Report of the

International Union of Forest Research Organizations to the Fifth Session of the United Nations Forum on Forests

30 September 2004

I. Key Contacts IUFRO President: Name:

Mr. Risto Seppälä

Contact information: Address: Finnish Forest Research Institute (Metla) Unioninkatu 40 A, 00170 Helsinki Phone: +358 10 2112160 Fax: +358 10 2112101 E-mail: [email protected]

IUFRO Executive Secretary: Name:

Mr. Peter Mayer

Contact information: Address: IUFRO Headquarters Hauptstrasse 7, 1140 Vienna, Austria Phone: +43 1 877 01 51 0 Fax: +43 1 877 01 51 50 E-mail: [email protected]

Person to contact concerning the report: Name:

Mr. Alexander Buck

Title:

IUFRO Deputy Executive Secretary

Contact information: Address: IUFRO Headquarters Hauptstrasse 7, 1140 Vienna, Austria Phone: +43 1 877 01 51 13 Fax: +43 1 877 01 51 50 E-mail: [email protected]

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II. Progress and issues related to implementation of IPF/IFF proposals for action General The International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) is the global network for forest science co-operation. The manifold collaborative science activities carried out by IUFRO Divisions, Working Parties, Research Groups as well as Task Forces and Special Programmes and Projects on issues of global and regional significance have been fostering shared learning and helped keeping science programmes innovative and more responsive and relevant to policy makers. The Report of the Secretary-General on Forest-related Scientific Knowledge (E/CN.18/2004/9), prepared under the lead authorship of IUFRO for the Fourth Session of the United Nations Forum on Forests, makes reference to a number of IUFRO activities that have strengthened interaction between science and policy, promoted the provision and efficient sharing of information, addressed knowledge gaps and facilitated priority setting, and strengthened research capacity1. IUFRO has also been actively participating in the Collaborative Partnership on Forest in which it is focal point for forest-related scientific knowledge together with CIFOR and ICRAF. IUFRO is the focal point for the joint CPF initiative “Global Forest Information Service” (GFIS). Through its “SilvaVoc Terminology Project”, it collaborates closely with other CPF Members also in the joint CPF Initiative on forest-related definitions. IUFRO’s involvement in joint CPF Initiatives as well as its cooperative activities in support of the UNFF, especially regarding the implementation of the IPF/IFF proposals for action are outlined in more detail in the Information documents “Collaborative Partnership on Forests Framework 2003” (E/CN.18/2003/INF/1) and “Collaborative Partnership on Forests Framework 2004” (E/CN.18/2004/INF/1). In order to further strengthen its cooperation with partners and as concrete steps for the establishment of partnerships, as encouraged in UNFF Resolution3/4, IUFRO has established new Memoranda of Understanding with international non-governmental organizations, such as the World Wide Fund for Nature, and with regional research networks, including the Asia-Pacific Association of Forestry Research Institutions (APAFRI), the Forest Research Network for SubSaharan Africa (FORNESSA) and the Northeast Asian Forest Forum (NEAFF). FORNESSA, APAFRI and NEAFF serve as regional IUFRO chapters. MoUs with other international organizations are currently under preparation.

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Forest-related Scientific Knowledge. Report of the Secretary-General. Document E/CN.18/2004/9. United Nations Economic and Social Council. 17 March 2004. 3

