24 June 2018 - 26 June 2018
Haparanda Stadshotell, Torget 7, 95331
Haparanda, Sweden

IBFRA science-policy workshop in conjunction with the June 2018 Boreal Summit

This event will provide an opportunity for a diverse group of researchers and policy analysts from across the circumboreal region to engage in focused discussions on collaboration on key boreal science issues.

© Pi-Lens | Shutterstock

© Pi-Lens | Shutterstock

Through the scientific workshop and the science-policy dialogue, IBFRA aims to develop a common understanding of knowledge gaps in boreal science related to the use of boreal forests for climate change mitigation and adaptation, and to foster the development of a circumboreal collaborative process to address these gaps.

The workshop is being held just prior to a Boreal Ministerial Summit and information from the IBFRA event will feed directly into the Boreal Ministerial Summit and be used in the development of an action plan following the Summit. Scientists participating in the workshop are also invited to be present during the Ministerial Summit on 26 June at the same location as the workshop.

“This is a Boreal Ministerial Summit where we will have a chance to present IIASA research to the policymakers,” says Florian Kraxner, Deputy Director of the IIASA Ecosystems Services and Management Program (ESM), and Scientific Chair of the “Cool Forests at Risk” Conference (https://ibfra18.org), jointly hosted by IIASA, IBFRA, PEEX, and IUFRO. The Cool Forests Conference will take place at IIASA premises from 17-20 September 2018. 

Cool Forests in the Boreal and Mountain areas cover more than one third of all global forests, forming the largest terrestrial vegetation ecosystem. They bridge from the circumpolar belt in the northern latitudes to high-elevation forests in the southern hemisphere. Forests on permafrost show high similarities both in the boreal and mountain ecozones (intra-zonal boreal forest) – especially with respect to species and growth patterns but also in response to climate exposure.  

Cool forests and their natural resources play a crucial role for the economy, the earth’s climate regime and critical socio-environmental values such as water, prevention of erosion and flood, and biodiversity. They deliver most of the resources for the forest-based industry globally, they store as much carbon as tropical forests per hectare, they are home to unique landscape and nature diversity, and they are crucial for livelihoods of billions of people.  

If we fail to sustain the Cool Forests with their critical services and functions, an entire economic sector is at risk to collapse and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement can never be achieved.  


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Last edited: 20 June 2018

CONTACT DETAILS

Florian Kraxner

Research Group Leader and Principal Research Scholar Agriculture, Forestry, and Ecosystem Services Research Group - Biodiversity and Natural Resources Program

Dmitry Shchepashchenko

Senior Research Scholar Agriculture, Forestry, and Ecosystem Services Research Group - Biodiversity and Natural Resources Program

Senior Research Scholar Novel Data Ecosystems for Sustainability Research Group - Advancing Systems Analysis Program

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
Schlossplatz 1, A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria
Phone: (+43 2236) 807 0 Fax:(+43 2236) 71 313