european forest genetic resources programme

News archive

New report on access and rights to forest genetic resources


20 July 2011

The Fridtjof Nansen Institute in Norway published recently a new report titled as “Seeking Appropriate Legislation Regulating Access and Exclusive Rights to Forest Genetic Resources in the Nordic Region”. The report presents the findings of a project implemented in collaboration with NordGen Forest and with financial support from the Nordic Council of Ministers.  It also provides interesting examples on the use of forest genetic resources in the forest sector and related legal issues.

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State of Europe’s Forests 2011

14 June 2011

The State of Europe’s Forests 2011 report was released today at the sixth Ministerial Conference of the FOREST EUROPE process in Oslo, Norway.

The report provides a comprehensive, up-to-date description of the status and trends of forests and forest management in Europe. It is structured according to the Pan-European Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management. One of the indicators focuses on genetic resources, i.e. area managed for conservation and utilisation of forest tree genetic resources (in situ and ex situ gene conservation) and area managed for seed production.

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Learning path into Slovenian forests: "Active forestry for contemporary society"

6 June 2011

As part of the celebrations of the International Year of Forests, the Slovenian Forestry Institute (SFI) and the Slovenian Forest Service (SFS) hosted an outdoor learning event on forests and forestry in the outskirts of Ljubljana on 27 May 2011. The minister responsible for forestry, Mag. Dejan Židan, opened the event and highlighted the importance of Slovenian forests for wood production and biodiversity conservation. Recognizing the benefits of forests for other sectors and society, Prof. Dr. Roko Žarnič, the minister of the environment and spatial planning, and Mag. Darja Radić, the minister of the economy, also delivered welcome addresses. 

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New training manual on spatial analysis 

12 April 2011

Bioversity International has released a new “Training Manual on Spatial Analysis of Plant Diversity and Distribution”. The training manual is Intended for scientists and students who work with biodiversity data and are interested in  improving their skills to carry out spatial analyses. 

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Future forests - building on forest heritage foundations

17 September 2010

Conservationists, foresters, bioenergy specialists, climatologists, social scientists and civil servants all came together for a special event on Forest biodiversity, genetic aspects in a European context, organised by BFW (The Austrian Federal Research and Training Centre for Forests, Natural Hazards and Landscape). [More]

New tool to aid dynamic forest gene conservation

14 September 2010

A new tool to aid the gene conservation of Europe’s forest trees has been unveiled in Vienna. The internet based EUFGIS information- sharing portal is a key product of an EU-funded project designed to help dynamic gene conservation of trees in the face of climate change.
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Who owns the genes of the forest trees?

13 September 2010

There is great ecological, economic and social value within forest genetic resources – that is a fact. But so far, the true legal status of this resource for protection of these values has not been defined.
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Building a sound future for Europe’s forest genetic resources

3 September 2010

In our increasingly commercialized world - who owns forest genetic resources? How can the wise use of forest genetic resources help fight the negative effects of climate change and boost woody biomass production for green energy? And how best can detailed data on European forest trees and their genetic make-up and conservation be easily shared amongst researchers, scientists, foresters and others? [More]


Advances in forest ecosystem genomics

27 August 2010

Ecosystem genomics is an emerging field of research linking genetics, genomics, ecology and evolution to study the response of individual organisms and communities to biotic and abiotic influences. It is widely accepted that forests play a major role in climate change, so a deep understanding of how they function and respond to environmental changes is particularly important. Advances in forest ecosystem genomics offers new opportunities to study the structure and evolution of gene diversity at the individual population and community level.  [More]


France: Preservation and use of the diversity of forest genetic resources to strengthen the adaptability of forests to climate change

26 October 2009

France has produced a 4-pages leaflet as a set of recommendations for the preservation and use of forest genetic resources in the context of climate change [More]


Sixth EUFORGEN Steering Committee meeting

13 June 2009

National Coordinators and observers from 27 countries participated in the sixth Steering Committee meeting of EUFORGEN, held in Thessaloniki, Greece on 9-12 June 2009. Representatives of Bioversity International and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) also attended the meeting, hosted by the Greek Ministry of Rural Development and Food and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. [More]

 

European Forest Week 2008

25 October 2008

On October 20th - 24th, 2008, over 100 forest-related events were organized in 30 countries to celebrate the first European Forest Week. At regional level, a concentration of various events was organized jointly by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe (MCPFE) and the European Commission at the FAO headquarters in Rome on 21-24 October. The events were built around the 66th session of the UNECE Timber Committee and 34th session of the European Forestry Commission of FAO, participated by more than 400 participants from 45 countries. The purpose of the European Forest Week was to increase the visibility of forests and the forest sector, and raise awareness about their importance, as agreed by the fifth MCPFE Conference in Warsaw in November 2007. [More]

 

MCPFE Work Programme under development

10 May 2008

In January 2008, the Liaison Unit of the MCPFE process moved from Warsaw to Oslo, following the hand-over of the responsibility for its coordination from Poland to Norway at the fifth Ministerial Conference in Warsaw in November 2007.  [More]

EUFGIS workshop: documentation of in situ gene conservation of forest trees in Europe

25 October 2007

The EUFGIS (Establishment of a European Information System on Forest Genetic Resources) project, coordinated by Bioversity International and co-funded by the European Commission under the Council Regulation (No 870/2004) on genetic resources in agriculture has initiated the development of an information system for dynamic gene conservation units of forest trees in Europe. [More]

Fifth Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe

9 November 2007

The Fifth Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe (MCPFE) was held on 5-7 November 2007 in Warsaw, Poland.
The Summit brought together delegations from 42 European countries, the European Community, five observer countries and 28 observer organizations to discuss how forests can improve and benefit the quality of life. At the end of the conference, the Signatory States and the European Community adopted the Warsaw Declaration and two Ministerial Resolutions. [More]

 

Establishment of a European Information System on Forest Genetic Resources

1 April 2007

EUFGIS started its activities to strengthen documentation work in the area of forest genetic resources. EUFGIS is one of the actions supported by the European Commission under the Council Regulation (No 870/2004) on genetic resources in agriculture. It is coordinated by Bioversity International and has six other participating partners. The project will run until 30 September 2010. [More]

 

 

Genetic diversity insurances against climate change for sustainable forest management

20 March 2006

Climate change is predicted to increase average temperatures by 2–4°C in Europe over the next 50 years and cause considerable changes in regional and seasonal patterns of precipitation. This will alter the environmental conditions to which forest trees in Europe are adapted and create additional challenges for forest management, with consequent impacts on the economic and social benefits derived from forests. [More]