Forest Information Billboard
Issue 4, December 2014
Forest Reporting
Forest Ownership Questionnaire
The UNECE/FAO Forestry and Timber Section and COST Action FACESMAP continue their joint work on the development of the forest ownership reporting in the ECE-region. In October 2014 the advanced draft version of the questionnaire was reviewed by the Team of Specialists meeting on Sustainable Forest Management in October 2014, when national and international experts provided specific comments and recommendations to improve the questionnaire. On the basis of the received feedback the forest ownership questionnaire was updated, and presented and discussed at the 72nd Session of the UNECE Committee on Forests and the Forest Industry in Kazan (November 2014).
The final version of the joint ECE/FAO/COST Action FACESMAP questionnaire on forest ownership will be released in January 2015. For the data collection the questionnaire will be send out to the UNECE/FAO and COST Action FACESMAP correspondents in the beginning of 2015. It is planned that the data collection process will be completed in the third quarter of 2015 and followed by the analysis of the received data and preparations for a production of a thematic study on the forest ownership in the UNECE region.
For more information please contact [email protected]
Swiss National Forest Inventory - Results on the Internet for NFI4
Since 1985, the Swiss forest has been surveyed periodically every 10 years on roughly 6500 sample plots across the country. Since 2009, the inventory takes place every year on a different ninth of the national sample plot grid. This allows for publication of comprehensive results every 4-5 years. Today results are available for the years 2009-2013.
The NFI4 confirms the continuation of some of the previous trends: Forest area and growing stock are still increasing in the Alps. On the other hand the growing stock of spruce decreased in easily accessible places in the lowlands again. Diversity of tree species increased in all regions. In the mountains the ecological quality of the forest augmented as well, also due to the increasing amount of deadwood.
Currently, 32% of Switzerland is covered by forest. The forest area grows by 0.3% every year, the growing stock by 0.2%. Today the growing stock amounts to 419 million m3. Over the past 7 years 85% of the increment was used or remained in the forest as natural mortality.
About 50,000 tables with results and the corresponding maps are available for the current and past inventories on our multilingual website: www.lfi.ch/resultate/
Contact: Urs-Beat Brändli, Scientific Service Swiss NFI, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, CH-8904 Birmensdorf, [email protected]
News about Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke)
The Finnish Government appointed Professor Mari Walls (D.Phil.) as the Director General of the Natural Resources Institute Finland, which will begin operations in January 2015. Ms. Walls will be leaving her post as Director of Finnish Environment Institute's Marine Research Centre. The term of office of the Director General is seven years.
The Natural Resources Institute Finland, abbreviated as Luke, will be Finland's second-largest research institute, comprising functions within the Finnish Forest Research Institute (Metla), MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute and statistical services of the Information Centre of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (Tike). The purpose of the institute is to improve the international competitiveness and social impact of Finnish research.
The institute has currently 38 operational units across the country, employing about 1 700 people. The head office will be located in Helsinki. New web page address is www.luke.fi, and individual email addresses will be of format [email protected]. (Naturally, all old email addresses will be valid until the end of 2015.)
Further information: Martti Aarne ([email protected]) and Elina Mäki-Simola ([email protected])
The project “Capacity Building for Sustainable Management of Mountain Watersheds in Central Asia and the Caucasus” - GCP/SEC/002/TUR – is funded by the FAO/Turkey Partnership Programme (FTPP). With the support of the Turkish International Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), FAO Sub Regional Office for Central Asian Countries (FAOSEC) and the Ministry of Forests and Water Affairs of Turkey, it has been implemented in Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan.
With the line of this project it has been prepared a report on watershed based organizations in these countries as of December 2014.