Implementation of the IPF/IFF proposals for action related to thematic issues of UNFF 2 Combating deforestation and forest degradation Recent collaborative activities of IUFRO on the issues of deforestation and forest degradation have focused on analysing the historical backgroud, including processes outside the forest sector, and underlying silvicultural causes: A two year research and networking activity of IUFRO Research Group “Forest History” (under Division 6 “Social, Economic, Information and Policy Sciences”) has focused on addressing main driving forces and underlying factors of forest degradation in Central Europe within the last 400 years, taking into account economic aspects (high demand of growing industry such as glassworks, salt mines, mining industry, forges and furnaces, ship building, timber trade), ecological aspects (degraded soils cause by concentrated forest grazing and litter harvesting and regionally the increase of deer), political aspects (war and its effects) and management practices. The comparison of the development in different parts of Europe carried out as part of this research has yielded evidence of similar characteristics. This analysis allows interpreting forest changes on the landscape level in its historical and ecological context. The results of this research have been published in 20042. The work of IUFRO Research Groups addressing biodiversity and old-growth forests (under Division 8 “Forest Environment”) has focused on the adaptive traits of late-successional tree species and how these adaptive traits relate to the interspecific competitive advantages or disadvantages of such species under forest harvesting regimes such as clear-cutting. In particular in the temperate zone of eastern and central North America, a long-standing decline in late-successional tree species and forest types dominated by shade-adapted or shadetolerant species (e.g., red spruce, eastern hemlock, sugar maple, American beech, yellow birch, etc.) can be observed as a result of clear-cutting operations and the more general trend towards shorter forest rotations. IUFRO’s research has given evidence that clear-cutting has resulted in a loss of late-successional and old-growth forest types with a consequent loss in certain components of forest diversity. These declines and losses have led to forest degradation in terms of biodiversity and possibly to the adaptive potential of certain species. Based on this research, recommendations have been given concerning changes to harvesting practices to accommodate these late-successional species.

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Johann, E., Agnoletti, M. et.al. (2004): History of Secondary Norway Spruce in Europe. In: Norway Spruce Conversion – Options and Consequences. European Forest Institute Research Report 18. Brill Leiden-Boston, pp 25- 62. (ISSN 1238 8785; ISBN 90 04 13728 9). 4

Forest conservation and protection of unique types of forest and fragile ecosystems Several IUFRO activities have bee focusing on forest conservation issues. The IUFRO Conference “Monitoring and indicators of forest biodiversity in Europe - from ideas to operationality”, held in November 2003, aimed at further developing biodiversity assessment tools, including indicators of biodiversity and preferred methodologies to collect data. The conference was organized against the background that strategies to conserve forest biodiversity in both designated areas and production forests managed with considerations of biodiversity should be based upon scientifically sound knowledge of the biological diversity and ecosystem processes and should be developed and locally adapted in close interaction with policy makers, forest owners and other stakeholders. The Conclusions of the Conference can be found at http://www.efi.fi/events/2003/Monitoring_and_indicators/ Taking into account that changing societal values also require changing approaches to experimental scientific forest management activities, the international workshop on “Balancing Ecosystem Values – Innovative Experiments for Sustainable Forestry” was held in August 2004, sponsored by IUFRO Division 4 “Inventory, Growth, Yield, Quantitative and Management Sciences”. It concluded that also experimental manipulative studies of forests have increasingly become multi-disciplinary in scope and approach3. While historically such manipulative studies have tested the ability of specific silvicultural treatments to address regeneration and wood production objectives, they are now increasingly designed by interdisciplinary teams, with wood production and additional ecological, social or economic objectives as joint outcomes. Individually and collectively these studies represent major investments by research and land management organizations to meet increasing public demands for forests that provide healthy environments for people (clean air and water), support biological diversity (e.g. habitat), and sustain economic productivity (wood or other forest products and jobs).

Rehabilitation and restoration of degraded lands and promotion of natural and planted forests IUFRO’s collaborative work on rehabilitation and restoration aims at enhancing and integrating ecological and silvicultural knowledge needed for restoring the sustainability of degraded forests and forest landscapes to help solving broader environmental, economic and social challenges of the coming years.

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International workshop on “Balancing Ecosystem Values – Innovative Experiments for Sustainable Forestry”, 16 - 20 August 2004, Portland, Oregon, USA. Further information: http://outreach.cof.orst.edu/ecosystem

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A number of international conferences and workshops have been organized in recent years by various IUFRO Working Parties addressing restoration. On the anniversary of Rio plus 10 years, the international Conference on Restoration of Boreal and Temperate Forests (28 April – 2 May 2002) took a broad view on forest restoration in order to document forest restoration knowledge and practices and to identify common approaches and challenges for restoration. The proceedings of the conference have been published as Report No. 11/2002 by the Danish Forest and Landscape Research Institute4. Within the framework of the IUFRO’s support to GFIS in Africa, a scientific networking initiative on “Rehabilitation of degraded lands in Africa” aimed at demonstrating the added value of scientific output that can be achieved through enhanced collaboration and information sharing among scientists working in different countries and environments. Under the umbrella of the Forestry Research Network of Sub-Saharan Africa (FORNESSA) a group of African scientists compiled case studies of land rehabilitation from all major ecological regions in Western-, Eastern and Southern Africa covering “dry”, “humid” and “sub-humid” forests and woodlands. The results of these case studies served to formulate general lessons learned for the rehabilitation of degraded forest lands. The authors concluded the synthesis work with recommendations for policy formulation, management practices, research and training to guide future rehabilitation efforts in Sub-Saharan Africa. The results of this thematic networking haven been published as scientific synthesis in 20045.

