International Union of Forest Research Organizations
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The title of the organization is “International Union of Forest Research Organizations”, “Union Internationale des Instituts de Recherches Forestières”, “Internationaler Verband Forstlicher Forschungsanstalten”, “Unión Internacional de Institutos de Investigación Forestal”. Its short title is IUFRO.
IUFRO is a non-profit, non-governmental international network of forest scientists. It unites more than 15,000 scientists in almost 700 Member Organizations in over 110 countries, and is a member of ICSU. Scientists cooperate in IUFRO on a voluntary basis.
IUFRO promotes global cooperation in forest-related research and enhances the understanding of the ecological, economic and social aspects of forests and trees. It disseminates scientific knowledge to stakeholders and decision-makers and contributes to forest policy and on-the-ground forest management. IUFRO’s vision is of science-based sustainable management of the world’s forest resources for economic, environmental and social benefits.
IUFRO Headquarters is located at Mariabrunn, Vienna, Austria. Web site: [1]
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[edit] History
IUFRO was founded as the “International Union of Forest Experiment Stations” in 1892 by three members: the Association of German Forest Experiment Stations, and the experiment stations of Austria and Switzerland. After World War I, the number of members increased considerably as universities, forestry education centers and other forestry institutions not only from Europe but also from other continents joined. The name of IUFRO was changed to “International Union of Forestry Research Organizations”. World War II interrupted the activities of the Union, and after the war efforts were made to incorporate IUFRO into the newly founded FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization). However, IUFRO eventually retained its independent status. Until the 1970s IUFRO grew rapidly with many of the new members coming from developing countries. From the 1980s onwards, IUFRO has been increasingly addressing forest-related social, economic, and ecological problems of global importance. In 2000 the name of IUFRO was changed to “International Union of Forest Research Organizations.”
[edit] Organization
The Organs of the Union are: Congress; International Council; Board and Committees; Management Committee; Advisory Council; President and the Vice-Presidents; Executive Director; Finance Officer.
The structure of the Union comprises the following IUFRO Units: Divisions; Research Groups and Working Parties; Task Forces, Special Programmes, Projects and Chapters, as required.
Divisions The scientific activity of IUFRO is currently spread over eight permanent Divisions (Division 1 – Silviculture; Division 2 – Physiology and Genetics; Division 3 – Forest Operations Engineering and Management; Division 4 – Forest Assessment, Modelling and Management; Division 5 – Forest Products; Division 6 – Social, Economic, Information and Policy Sciences; Division 7 – Forest Health; Division 8 – Forest Environment) sub-divided into Research Groups and Working Parties, as well as a number of Task Forces that are established for a limited period of time.
Special Programmes and Projects of IUFRO
The Special Programme for Developing Countries (IUFRO-SPDC) [2] IUFRO-SPDC was established by IUFRO in 1983. In order to enhance the ability of research institutions to generate and deliver scientific information and advisory services on forest and trees and their sustainable utilisation IUFRO-SPDC implements the following programme components: training of scientists; collaborative research networking, scientist assistance programme
SilvaVoc [3] In February 1995, IUFRO started a pilot project on forest terminology called SilvaVoc. Its objectives are: to provide bibliographical and consultation services about forest terminologies and terminological activities; to contribute to the harmonization and integration of existing and future terminological data; to make compiled and improved data available in electronic form through computer networks; to produce special glossaries for specific target groups in an appropriate medium of publication.
Special Project on World Forests, Society and Environment (WFSE) [4] In the phase 2002-2005 IUFRO-WFSE focused on identifying, monitoring and critically analysing changing paradigms in the forests-society-environment interface, especially as to changes in governance, livelihoods and poverty alleviation, environmental services and plantations. The project continues following the established mission and strategies from 2006-2010.
Global Forest Information Service (GFIS) [5] GFIS is an initiative of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF). It is led by the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO), together with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) http://www.fao.org/, the Center for International Forest Research (CIFOR) http://www.cifor.cgiar.org/, the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) http://www.nbii.org/ and the Secretariat of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) http://www.un.org/esa/forests/. A range of additional partners contribute information to GFIS. GFIS is an Internet gateway to forest information resources from around the world. Users can locate maps, datasets, web resources, journal articles, books and other resources relevant to their forest information needs.
[edit] Activities
Key activities of IUFRO are: the generation of knowledge on research needs and priorities of scientists, policy-makers, practitioners and stakeholders; the provision of access and the dissemination of scientific knowledge to policy-makers, practitioners and stakeholders; the assistance to scientists and institutions to strengthen their research capacity.
Every five years IUFRO organizes a World Congress with around 2000 participants. The latest was in Brisbane, Australia in 2005 and the next one will be in Seoul, Korea in 2010. In between, there are some 70 regional conferences and annual meetings organized by the Units every year. In addition, there are many joint activities and partnership agreements with national governments, as well as regional and global organizations and NGOs. All activities are based on volunteer collaboration between the scientists.
IUFRO disseminates knowledge via its website www.iufro.org, via the expertise of its officeholders, and via a range of publications such as IUFRO News and Noticias de IUFRO, calendar of events, information leaflets, annual reports, Occasional Papers, IUFRO World Series, IUFRO Research Series, and conference proceedings.
For the period from 2006 to 2010, IUFRO has defined three major strategic goals: 1) to strengthen research for the benefit of forests and people; 2) to expand strategic partnerships and cooperation; and 3) to strengthen communication and links within the scientific community and with students as well as with policy makers and society at large.
[edit] External links
IUFRO homepage [6] IUFRO-SPDC [7] SilvaVoc [8] IUFRO-WFSE [9]GFIS http://www.gfis.net/ FAO [10] Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) [11]CIFOR [12] National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) [13] Secretariat of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) [14]
