Resilience Blog

Ökologischer Waldumbau in deutschem Grafenwald

by Gesche SchifferdeckerDecember 10, 2018December 4, 2018 Leave a comment

Von Fichtenwald zu Mischwald, von purem Holzeinschlag zu ökologischem Campingplatz und Waldfriedhof – die Grafenfamilie von Hatzfeld setzt seit über 20 Jahren ein beeindruckendes Waldumbau-Projekt um. Mit den Herausforderungen für WaldbesitzerInnen in Deutschland, mit der Balance zwischen Holzernte und Artenschutz, mit Sturmschäden und sogenannten”Ökosystemdienstleistungen” beschäftigt sich die spannende SWR-Dokumentation Die Waldgrafen und der Sturm – Familie von Hatzfeldt erfindet ihren Forst neu. Der etwa 30-minütige Film nimmt dabei sowohl Aspekte der nachhaltigen und vielfältigen Waldnutzung als auch Naturschutz sowie das Ziel der langfristigen Resilienz des Privatwaldes gegen (klimabedingte) Störungen in den Blick.

Together for forests in sustainable cities

by Rik De VreeseDecember 6, 2018December 4, 2018 Leave a comment

EFI and EFUF combining strengths to facilitate urban forest-based solutions employment in Europe

The majority of Europeans are now living in cities and urban agglomerations, facing several environmental issues – including climate change. However, cities are also major drivers and facilitators in finding solutions for handling these challenges. Urban forests – trees, woodlands and forests in and around cities – can play an important role in the transition towards urban resilience and a green and sustainable economy.

Building on their mutual strengths, the European Forest Institute (EFI) and the European Forum on Urban Forestry (EFUF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding strategic collaboration on research and policy in the field of urban forestry on Friday, 30th November 2018. This collaboration will further the understanding of the potential of urban forests, forestry, nature-, and bio-based solutions in supporting the development of sustainable cities. Both organisations will jointly develop a strategic approach to facilitate the employment of urban forest-based solutions in European cities, through coordinated communication, research and development efforts. Throughout the collaboration, EFI’s forest-based scientific experience and its European-wide science-policy network and EFUF’s multidisciplinary network with local authorities, practitioners and researchers will be complementary in developing a stronger discourse on urban forest-based solutions.

A first common initiative developed within the MoU framework, is the launch of the Call for Abstracts for the 22nd session of the European Forum on Urban Forestry in Cologne (Germany). The EFUF2019 conference has been branded “Urban Forests: Full of Energy” and will focus on the role of urban forests as providers of energy, both through woody biomass and through physical activity, art, learning and collaborative working. EFUF is organised at the “Waldlabor” (Forestlab) in Cologne, which is a magnificent place for exchanging knowledge based on participatory science and experiments.

Veranstaltung “Waldbau und Waldbewirtschaftung im Klimawandel”

by Gesche SchifferdeckerDecember 4, 2018 Leave a comment

Neue Instrumente für den Waldbesitz in Nordrhein-Westfalen

Angesichts der Veränderungen, die sich aus Klimawandel, Digitalisierung und neuen gesellschaftlichen Ansprüchen ergeben, benötigt die Waldbewirtschaftung effektive IT-unterstützte Management-Instrumente. Im Rahmen der Veranstaltung “Waldbau und Waldbewirtschaftung im Klimawandel” stellt das Ministerium für Umwelt, Landwirtschaft, Natur- und Verbraucherschutz des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen (MULNV) am Freitag, den 7. Dezember 2018 in Düsseldorf neue Hilfestellungen des Landes vor, mit denen der Waldbesitz auf die Herausforderungen reagieren kann: das Waldbaukonzept NRW, die landesweite forstliche Standortkarte und das neue Internetportal Waldinfo.NRW.

Bayern: Der Ökologie mehr Gewicht verleihen?

by Alexander HeldDecember 4, 2018December 4, 2018 Leave a comment

Ich möchte hier eine kürzlich publizierte Pressemitteilung im Holzzentralblatt teilen und kommentieren.

Koalition in Bayern lehnt dritten Nationalpark ab
“Wir wollen überall in Bayern der Ökologie mehr Gewicht verleihen und setzen auf die Stärkung der Naturparks. Einen dritten Nationalpark werden wir nicht realisieren”, heißt es im Koalitionsvertrag, den CSU und Freie Wähler am 5. November unterzeichnet haben. Aber auch: “Wir nehmen dauerhaft rund 10% der staatlichen Waldflächen als nutzungsfreie Naturschutzflächen und Naturwaldflächen von der forstwirtschaftlichen Nutzung aus.” Die Flächen für Vertragsnaturschutz sollen verdoppelt werden. Am unlängst verlängerten “Waldpakt” soll festgehalten werden. Weiter heißt es: “Wir setzen uns das Ziel, bis zum Jahr 2030 rund 200.000 ha klimatolerante Wälder zu schaffen. Wir wollen den Holzbau fördern und die Marktabsatzchancen auch für das Laubholz erhöhen. Waldbesitzer, Holzhändler und Sägewerke sind wichtige Partner bei der Bewirtschaftung der Wälder und der Vermarktung des Holzes.”

Equipping young forest leaders for a changing work environment

by Gesche SchifferdeckerNovember 30, 2018 Leave a comment

New Joint EFI-IFSA-IUFRO Project on “Global student networking and green jobs” analyses changing employment in the forest sector and prepares current forest students and young scientists for future leadership.

The forest sector has been facing significant changes in recent years due to various challenges including globalization, international trade, and climate change.

