Shaping the future of forestry: Highlights from the 26th IUFRO World Congress in Stockholm

25 June 2024 News

The IUFRO World Congress, held every five years since 1893, is one of the largest global forestry events. It brings together leading scientists, forest stakeholders, and leaders from around the world to collaborate and contribute to a sustainable future in forestry, climate, and society, in alignment with the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The 26th IUFRO World Congress gathers 4,200 participants in Stockholm, Sweden this week. In over 200 sessions and 4,500 presentations, leading experts shared their latest research, innovations, and applied science across various sub-themes. This year's theme, "Forests & Society Towards 2050," also attracted policymakers, journalists, NGOs, and experts from around the globe, all dedicated to shaping a sustainable future for forests and society.

In his welcome address at the opening ceremony, King Carl XVI Gustaf stated: “To manage forests sustainably, we need certain basics in place to create resilient systems. These include stable institutions – like government agencies – stable markets and solid research to help us make smart decisions supporting the green future”.

PEFC is present at the conference with a large team, including PEFC International Chair Eduardo Rojas Briales and several National Secretaries and certification experts from countries such as the US, Canada, Italy, Malaysia, Czech Republic, and Spain.

Their presentations covered topics ranging from communication and innovations with remote sensing and forest ecosystem services to the impact of management in protected areas and the economics of forest supply chains.

On 24 June, Isabel González from Agresta, a partner company in a project led by PEFC Spain, presented PEFC Spain’s poster titled “Assessing Change Detection Algorithms for Monitoring PEFC Forest Certification: Towards Sustainable Management and Certification Compliance.”

Antonio Brunori from PEFC Italy, the official delegate of PEFC International, met with Éliane Ubalijoro, CEO of CIFOR-ICRAF to discuss the significance of agroforestry systems and the role of Trees outside Forests certification within the PEFC system.