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Month: May 2019

The bridge between nature and art at Triennale of Milan

by Silvia Abruscato

What does a scientist think when an artist is trying to express his/her creativity?  And, what does an artist create when he/she wants to represent a scientific concept?

“XXII Triennale di Milano Broken Nature: Design takes on Human Survival” is a thematic exhibition in the heart of the city of Milan, put into effect by the Triennale Milano. It is the right place to find possible answers to the questions above, to get inspired and fully immersed into it. Artists, designers and architects, from all over the world exhibit their interpretations of the connection and inter-relation between nature and humans.

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Congratulations and “Mission Success”!

Since the 1st of April 2019, the School Forest Enterprise ‘Masaryk Forest’ of Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic has a new director, Prof. Dr. Tomáš Vrška. He is an instrumental person in forest policy who supported the EFI Risk Facility Initiative. Thanks to his snewr position, the Risk Facility network will have now also access to Brno University, the related forest enterprise and to the forestry contacts in the country. This development is of key value in the face of the bark beetle outbreak which has also affected Czech Republic.

Dr.  Vrška had been working for a long time as a head of department of forest ecology within the Research Institute ‘Silva Taroucy’ and partly as an academic staff member at the Department of Silviculture (Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology) at Mendel University in Brno, where he obtained his habilitation in the field of silviculture. He had also earlier worked as the head of forest care in National Park Podyjí.

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Springtime in flames

and Alexander Held

What had already been predicted in 2018, became true.

Spring is too warm and too dry, again. The year 2019 had a hot start: during the first four months, more areas have been burned than during the entire 2018 across Europe. The Joint Research Centre’s European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) of the EU Science Hub recorded 1233 fires corresponding to a burned area of more than 250 000 ha by the end of April. In comparison, there were 1192 fires burning 181 000 ha during the whole 2018.

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New winds in dealing with forest disturbances

For a young professional in the field of forestry, reading the news nowadays is a schizophrenic experience. On one hand, I’m scared to death with the heat waves and drought occurring at odd times of the year, continuously increasing CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere, alien species invasions in new areas and massive insect outbreaks in various parts of Europe.  On the other hand, it is very exciting and hopeful: climate change awareness is increasing, and actions are being taken, wood product innovations are replacing many fossil-fuel based ones, and biodiversity conservation measures are adopted by many forest managers. Nevertheless, we are facing a serious situation that cannot be fixed with few tricks. With the disturbance frequency and intensity increasing all the time, we need to revise how we manage the risks they are causing to our forests.

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Einmal Förster sein: Sind Marteloskope für die Öffentlichkeitsarbeit geeignet?

Von Klaus Striepen

Das Netzwerk der Marteloskope in Europa wächst immer weiter und damit auch die Ideen für deren Einsatzmöglichkeiten. Im Rahmen des europäischen LIFE+ Naturschutzprojektes „Villewälder“ wurde erstmals eine Übung für Bonner Bürgerinnen und Bürger durchgeführt. Diese wurde in Zusammenarbeit mit der Volkshochschule Bonn (Adult Education Center) organisiert. Die Veranstaltung fand bei wunderbarem Frühlingswetter am ersten Aprilwochenende 2019 im Marteloskop Jägerhäuschen statt, einem Eichenmischwald im Waldgebiet Kottenforst nahe der Großstadt Bonn. Die Betreuung der Teilnehmer erfolgte durch die Mitarbeiter des LIFE+ Projektes, Klaus Striepen vom Regionalforstamt Rhein-Sieg-Erft und Peter Tröltzsch von der Biologischen Station Bonn/ Rhein-Erft.

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PopUp Forest – Woodland in a bicycle

Global biodiversity is decreasing at an alarming pace. It occurs in remote wilderness areas but also right at our doorsteps. Nature is everywhere, and it is facing a global crisis. As such, the PopUp Forest movement is activating a civic response to locally address biodiversity loss and drive momentum towards the UN2020 Convention on Biological Diversity.  

This event, to be held in China, will gather representatives from 190 countries to reaffirm their commitment to nature. Its positive outcome is of great importance to steer the political decision-making process regarding biodiversity degradation.  

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