January 2014: The International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) has released the first issue in the 43rd volume of its newsletter, which highlights work on decision support systems, forest science, education and climate change.

The newsletter notes that a workshop on decision support systems (DSS) for forest management served as the first physical meeting of the DSS Community of Practice and set the foundation for expanded work in this area. The bulletin also features the workshop on ‘biodiversity and populations in the context of climate change,’ which considered the links between biodiversity, climate change and sustainable development, technologies and methodologies for responding to climate change, and the responses of populations and collections of species to climate change impacts. The newsletter also reports on the first International Symposium of the IUFRO Working Party on cross-sectoral policy impacts on forests and environment. The Working Party examined the links between forest change and other sectors and discussed strategies for extending scientific dialogue beyond the forest sector.

The newsletter also discusses: a workshop on the three-year approach paper to the management of forest areas by the Government of Nepal, which will support the greater engagement of women in agroforestry; the role of the International Forestry Students’ Association (IFSA) in addressing the challenges of forest education; the publication of an atlas of conifers; the newsletter of the Forest and Human Health task force of IUFRO; reports of the symposium on Taxodiaceae, a family of coniferous trees; and the symposium on innovation in woodworking industry and engineering design. [Publication: IUFRO News, Volume 43, Issue 1, 2014]