Implementation of the IPF/IFF proposals for action related to thematic issues of UNFF 3 Economic aspects of forests, including trade Economic aspects of forests have been the topic of several IUFRO activities and international meetings in past months. Against the background of the emergence of sustainable forest management (SFM) as a new paradigm in the last two decades, the International Conference on “Economics of Sustainable Forest Management” in May 2004 has discusssed in a comprehensive way the economic principles, theories, methods, and models that reflect the distinct features of SFM6. In economic terms, these distinctive features are the recognition of diverse and dynamic preferences of local people, the incorporation of multiple sources of value and utility from the forests (including non-market values), the incorporation of multiple products and services in the production process, inter-generational equity, and a systems approach to resource management. Abstracts and – to some extent – full versions of the papers presented at the Conference can be found at http://www.forestry.utoronto.ca/socio_economic/icesfm/. 4

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Gardiner, E.S., Breland, L.J. (edts.): Proceedings of the IUFRO Conference on Restoration of Boreal and Temperate Forests. Documenting Forest Restoration Knowledge and Practices in Boreal and Temperate Ecosystems. Skov&Landskab. Report No. 11, 2002. Further information about this networking initiative can be found at http://www.iufro.org/iufro/spdc/ International Conference on ”Economics of Sustainable Forest Management", 20-22 May 2004, Toronto, Ontario/Canada. Web site: http://www.forestry.utoronto.ca/socio_economic/icesfm/ 6

Also the IUFRO Special Project “World, Forests, Society and the Environment” (WFSE) takes a holistic view on the changing paradigms in the interrelations between forests, society and environment by providing a critical analysis of available scientific knowledge. As a main outcome of this activity, the book “Forests in the Global Balance: Changing Paradigms”, produced by a worldwide network of prominent scientists, will be published on the occasion of the XXII IUFRO World Congress in August 2004 in Brisbane, Australia. One chapter of the book will specifically be devoted to a holistic approach to forest ecosystem services. This chapter will, inter alia, analyze the range of goods and services derived from forest ecosystems, address market efficiency and market failure in the context of forest ecosystem services, study the design and construction of payment schemes for environmental services, and investigate the limits to the proposed solutions. An outline of the contents of the book, including the chapter dealing with environmental services, can be found at http://www.iufro.org/iufro/wfse/wfseactivities.htm#Book.

Forest health and productivity Forest health and productivity has been one of the core subjects of the Discussion Paper “Science and Technology – Building the Future of the World’s Forests” contributed by the Scientific and Technological Community Major Group under the overall responsibility of IUFRO to the third session of UNFF7. Central aspects raised in the paper include the need to adopt a universally accepted definition for forest health, one that incorporates essential processes and for which quantifiable endpoints can be measured, and to use appropriate approaches to assess forest health in order to improve detection of change over the medium- to long-term in response to natural and anthropogenic stressors. To this end, the scientific and technological community should generate and provide scientific knowledge and technology, addressing the broad range of factors involved in degrading forest health and productivity. In 2004, IUFRO has continued to address forest health through a number of collaborative activities of IUFRO Division 7 (“Forest Health”) and other IUFRO units. Scientific meetings organized by IUFRO have centred on the thematic cluster of global changes and their relation to forests. The activities have inter alia identified research needs relating to air pollution and global changes8, drought events9 and the restoration of forest soils in polluted areas10. One emerging

