1) Future proofing forested landscapes – Challenges, threats, and opportunities
Accelerating climatic changes and an increasing frequency of novel and difficult-to-predict pest and disease outbreaks pose serious threats to UK treescapes. At the same time, treescapes are expected to fulfil a broad range of purposes to meet society’s needs, e.g. flood control, recreational opportunities, and rural economy.
This session aims at understanding current and future challenges and at identifying actions that promote the resilience of British treescapes. In particular, we want to learn how upcoming threats can be predicted best and which strategies for mitigation, adaptation and pest management are supported by research findings. We are interested in the results of long-term observational studies and want to gain insight into what information and tools practitioners need to future-proof their treescapes.
- Forest and tree ecology
- Climate change
- Pests and disease
- Forest soils
- Tree breeding
- Silvicultural systems
- Forest models
2) Releasing forestry’s potential
In light of the multitude of challenges that British treescapes are facing, holistic management approaches and innovative economic concepts are essential to unravel the full potential of our treescapes.
This session will focus on alternatives to and extensions of existing concepts in forestry that enhance both the ecological and the economic revenues of treescapes. By discussing state-of-the art practice and science, we will create pathways to the generation and provision of the knowledge necessary to design treescapes that meet the demand for ecosystem services including but not limited to timber production. We are interested to hear from case studies and experience on the implementation of payments for ecosystem services schemes and modifications of traditional forestry supply chains, e.g. developments in timber technology and engineering. We want to learn about strategies that engage with society and social requirements, gain public support and promote excellence in British forestry.
- Ecosystem service assessment and valuation
- Forestry supply chains
- Linking forests with markets
- Social perceptions and preferences
- Attracting and retaining talent in forestry
3) Research and practice – Crossing disciplines and sharing knowledge
Interdisciplinary collaboration that promotes the two-way communication between practitioners and researchers can bridge the gap between focusing on natural capital versus pure forestry economics and thus advance British treescapes. However, interdisciplinary networks are developing only slowly.
This session will look at the current situation of knowledge exchange in the UK and discuss both challenges and rewards that come from collaborative working. We are interested to hear about your experiences and challenges that need to be overcome to make collaborative working most rewarding to both sides, e.g. finding common language, values and social attitudes. We ask for smart ways to create and promote openly accessible databases (of research findings) that allow all stakeholders to take advantage of the ever-growing amount of smart data.
- Interdisciplinary research and networks
- Citizen science and community engagement
- Maintaining and sharing data