Naturally, this has also changed the nature of forest sector employment. Forestry careers have expanded beyond traditional forest administration and industry jobs. New ‘green jobs’ match a broader societal awareness for forest ecosystem services, climate change mitigation and adaptation, environmental education, recreation, tourism, and nature protection, for example. These shifts in labour market trends call for a new generation of graduates with a strong foundation of knowledge in the context of current global issues.

“The crucial question we need to answer is: Are we, the world’s forestry students of today, prepared for the new expectations and skills society is placing in our hands as future land managers and forest policy decision makers?” emphasises Dolores Pavlovic, President of the International Forestry Students’ Association (IFSA).

A new project run by European Forest Institute (EFI) in close collaboration with IFSA and the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) has now been started to tackle this question. The joint project is generously funded by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) and will be hosted by EFI in Bonn, Germany.

Social representations of nature: citizens’ relation with urban trees

by Rik De VreeseNovember 29, 2018November 29, 2018 2 Comments

Can urban foresters really win the minds and hearts of urban dwellers when stressing the ecosystem services forests and trees provide?

Street trees are contested elements in the urban landscape, and the source of many complaints towards local authorities and tree managing agencies. Discussions on street trees can be intense and emotional, so it is good to understand where the discussions are grounded in and to understand citizens’ relations with trees. In this post I will explore if we can build on the concept of social representations to find win-win solutions regarding urban tree management.

Social representations explain how different social groups develop different understandings of an issue, based on their values, understanding, beliefs, knowledge, practice etc (Moscovici 2000; Buijs et al. 2008). They are not individual cognitive representations, but socially constructed through social interaction, both within and between groups (Buijs et al. 2011).

Different perspectives of a tree. Source: www.cyburbia.org — Different perspectives of a tree. Source: http://www.cyburbia.org

Ireland: deer management in native woodlands

by Alexander HeldNovember 28, 2018November 27, 2018 Leave a comment

The management of deer in native woodlands has become a central issue in recent years. This is primarily due to increasing deer populations, the expansion of forest area through afforestation, introductions of new deer species and the re-distribution/transportation of extant naturalized deer species. Native and broad-leaved woodlands are particularly vulnerable to deer damage through browsing, grazing pressure, fraying and bole scoring. Conservation and wood quality objectives can be seriously compromised.
Negative ecological impacts from excessive deer pressure on woodland structure and ground vegetation community composition has negative knock-on effects on all other assemblages including invertebrates, birds, mammals and soil fauna. Conversely, a sustainable deer presence has positive ecological impacts and recreational value, especially as revenue through game management can be appreciable to woodland owners.

Call for Abstracts: The European Forum on Urban Forestry/EFUF 2019

by Gesche SchifferdeckerNovember 26, 2018November 26, 2018 Leave a comment

We are hereby announcing the International Conference Urban Forests – Full of Energy taking place inCologne, Germany, from 22 – 24 May 2019 and call for abstracts to contribute to our discussions. Deadline for abstract submission is 1 February 2019

THE CONFERENCE AND VENUE
Since 20 years, the European Forum on Urban Forestry (EFUF) is a unique meeting place for forest and greenspace managers, planners, architects, researchers, public authorities and policy makers to share interdisciplinary experience and good practices within the field of urban greening, urban forests and urban forestry.

Urban forests are vibrant places for multifaceted recreational activities, social gathering and mental restoration, but also provide biomass for an urban bioeconomy. They are full of energy. And so is the venue of this years’ conference: the German Sport University Cologne – the perfect location to explore energetic interactions of trees and human beings.

France on the barricade against deforestation

by Jakob DerksNovember 20, 2018November 20, 2018 Leave a comment

France has just adopted a new national strategy to restrict the import of forest-related products from areas that struggle with deforestation. Contrary to the more positive trends in Europe, the global forest area has decreased by 129 million hectares between 1990 and 2015, according to FAO data. This corresponds to twice the surface of France.

The strategy focuses on three main topics and three regions. The first and biggest problem is the cattle ranching and large-scale soy production in parts of Latin America, leading to vast deforested areas. The import of soy from that region to Europe represents 60% of the import with a high deforestation risk. The main issue in South-East Asia is the replacement of tropical rain forest by unsustainably managed oil palm plantations, accounting for 12% of the high-risk imported goods. Finally, the challenge facing West-Africa is cocoa production, which represents 8% of the problematic import.

These three goods together account for 80% of the deforestation-related import to the EU. The battle against illegally logged timber, thanks to initiatives such as the EUTR, FLEGT, REDD+ and GTTN, is in full swing. We should however not forget that the majority of global deforestation is caused by other consumable goods.

The strategy comprises 17 planned, built around bilateral cooperation, developing road maps and restricting imports from regions at risk of deforestation. The full strategy can be consulted here (in French).

“Spurring curiosity and appreciation of European forests”

by TFreiNovember 19, 2018November 19, 2018 Leave a comment

Discussions with young people from across the continent at the European Summer School “Creating Forest Experiences”

To “spur curiosity and appreciation” by putting a proof of origin on forest products – this was only one out of many ideas discussed during the one-week long European Summer School “Creating Forest Experiences”. The event was organized by the Protection of the German Forest Organisation (“Schutzgemeinschaft Deutscher Wald”) in Freusburg, Rhineland-Palatinate from 9^th – 13^th July 2018. Young adults from various backgrounds learned and debated about the economic, ecological and social function of forests. The programme included keynotes and interactive workshops. In the course of the week, the participants developed forest projects on recreation for young people. Furthermore, they created the idea of the “interactive forest path”: a hiking trail where you can choose different options that bring you to distinct parts and stories of the forest.