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An electronic version of the discussion paper is available at the UNFF web-site at http://www.un.org/esa/forests/documents-unff.html#3. An expanded version of the discussion paper has been published in IUFRO Occasional Paper 15 and can be downloaded at the IUFRO web-site at www.iufro.org, section “Publications” 21st International Meeting for Specialists in Air Pollution Effects on Forest Ecosystems “Forests Under Changing Climate, Enhanced UV and Air Pollution”, Oulu, Finland, 27-30 August 2004, Oulu, Finland, http://iufromeeting.oulu.fi/; 6th International Symposium on Plant Responses to Air Pollution and Global Changes, 19-22 October 2004, Tsukuba, Japan. International Conference “Impacts of the Drought and Heat in 2003 on Forests”, 17 - 19 November 2004, Freiburg, Germany. http://www.ffu.uni-freiburg.de/Waldwachstum/Drought2003_Nov2004.htm 7

issue in this context has been that the focus of research as well as policies addressing air pollution impacts on forest ecosystems should be on the interactive effects of air pollution and climate change on forests.

Maintaining forest cover to meet present and future needs IUFRO activities gave particular emphasis to the role of planted forests in maintaining forest cover to meet present and future needs. Planted forests have the potential to improve the economic welfare of the communities in which they are sited. At the same time, intensively managed, industrial forest plantations of a single species on a short rotation arouse controversy as to their benefits for the community, the land and the environment. Acknowledging that the global area of plantations has sharply increased over the last decade and that only a proportion of this area is of high productivity plantations, the International Meeting "The Economics and Management of High Productivity Plantations" tackled a range of economic aspects of planted forests (such as plantation wood demand, supply and prices), but also related social and environmental considerations, such as planning and management techniques to optimise profitability while meeting environmental and social constraints, or the importance of plantations for carbon sequestration and biomass production11. Against the background of an increasing demand for teak timber, the domestication and cultivation of teak in countries/regions beyond its natural habitat in the tropics, but also the potential benefits for rural employment, income and development, the International Conference on Quality Timber Products of Teak form Sustainable Forest Management, co-organized by IUFRO and held under the auspices of ITTO in December 2003, has discussed the role of teak plantations in tropical timber development programmes and market situations, including the recent research findings, in environmentally acceptable and socially desirable conditions. The conference has adopted the “Kerala Call for Action” directed towards national governments, research institutions and agencies, international assistance and donor organizations, investors and funding agencies (see final report of the conference at http://kfri.org/html/reptconf.pdf). In the Northern hemisphere, forest decline and the certification debate have stimulated greater public involvement favoring environmentally-friendly forest management. Significant environmental and social changes, growing investments in forestry-related amenity and recreation, and dramatic advances in information technology can be observed in this context. An international conference organized by IUFRO and the European Forest Institute (EFI) on “Transformation to Continuous Cover Forestry in a Changing Environment” in September 2004

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International conference “Restoration of Forest Soils in Polluted Areas”, 25-29 May 2004, Prague, Czech Republic 11 International Meeting “The Economics and Management of High Productivity Plantations”, 27 - 30 September 2004 in Lugo, Spain. The website is http://www.lugo.usc.es/iufro 8

investigated the consequences of large-scale introduction of continuous cover management types and how they relate to changing forestry objectives and societies’ needs12.

Implementation of the IPF/IFF proposals for action related to thematic issues of UNFF 4

Social and cultural aspects of forests Gender issues as well as forest and woodland history have been the dominating themes of IUFRO’s work on social and cultural aspects of forests in the past year. IUFRO’s Research Group “Gender and Forestry” has continued to be very active in developing and disseminating knowledge of how management and use of forest resources affect and are affected by gender. The Second World Wide Symposium “Gender and Forestry: Challenges to Sustainable Livelihoods and Forestry Management” took place in August 2004 in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. The symposium focused on highlighting women's and men's access to forest resources as a means of improving livelihoods for the poor people and sustainable forest management, locally and globally. Themes such as women and forestry, gender issues, poverty and sustainable development, forest resource utilization and income generating activities for local people, ideology, religion and environmental responsibility were addressed at the symposium (more information at http://www.iufro.org/iufro/iufronet/d6/hp61800.htm). Multi-disciplinary research into the role of the social and cultral aspects of sustainable forest management in the overall goal of sustainable development gains increasing importance worldwide. This is e.g. reflected in Vienna Declaration and Vienna Resolutions adopted at the Fourth Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe, convened in April 2003 in Vienna, Austria. Against this background, IUFRO’s Research Group “Forest History” coorganized the International Conference on Forest and Woodland History “Woodlands - cultural heritage” in May 2004 at the IUFRO Headquarters in Vienna, Austria. Taking into account the need to provide society with the historical information about land use, social perceptions and changing attitudes to trees and woodland, origin of modern forestry in the context of social and economic pressure and the historical knowledge with regard to woodland conservation and restoration, the comprehensive goal of the conference was to contribute to the ongoing discussion dealing with social spiritual and cultural values of forests and to provide basic information related to these values. The proceedings of this meeting will be published in the “News of Forest History” edited by the Research Group and the Austria Ministry of Agriculture Forestry Environment and Water management. 12

