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29/09/19 |   Forestry and silviculture

World’s largest forest research Congress opens with tree planting in Curitiba

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Photo: Renata Silva

Renata Silva -

The 25th World Congress of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) started this Sunday, September 29 in Curitiba, with a special ceremony to plant five new Araucaria trees from three different regions of the world. The ceremony took place at Curitiba’s Botanical Garden, and featured the presence of various authorities and congress participants. The ceremony marks the beginning of the event, which runs until October 5.

IUFRO has been holding the congress since 1893, and this is the first time it is taking place in Latin America. There are approximately 2,500 participants, 40% of them Brazilian. "This is a unique opportunity to interact with researchers and experts from all over the world. All focused on research related to forests. We came together to plant trees, particularly the Araucaria, the symbol of Paraná, which is at risk of extinction, and we are very concerned about this," said IUFRO president Mike Wingfield.

According to the coordinator of the IUFRO Congress Organizing Committee, Joberto Freitas, the issues discussed at the event are always important to underpin global issues related to forests. "We talk about science, about knowledge, and the importance of this for any type of activity related to forests," said Freitas. According to Flávio Zanetti, a professor at the Federal University of Paraná, Araucaria trees have been present on earth for more than 150 million years. "Planting Araucaria trees is the main way to stop them from going extinct. If fills my heart with joy to know that the world is helping us save our Araucaria trees,” he said during the ceremony, which also featured the presence of Head of EMBRAPA Florestas Edson Tadeu Iede, the Director General of the Brazilian Forest Service, Valdir Colatto, Municipal Secretary of the Environment, Marilza do Carmo Oliveira Dias, as well as other authorities and congress participants.
 
New Araucaria trees
The Araucaria Garden is located within the Botanical Garden and received five new trees. A specimen of Araucaria montana came from New Caledonia, the only place where it is found. Araucaria heterophylla is from the Norfolk Islands in Australia. Another tree is affectionately nicknamed "Mercosur" because it is a graft of the endangered Chilean species Araucaria araucana which does not grow unassisted in Brazil, on the Brazilian species Araucaria angustifolia. This graft is the product of Professor Zanetti’s work at the Federal University of Paraná. A second grafted tree, Araucaria angustifolia with Araucaria bidwillii (another Australian species) was also planted. The fifth tree was a clone from a high-productivity Araucaria forest in the Brazilian region of Caçador.

There are a total of 19 Araucaria species worldwide; researcher José Tadeu Motta of the Curitiba Botanical Museum (who is responsible for the garden) says that the goal is to further enrich the collection. All these seedlings are the result of scientific research, which is even more significant within the context of the Congress.

The IUFRO2019, organized in Brazil by EMBRAPA and the Brazilian Forest Service, took place September 29–October 5 at Expo Unimed Curitiba in Positivo University. For the first time, this event was held in Latin America; it featured globally significant speakers in the area of forest research, and was entitled "Forest Research and Cooperation for Sustainable Development.” The Congress received approximately 2,500 thousand participants from more than 90 countries.

It featured plenary and sub-plenary sessions, as well as technical sessions and excursions and parallel events, all encompassing five strategic themes: "Forests for People,” "Forests and Climate Change,” "Forests and Forest Products for a Greener Future," "Biodiversity, Environmental Services and Invasive Species,” and "Forests, Interaction with the Soil and Water."

About IUFRO
The International Union of Forest Research Organizations is a non-governmental and nonprofit entity founded in 1892. It is a global network for cooperation in forest sciences which brings together more than 15,000 scientists in almost 700 associated organizations in 126 countries on a volunteer basis. IUFRO is also part of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF), a group within the United Nations Forests Forum (UNFF) which unites 14 international organizations, institutions, and secretariats of international conventions on the global forest agenda.

IUFRO holds over 70 technical and scientific encounters per year to gather and share knowledge. It also holds regional conferences, as well as its main event every five years, the World Congress. The first IUFRO World Congress was held in Vienna, Austria in 1893, and the most recent twenty-fourth edition took place in Salt Lake City, US in 2014. These congresses are interdisciplinary and focus on scientific content to bring together scientists, teachers, students, forest companies, decision-makers, and other actors. These occasions create opportunities for discussions related to priority areas for forest research, policy, and management.

To learn more about IUFRO, visit: https://www.iufro.org/

About the Brazilian Forest Service
The Brazilian Forest Service is an agency linked to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Food Supply which works to promote knowledge on, sustainable use and expansion of forest cover as a strategic agenda for the country's economy. The Forest Service manages federal forest concessions, coordinates the National Forest Inventory, and is responsible for national management of the Rural Environmental Register and other instruments that effectively implement the Brazilian Forest Code.

To learn more about the Brazilian Forest Service, visit: http://www.florestal.gov.br/

About EMBRAPA
The Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) is linked to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Food Supply, and focuses on technological innovation to generate knowledge and technology for Brazilian agribusiness. This entity has studied forest-related topics for over 40 years and worked in all biomes, contributing to greater productivity, lower production costs, and increased supply of forest products on the market in a sustainable manner, as well as environmental improvement and preservation.

To learn more about EMBRAPA, visit: https://www.embrapa.br 

 

Assessoria de Imprensa Congresso IUFRO
Embrapa Florestas

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