Biennial meeting of managers of National Forest Research Institutes (NFRI)
Tree leaf vascular system
© Institut national de la recherche agronomique (INRA)
- from: 01.07.2008
- to: 02.07.2008
- In: Nancy
On 1 and 2 July, the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) will be welcoming over thirty managers from National Forest Research Institutes (NFRI) and the European Forest Institute (EFI) to its Forest & Wood Centre in Nancy to discuss priorities and strategies for European research on forests. Senior staff from several directorates-general of the European Commission and the Forest-Based Sector Technology Platform (FTP) will also be taking part in the meeting. This is the third of the biannual meetings between European managers; the first was held in Vienna (2004) and the second in Riga (2006). From the end of the 1980s, the combination of rising global demand for wood products, forest plantation development and deteriorating natural forest ecosystems stimulated discussion on an international scale.
These discussions helped to clarify society's perception of the diversity of products and services from forests. They centred particularly on the role of forests in the global carbon cycle and in climate change mitigation (Kyoto Protocol, 1997), on the origin and conservation of biodiversity as well as the impact of global change on biodiversity (climate change, changes in land use, etc.). The UN Climate Change Conference in Bali (2007) provided a negotiation process framework which would advance an international agenda to combat climate change after 2012. Progress was made particularly in fighting deforestation. In Europe, discussions were initially marked by concerns over the decline of forests and took place during 'Ministerial Conferences on the Protection of Forests in Europe' held in Strasbourg (1990), Helsinki (1993), Lisbon (1998) and Vienna (2003).
These led to commitments by countries to define domestic programmes and draw up a European framework for sustainable forest management. The Warsaw Conference (2007) highlighted the risks related to climate change. It produced a series of recommendations on the role and adaptation of forests to climate change, putting special emphasis on carbon capture, energy supply and the protection of water resources. In the context of global change, a greater awareness of the variety of forest functions and their increased mobilisation, the role of forest research is to identify adaptation scenarios of forest ecosystems and forestry practices.
- Sources: National Institute of Agricultural Research
- Updated: 22.09.2008
