Background
The natural disasters, diseases and pests of the past years have shown the vulnerability of forests. Research and the assessment of forest damages and disturbance indicate an urgent need for improving monitoring and reporting.
Therefore, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Regions and Water Management will jointly organize a symposium on assessing forest damage and disturbance in the UNECE region in Vienna, Austria from 29-30 September 2022.
The symposium aims to contribute to a harmonized forest damage and disturbance assessment in the UNECE region as well as the identification of innovative monitoring and reporting techniques for application at international and national levels. The symposium will provide impulse for the development of a future damage and disturbance reporting system for the consistent assessment across spatial and temporal scales.
The symposium will also provide a platform for sharing the results of a related project, which was initiated by the UNECE/FAO Team of Specialists on Monitoring Sustainable Forest Management in 2020. It is implemented by the Joint UNECE/FAO Forestry and Timber Section with the support of Austria, Canada, Finland, Germany and the United States of America.
Objectives and Format
The symposium aims to encourage the exchange of ideas, experiences and opinions as well as raise awareness about the need for the assessment of forest damage and disturbance. It will discuss new ideas for consistent, reliable and comprehensive information on forest damage for management and policy decision making.
Participants will include national and international policymakers, forestry related authorities, forest owners and managers as well as experts from technical and research facilities. The symposium will include keynote speeches, presentations and interactive discussions around the following thematic sessions:
- International forest damage/disturbance reporting and assessment
- National forest damage/disturbance monitoring in the UNECE region
- New opportunities and methods for forest damage/disturbance monitoring
The symposium is organized as a hybrid event at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna.
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The hosts of the event inform that the in-person attendance of the event at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna requires a negative test result of a PCR or antigen test.
Participants of the meeting can remove the masks in the conference room and at the coffee breaks but need to wear them on the way to restrooms or in corridors of the university buildings.
Participants are asked to provide themselves with the required tests and masks. Antigen tests are available in pharmacies in Vienna (currently 9 Euro to be tested in the pharmacy shop, 14 Euro for a package of 5 tests to be applied by your own). A self-made antigen-test is valid as well.
For your additional information, FFP2 masks are mandatory in Austrian public transportation (trains, trams, taxis) and in public areas of public buildings. Likewise, FFP2 masks are obligatory in flights of Austrian airlines.
Currently FFP2 masks are widely available in Austrian supermarkets, drugstores and pharmacies for 0.59 Euro.
Please find the meeting room marked in the university building plan here.
The address of the location reads as follows:
University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU)
Exnerhaus,
Peter-Jordan-Straße 70,
1190 Vienna
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Please find practical information for accommodation and travel in the linked pdf file
Please find the programme for download in the linked pdf file
Programme
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First Day, 29 September 2022 |
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Opening of the symposium Gerhard Mannsberger, Vice Rector, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU) Johannes Hangler, Deputy Director of the Directorate on Forest Policy, Forest Economy and Forest Information, Austrian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Regions and Water Management Liliana Annovazzi-Jakab, Chief of the Joint UNECE/FAO Forestry and Timber Section Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Introductory speech of the first day Conceptual foundations for forest disturbance and damage reporting in the UNECE Region - Guy Robertson (USDA Forest Service) International forest damage reporting and assessment Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) and Global Core Set (Indicator 6) needs - Anssi Pekkarinen (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) Pan-European forest damage related monitoring – Jens Haertel (Forest Europe Liaison Unit Bonn) Forest disturbances data needs of the Montreal Process - Tim Payn (SCION Crown Research Institute New Zealand) The Database of Forest Disturbances in Europe (DFDE) - Mart-Jan Schelhaas (Wageningen University) International forest health monitoring in Europe – status and information needs - Marco Ferretti (Swiss Federal Institute WSL and International Cooperative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests) Forest fires monitoring - Andrea Camia (Joint Research Centre of the European Commission) Q&A Lunch at University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU)
Field trip to the Vienna Danube National Park Bus to port Boat to the Vienna Danube National Park Guided tour of the Vienna Danube National Park by the Director of the Vienna Forest Administration Return by bus Joint dinner
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Second day, 30 September 2022 |
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Introductory speech of the second day Ecological implications of changing forest disturbance regimes - Rupert Seidl (Technical University of Munich)
New opportunities for forest damage monitoring Innovative tools in line with methodological aspects for harmonized forest damage assessment in the ECE region - Frank Koch (USDA Forest Service) Integrated system for forest damage and disturbance monitoring – the perspective of large-scale bark beetle outbreak in Central Europe - Tomáš Hlásny (Czech University of Life Sciences Prague) Remote sensing and modelling of climate change induced disturbances - Pieter Beck (Joint Research Centre of the European Commission) Q&A Coffee Break
Stakeholders’ needs for forest damage/disturbance assessment Information needs to avoid market distortions - Felix Montecuccoli (Confederation of European Forest Owners) Information needs for salvage logging and reforestation - Piotr Borkowski (European State Forest Association) Information needs on raw material supply – Silvia Melegari (European Sawmill Association – EOS) Information needs on forest damages/disturbances for biodiversity monitoring - Annemarie Bastrup-Birk (European Environment Agency) Global stakeholders’ needs for forest damage/disturbance assessment - Shiroma Sathyapala (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) Q&A Lunch at University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU)
National forest damage monitoring in the UNECE region Extent and trends of forest damage/disturbance by the main causes based on additional national and subnational data - Markus Melin (Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke)) Forest damage monitoring in Austria - Klemens Schadauer (Austrian Federal Research and Training Centre for Forests, Natural Hazards and Landscape (BFW)) Forest health status and monitoring in Canada – Byron Smiley (Natural Resources Canada) Forest health status and monitoring in Spain – María Pasalodos (Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO)) Forest health monitoring in Türkiye – Hilal Orucu (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Türkiye Republic, General Directorate of Forestry) Forest health monitoring in the United States of America – Frank Koch (USDA Forest Service) Q&A Coffee Break
Future international forest damage reporting Future forest damage/disturbance monitoring, assessment and reporting - Stefanie Linser (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna) Criteria and Indicators – their role for assessment of forest damages - Michael Köhl (University of Hamburg) Future international damage/disturbance monitoring, assessment, and reporting – concluding discussion - Moderated by Markus Melin (Natural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE)) Closing remarks - Michael Köhl (University of Hamburg)
End of the symposium
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