediately outside the "lethal dose" zone continue to grow with no
obvious abnormalities.
In fact, in the case of the "Red Forest" and surrounding areas there has
been inward migration of wildlife – boar, moose, bear, wolf and European
bison are commonly seen there. This has been attributed primarily to the
absence of people after the disaster. Published evidence of the effects –
or lack of effects – of radiation exposure in these animals has been
contradictory.
Dr. Miura said the Brazil Congress offers a timely opportunity to bring
together specialists in forest radioecology, especially those working in
the Fukushima area, who have made some major advances in our understanding
of the short- to medium-term impacts of radiocaesium contamination of
forests after a severe nuclear accident.
As a cautionary note, he added: "There are more than 400 nuclear reactors
in the world. So, everyone should have an awareness of the potential for
accidents. We must develop the science and technology to respond rapidly
and effectively to limit and mitigate the effects of contamination.
"And, speaking as a forest scientist, we must learn in ways that allow us
to maintain the sustainable management of forests," Dr. Miura said. "These
sessions will give us some indication of how far we have come in terms of
understanding and should also give an idea of where we have to go."
*See you at the IUFRO 2019 World Congress*!
Visit *http://iufro2019.com/ <http://iufro2019.com/>* * Look out for
*#IUFRO2019
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/iufro2019?f=tweets&vertical=default&src=hash>*
on Twitter and *XXV IUFRO World Congress 2019
<https://www.facebook.com/events/1881111872132294/>* on Facebook
------------------------------------------------
*IUFRO Spotlight* is an initiative of the International Union of Forest
Research Organizations. Its aim is to introduce, in a timely fashion,
significant findings in forest research from IUFRO member organizations
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makers, policy makers and researchers.
*The findings reported here are submitted by IUFRO Member Organizations.
IUFRO is pleased to highlight and circulate these findings to a broad
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Suggestions for reports and findings that could be promoted through *IUFRO
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The International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) is the
only worldwide organization devoted to forest research and related
sciences. Its members are research institutions, universities, and
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------------------------------------------------
*IUFRO Congress Spotlight #72 published in September 2019 by IUFRO
Headquarters, Vienna, Austria. Available for download at:
**https://www.iufro.org/media/iufro-spotlights/
<https://www.iufro.org/media/iufro-spotlights/>*
*Contact the editor at office(at)iufro.org <wolfrum(a)iufro.org> or
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