International Conference “Transformation to Continuous Cover Forestry in a Changing Environment”, 3-6 September 2004, Bangor, Wales, United Kingdom. Further information: http://www.efi.fi/events/2004/cover_forestry/seminar.html

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Scientific forest-related knowledge Forest-related Scientific Knowledge has been the subject of the draft Report of the SecretaryGeneral prepared by IUFRO as lead author in collaboration with CIFOR and ICRAF for the Fourth Session of the United Nations Forum on Forests13. Since UNFF4, significant progress has been made in the IUFRO activities described in the report. −

The IUFRO Task Force on the Forest Science/Policy Interface convened its fourth and final workshop in June 2004 in Birmensdorf, Switzerland. The goal of this IUFRO Task Force has been to explore strategies and mechanisms for improving communication between forest scientists and policy-makers so as to ensure that sound science is considered in the formulation of forest policies and forest management practices. To accomplish this mission, the Task Force has gathered and analysed 58 case studies in a series of three workshops held at various locations around the globe. At the fourth and final workshop, these case studies were reviewed with the objective to (1) synthesize earlier workshop findings and identify and refine key messages for improving interactions between the forest research community, policy-makers and society at large; and (2) to develop advice to the research community to enhance partnerships among researchers, policy-makers and society. The results of the workshop will be the focus of a panel discussion during the 2005 IUFRO World Congress, and will be published as a guidance document and policy brief (to be available on the IUFRO web-site), and in other audience-specific formats during the coming year.

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The IPF/IFF proposals for action also call for promoting the provision and efficient sharing of information. In May 2004, the CPF agreed that the Global Forest Information Service (GFIS) should become a joint CPF initiative and that IUFRO would lead this initiative14. At its meeting in September 2004, the CPF agreed on concrete steps for the further development of GFIS. The overall goal of the CPF Initiative GFIS is to enhance access to all types of forest information, ensuring that it is accessible to governments and to all stakeholders, including researchers, forest managers, NGOs, community groups and the public at large. By doing so, GFIS aims to contribute to an improved understanding of complex forest related issues, to better decision-making as well as a to a more informed public engagement in forest policy and forest management at all levels.

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Also IUFRO’s Special Programme for Developing Countries (IUFRO-SPDC) has further developed its activities to strengthen the contributions that science can make to local and regional forest development projects. A forest policy seminar for practitioners and forest scientists on “International forest related-initiatives and agreements and their implementation in the context of national forest programmes – linking research and science with practice” has been convened by IUFRO-SPDC in collaboration with GTZ-IWP (International Forest Policy Dialogue) on 27 September to 1 October 2004 in Jakarta,

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Forest-related Scientific Knowledge. Report of the Secretary-General. Document E/CN.18/2004/9. United Nations Economic and Social Council. 17 March 2004. See Summary Reports of the Twelfth Meeting of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests available at the CPF website at http://www.fao.org/forestry/site/2082/en, Section “Documents”.