For more information visit: http://www.carfu.org/?p=188
Publications
Wood Energy in Developed Economies: Resource Management, Economics and Policy
The book "Wood Energy in Developed Economies: Resource Management, Economics and Policy" edited by Francisco X. Aguilar (Associate Professor, University of Missouri) has been published by Earthscan from Routledge. The book is comprised of eleven chapters covering topics from forest management, operations and engineering to socio-economic and energy policy perspectives including a review of life-cycle analyses. It provides a comprehensive review of the complex dimensions of wood energy as well as practical guidance for professionals, researchers and advanced students. Data is drawn from multiple sources including the UNECE Joint Wood Energy Enquiry database to provide a detailed description and analysis of wood energy markets in North America and Europe. Authors from academia, public and private sectors contributed to this publication. Publication details and ordering information is available from Routledge at http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415711692/
For more information contact: [email protected]
Governance and Forest Law Enforcement - Workshop report
This publication is the result of the FOREST EUROPE Workshop on Governance and Forest Law Enforcement that was held on the 20- 21 November 2012 in Budapest (Hungary). It overviews ongoing relevant initiatives on combating illegal logging and provides information social, economic and environmental consequences of illegal harvesting activities in the region.
The report can be downloaded at this link: http://www.foresteurope.org/documents
Green Economy and Social Aspects of Sustainable Forest Management - Workshop Report
This report documents the outcomes of the FOREST EUROPE Workshop on Green Economy and Social Aspects of Sustainable Forest Management, which was held on 29-30 April 2014 in Santander, Spain. It helped to identify priority areas and possible measures to be taken in order to enhance economic and social aspects of forests, raise awareness, and serve decision making on these topics.
The report can be downloaded at this link: http://www.foresteurope.org/documents
Progress with integrating forests in the SDGs: Reflections on the outcome document of the UN Open Working Group on SDGs
As the process to develop post-2015 sustainable development goals builds momentum, this paper highlights progress to date with the integration of forests particularly in the work of the UN Open Working Group. Three components for the ideal framing of forests in the SDGs are presented, based upon analytical work and wide-ranging consultations, highlighting the need to include enabling targets that address systemic barriers to progress and opportunities for transformative change.
Download here: http://pubs.iied.org/G03839
Sustainable Development Goals and forests: Integrating perspectives, priorities and experience from Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean
Three regional reports covering Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean present perspectives, priorities and experiences in helping to ensure that the OWG proposed SDGs gain the right contribution from forests while optimally fostering their sustainability.
Download report covering Asia here:
http://pubs.iied.org/G03850
Download report covering Africa here:
http://pubs.iied.org/G03874.html?c=forest
Download report covering Latin America and the Caribbean here:
http://pubs.iied.org/G03871.html?c=forest
Sustainable Development Goals and forests: A summary of UN Open Working Group debates and country reflections
The UN’s Open Working Group (OWG) proposed draft sustainable development goals (SDGs) in July 2014. This report summarises some of the positions put forward by countries during the debates on forests in the meetings of the OWG, together with reflections from a number of countries on the OWG process after its conclusion.
Download here: http://pubs.iied.org/G03846
A New Pamphlet “To Harvest or to Save - Forests and Climate Change” Is Out
A new pamphlet “To Harvest or to Save - Forests and Climate Change” by the Finnish Forest Association discusses the forests’ role in tackling climate change. The authors argue for using forests to combat the climate change and explain how to do it and what can be accomplished.
Even though international climate policy has not adopted the use of carbon sinks to combat climate change, the carbon sink formed by forests already sequesters a great deal of the fossil carbon dioxide emissions. In the European Union, for example, the carbon sinks in forests correspond to about one tenth of the fossil carbon dioxide emissions in the EU. Thus, the significance of the carbon sinks in forests for the EU carbon balance is already greater than what has been achieved by the EU, through encouraging the use of wind power, direct solar energy and biofuels.
The carbon sinks in forests could still be increased. A well-known way of doing this is to reforest areas where forests have been destroyed. Both Europe and other parts of the world have a significant potential for afforestation.
A less well known means of increasing the carbon sinks in forests is to increase the timber resources of existing forests by causing trees to grow more densely and become stouter. This, too, occurs naturally and continuously in all of the world’s forests, but the development could be accelerated by planned loggings and forest management. The increase of carbon sequestered in forest trees also increases the carbon stored in forest soil.
