International Union of Forest Research Organizations


The International Union of Forest Research Organizations is a non-profit, non-governmental international network of forest scientists, headquartered in Austria. The organization unites over 15,000 scientists in about 700 Member Organizations from more than 127 countries.
Its mission is to promote international cooperation in forest research and related sciences. IUFRO 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 science-based, sustainable management of the world's forest resources for economic, environmental and social benefits.
With the Strategy 2015–2019, IUFRO addressed five research themes and three institutional goals.
  1. Forests for People
  2. Forests and Climate Change
  3. Forest and Forest-based Products for a Greener Future
  4. Biodivesity, Ecosystem Services and Biological Invasions
  5. Forest, Soil and Water Interactions
The three institutional goals are:
  1. Research Excellence: Strive for quality, relevance and synergies
  2. Network Cooperation: Increase communication, visibility and outreach
  3. Policy Impact: Provide analysis, insights and options

    Activities

IUFRO generates scientific knowledge for policy-makers, practitioners and stakeholders; and assists scientists and institutions to strengthen their research capacity. All activities are based on voluntary contributions from scientists.

Congresses and conferences

Every five years, IUFRO organizes a World Congress with about 2000 participants. The most recent was in Curitiba, Brazil, in 2019. Between congresses, there are some 70-80 regional conferences and meetings organized by the individual IUFRO research units all over the world.

International processes

Many joint activities and partnership agreements occur with national governments, regional and global organizations and NGOs. For example, IUFRO is a Scientific Union Member of the International Council for Science, a member of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests, and an observer organization in the United Nations Forum on Forests, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and other forest-related international processes and conventions. It has established memoranda of understanding with, for instance, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, World Conservation Union, the World Wide Fund for Nature, the International Tropical Timber Organization, and International Forestry Students' Association.

Communication and knowledge sharing

IUFRO conveys the value of its science to its stakeholders via its website iufro.org, the expertise of its officeholders, publications such as IUFRO News, IUFRO Spotlight, calendar of events, webinars, information leaflets, annual reports, Occasional Papers, IUFRO World Series, IUFRO Research Series, and conference proceedings. In 2011, a Working Party on Communications and Public Relations was established as part of its division 9 on Forest Policy and Economics.

Global Forest Expert Panels

GFEP produces interdisciplinary scientific assessment reports on key issues emerging from international policy debates. The reports are prepared by thematic Global Forest Expert Panels, each consisting of leading scientific experts in their field. All reports undergo rigorous peer review. The number and frequency of reports is determined by the information needs and requests coming from the intergovernmental processes. To date, five global assessment reports and corresponding policy briefs, as well as one regional assessment, have been completed. GFEP is an IUFRO-led initiative of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests.

Global Forest Information Service

is an internet gateway that allows sharing of forest-related information through a single entry point. These resources are freely searchable online and provide direct access to the original information. All information made available through GFIS is supplied by partner institutions from around the world that host forest information. Today GFIS is an initiative of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests.

Developing countries

IUFRO's Special Programme for Development of Capacities was established 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.

World Forests, Society and Environment project

The Special Project “World Forests, Society and Environment”, coordinated by the Natural Resources Institute Finland, is a global, open, collaborative network of scientists and experts from different parts of the world. It supports sustainable forest-related development, livelihoods and inclusive growth as well as related policy processes through international collaboration in knowledge generation and exchange. One of the main outcomes of the project was an assessment of potential and anticipated impacts of efforts towards attaining the different SDGs on forests and forest-related livelihoods and development, summarized in a book .

Organization

IUFRO administration is broken down into: a 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: Divisions; Research Groups and Working Parties; Task Forces, Special Programme for Development of Capacities, Projects and Initiatives.

Divisions and task forces

The main function of Divisions is to support researchers in collaborative work and provide an organizational link among Research Groups and their associated Working Parties and also between these Groups and the IUFRO Board. Currently there are nine permanent Divisions, sub-divided into Research Groups and Working Parties:
  1. Silviculture
  2. Physiology and Genetics
  3. Forest Operations Engineering and Management
  4. Forest Assessment, Modelling and Management
  5. Forest Products
  6. Social Aspects of Forests and Forestry
  7. Forest Health
  8. Forest Environment
  9. Forest Policy and Economics.
IUFRO Task Forces are established on a temporary basis during each 5-year IUFRO Board term to advance inter‐disciplinary cooperation in forest research fields that span two or more IUFRO Divisions. Their focus is on emerging key issues that are of great interest to policy makers and groups inside and outside the forest sector, and contribute to international processes and activities. IUFRO Task Forces are dealing with the following topics:
In 1890, the Congress of Agriculture and Forestry in Vienna proposed to establish a "central organ" for applied forest research in the European countries. In 1892 the Union of Forest Experiment Organizations was founded in Eberswalde, Germany. Originally, only Austria, Germany and Switzerland agreed that their forest experiment stations would join the Union. In 1903, Japan came along and by the First World War, the number of countries has risen to 22, including USA and Canada.
Between the two world wars, the organization lost its Central European character and representatives from Africa, Asia and South America were able to discuss their forest research. The number of members from universities, forestry education centers and other forestry institutions increased considerably. The organization changed its name to “International Union of Forestry Research Organizations”. World War II interrupted the activities of the Union. Since 1980s, IUFRO has been increasingly addressing forest-related social, economic, and ecological problems of global importance.