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Indonesia (more information at http://www.iufro.org/iufro/spdc/meetings-future.htm). IUFROSPDC has also facilitated participation of the Forestry Research Network for Sub-Saharan Africa (FORNESSA) in the Multi-stakeholder Dialogue at the Fourth Session of the United Nations Forum on Forests, in which FORNESSA acted as focal point for the scientific and technological community. −

As indicated earlier in the report, IUFRO's Special Project on World Forests, Society and Environment (IUFRO-WFSE 2002-2005) is focusing on the changing paradigms in the interrelations between forests, society and environment, also taking into account the integration of sustainable forest management issues into the broader development goals. As a main outcome of the project, the book " Forests in the Global Balance: Changing Paradigms" will be launched at the XXII IUFRO World Congress in 2005. Another important outcome of the project will be a Policy Brief, to be launched and disseminated in UNFF5 and later in 2005 in other national and international fora. This Policy Brief is envisaged to be a concise separate publication based in the project's research conclusions and intended to improve the linkages between research and policy processes. Further, the research - policy interface will be analysed specifically as to changing paradigms (more information at http://www.iufro.org/wfse/index.html).

IUFRO has also carried out a number of other activities that have contributed in particular to effectively addressing knowledge gaps and setting research priorities at various levels, including the following meetings and conferences: −

The "Meeting the Challenge: Silvicultural Research in a Changing World” of IUFRO Division 1 (“Silviculture”) convened on 21-25 June 2004 in Montpellier, France, discussed the changing role and expectations of silviculture to meet new challenges and societal needs around the world. The meeting considered how existing and new scientific knowledge can best be applied to solve new and emerging challenges. With a view to preparing for the IUFRO World Congress 2005, priority fields were identified that will steer future silvicultural research (more information at http://www.iufro.org/iufro/iufronet/d1/hp11400.htm)

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Also in June 2004, the International Symposium “The Evaluation of Forest Policies and Programmes” was organized by the European Forest Institute and IUFRO in Epinal, France. Against the background of changes in forest policy and planning processes in many countries with increasing emphasis on participatory procedures and links with other sectors, the symposium discussed the present state of the art of methodological tools and issues for the analysis and evaluation of policies and programmes (more information at http://www.efi.fi/events/2004/).

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As another activity carried out in June 2004, the 6th International Symposium on "Legal Aspects of European Forest Sustainable Development" was held in Poiana Brasov, Romania. Following five previous meetings in Austria (1998 and 1999), Bulgaria (2001), Latvia (2002) and Czech Republic (2003), the main objective of this meeting again was to promote the exchange of information and experiences amongst researchers and practitioners active in forest law and environmental legislation in Eastern and Central 11

European countries. The 7th Symposium will be held in Belgrade (Serbia) in April 2005 (report of the 6th symposium: http://www.iufro.org/iufro/iufronet/d6/wu61300/ev61300.htm). −

The International workshop on “Balancing Ecosystem Values – Innovative Experiments for Sustainable Forestry”, convened in August 2004 in Portland, Oregon, USA, inter alia considered the effectiveness of available research for improving silviculural operations at stand and landscape levels, discussed public perceptions and investigated collaborative approaches to forest management and tools to enhance communication among diverse landowners.

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In October 2004, the International Symposium on “The role of forests for coming generations – philosophy and technology in forest resource management” (FORCOM2004), convened in Utsunomiya, Japan, served as a platform to exchange knowledge, views and experiences about the general concept of "Sustainable Forest Management" in relation to the philosophy and methodology of science and practice of "Forest Resource Management" by bringing together participants from different regions, research topics and interests (more information: http://fecsun.kankyo.tohoku.ac.jp/FORCOM/index.html)

Last, but not least, IUFRO participated in several technical and scientific meetings and workshops organized to support the work of the UNFF and the CBD, such as the FAO/ITTO Expert Consultation on Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management (2-4 March 2004, Cebu, Philippines) and the “Workshop on Forests and Forest Ecosystems: Promoting synergy in the implementation of the three Rio conventions” (5-7 April 2004, Viterbo, Italy).

III. Preparation of the Report This report of IUFRO for the Fifth Session of the United Nations Forum on Forests has been drawn-up by the IUFRO Headquarters with the assistance of IUFRO Office Holders and with input from IUFRO Divisions, Task Forces and Special Programmes and Projects. It has been prepared with the intention to highlight selected IUFRO activities of particularly high relevance for the implementation of the IPF/IFF proposals for action. It does not constitute an all-inclusive, comprehensive assessment of relevant IUFRO activities.

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