The authors are:
Professor Pekka Kauppi, University of Helsinki and
Mr Hannes Mäntyranta, Communications coordinator, the Finnish Forest Association
Link to the publication: http://www.smy.fi/en/material/to-harvest-or-to-save/
Events
Silva 2015 and European Forest Week in Engelberg, Switzerland – First Meeting of National Partners and Actors
Preparations for the third European Forest Week in November 2-6, 2015 in Engelberg, Switzerland are in full swing. On the 9th of December 2014 a first meeting of national organisations and partners has been held to discuss the expectations and possible contributions for this upcoming event. The main topics of the European Forest Week will be forest ecosystem services in a Green Economy and the value of forests. Field trips to demonstrate the different themes such as protective forests, enhancing forest biodiversity and innovative use of wood, will be organised in the beautiful area of Engelberg, in the heart of Switzerland.
For further information, please contact Christoph Dürr: [email protected]
The ELM will be informed on the last outcomes and on-going work on the implementation of the FOREST EUROPE Programme of Work.
More information at: http://www.foresteurope.org/events/expert-level-meeting-preparations-7th-fe-ministerial-conference
The 2nd edition of the FOREST EUROPE ‘Show Off Your Forest’ photo contest is open. This edition is dedicated to showing the protective functions of forests and their need for protection.
As well as awarding prizes for pictures taken with digital cameras, there is a category for photos taken with mobile devices (phones and tablets). Entries for these two categories will be judged and rewarded separately.
Prizes for the winners include a trip for two people to a natural protected area in Spain, digital cameras, mountain garments, and artisan products from Galicia. Photographs can be submitted now and up to the deadline of 8 February 2015.
More information about the requirements and calendar of the contest can be found at its website: www.showoffyourforest.com
This working group meets by invitation to the national statistical institutes of the EU. The annual event is the occasion to
- Get informed about the European Commission's work with a bearing on forestry statistics
- Discuss and prepare two annual data collection exercises: The Joint Forest Sector Questionnaire (JFSQ) and Integrated environmental and economic accounting for forests (IEEAF).
This time the working group will discuss how to simplify data collection with the JFSQ. Eurostat compared the data reported with the JFSQ with the results of Community Production statistics (PRODCOM). It found there are many products that are being significantly under-reported with the JFSQ, so it will propose to use PRODCOM more extensively. There will also be a report on the on-going work of correcting the net mass of the monthly trade data in the EU's COMEXT database. A new proposal will be put forward for IEEAF, the outcome of the work of a separate task force.
For more information contact: [email protected]
Vienna International Wood Products/Markets Conference, 16-21 June 2015June 16: Schweighofer Prize 2015 Awards Ceremony & Reception, Vienna (by invitation only)
June 17: WOOD MARKETS' Vienna International Wood Products/Market Conference, Vienna
June 17: GRI’s Concurrent wood processing equipment & products EXPO
June 17 events at Savoyen Hotel – Vienna, Austria
June 18-19: WOOD MARKETS’ Austria Wood Processing Industry Tour
June 20-21: Romania (Holzindustrie Schweighofer) Mill Operations Tour
For more information visit: http://www.woodmarkets.com/conference/vienna-conference-tours/
or contact Russ Taylor or Barb MacDonald at +1-604-801-5996 or [email protected]
5th Annual Vancouver Global Log & Lumber Conference, Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, Canada - 7 May 2015
Details to come. Visit our webpage for more information
http://www.woodmarkets.com/conference/conferences-vancouver/
New perspectives and outlooks on exporting regions and key markets to help you better understand new opportunities, evolving issues and possible threats to the commodity log and wood products trade.
In conjunction with PwC's annual Global Forest & Paper Industry Conference - May 6, 2015
How to contribute? The deadline for the next issue is 15 March 2015.
More information is available here.
We work in cooperation with the Global Forest Information Service.