IDF 2016: IUFRO News article

Task Force on Forests, Soil and Water Interactions to bridge knowledge gaps, and future Global Forest Expert Panel to produce comprehensive scientific assessment on “forests and water”.

With 2.5 billion people worldwide struggling to obtain water to meet their basic needs, global research efforts must aim at exploring all ways of addressing this critical situation. Forest science plays a crucial role here: After all, forests and forested landscapes are recognized for their importance to maintaining the quantity and quality of the world’s freshwater resources, and climate change is expected to have considerable impact on these abilities of forests, especially in dry regions.

There are still knowledge gaps about the interactions between forests, trees, soils, water resources and climate change, and the effects of human use of forest resources. The International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) has therefore made “Forests, Soil and Water Interactions” a priority research area to tackle uncertainties on the feedbacks between climate, forest management, soil conservation and water supply.

Worldwide collaboration of forest, water and soil researchers

The IUFRO Task Force on Forests, Soil and Water Interactions has developed a worldwide network of forest, water and soil researchers and research organizations to produce new knowledge and identify novel and emerging issues in and around the theme. The Task Force mainly aims to provide the basis for coherent management responses that build on an enhanced understanding of forests, soil and water interactions. Importantly, these responses will be informed by consideration of economic and cultural factors that affect adoption of new approaches and technologies.

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