Με επίκεντρο τις εθνικές και ευρωπαϊκές προτεραιότητες της δασικής πολιτικής όπως διαμορφώνονται στο πλαίσιο της Ευρωπαϊκής Πράσινης Συμφωνίας και της Ευρωπαϊκής Στρατηγικής για τη Βιοποικιλότητα σε συνάρτηση με την Εθνική Στρατηγική για τα Δάση, διοργανώθηκε με μεγάλη επιτυχία η διαδικτυακή θεματική ημερίδα με τίτλο «Χρηματοδοτικό Πρόγραμμα LIFE και Δάση: Πραγματικότητα, Προκλήσεις και Ανάγκες στη Δασική Διαχείριση στην Ελλάδα του 21ου αιώνα». Η ημερίδα  συνδιοργανώθηκε από το Πράσινο Ταμείο, την Ελληνική Task Force για το Πρόγραμμα LIFE και το Ελληνικό Κέντρο Βιοτόπων – Υγροτόπων (ΕΚΒΥ). Πραγματοποιήθηκε  την Παρασκευή 27 Νοεμβρίου 2020, με τη συμμετοχή περισσότερων από 300 ατόμων, εκπροσώπων από τη Δασική Υπηρεσία, την περιφερειακή και τοπική αυτοδιοίκηση, περιβαλλοντικών οργανώσεων ειδικών επιστημόνων,  και φοιτητών από όλη τη χώρα.

Στόχος της ημερίδας ήταν η διάχυση και αξιοποίηση των αποτελεσμάτων των έργων LIFE από τους αρμόδιους φορείς της κεντρικής, της περιφερειακής διοίκησης και της αυτοδιοίκησης, αλλά και όλων όσοι εμπλέκονται με τη διαχείριση των δασών και τις υπηρεσίες που παρέχουν. Κατά τη διάρκειά της έγινε αναδρομή στις θεματικές δασικής διαχείρισης και διακυβέρνησης, στις οποίες έχει συνεισφέρει το Πρόγραμμα LIFE στην Ελλάδα από το 1992. Παρουσιάστηκαν επίσης έργα που υλοποιούνται, όπως το έργο ForestLife ή έχουν ολοκληρωθεί στο πλαίσιο του Προγράμματος LIFE και προσεγγίζουν σύγχρονες περιβαλλοντικές προκλήσεις, όπως η κλιματική αλλαγή, οι πυρκαγιές, οι φωτιές, οι πλημμύρες και θέματα διαχείρισης – προστασίας – ανασύστασης, γενετικής παρακολούθησης, αλλά και διακυβέρνησης του τομέα των δασών.

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Organisation of exhibitions. Forest Service archive.

Broadcasting news about science, technology but more about environmental issues and especially for unsustainable practices that presented in recent decades, may have a positive impact on public beliefs. But a series of conditions must also be met.

For USA Seyranian et al. (2015) and for Australia Kolandai-Matchett (2009) showed that the impact of this news on public opinion depends on the type and popularity of the media and the type and details of the media content. Where specific objectives pursued awareness on environmental issues,  a first important step is to is to reach trust and understanding between stakeholders. To this end, it is crucial to select the appropriate communication tools, to develop a common ground and a plain language of communication. For example photographs of people facing sever direct effects of climate change, can create an emotional connection to what may otherwise be viewed as a natural problem (Findlay 2020).These are becoming more and more necessary as the environmental crisis presents increasing complexity and interconnections at every level and aspect. Thus, the media, whether “traditional” or “new”, can contribute positively to public perceptions and ultimately promote environmental policies.

Video presenting reforestation process.

Beyond the selection of the the appropriate tools and strategies, it is essential to bear in mind that environmental issues demand scientific and technical knowledge in order to provide valid and timely information. Furthermore, the appropriate scientific and technical training of journalists facilitates the cooperation with experts in environmental issues, in order to achieve the widest possible information of the public. However, a research carried out in Australia in 2009 by Kolan dai-Matchett showed that only a small number of journalists covering environmental issues have the necessary knowledge and background and this is, perhaps, the main reason why there is a lack of environmental news reports. Focusing on communicating forest research. As regards Greece, Skamnakis and Kostarella (2018) report that the number of environmental issues raised by the media is limited.

If this is the case for journalists and the media, experts also need to make their way, by identifing the most important issues that must reach the general public. Focusing on forest science, the number of journalists and media outlets who invest the time and resources for in-depth research – which is needed to write about complex issues such as science – is decreasing  (IUFRO News, Volume 49, Issue 9, 2020). Communicators can support researchers to break down the complexity of their messages and get their information to their audiences. A recent example of such an effort is a report prepared by the Ministerial Conference for European Forests (Forest Europe), entitled «Adaptation to climate change in sustainable forest management in Europe.” The report clearly depicts the need for a constant flow of information to the public about the impact of climate change on forests, but also stress the need for a broad dissemination about how Europeans foresters react to climate change and how they prepare the forests to prevent future damages. Background social studies may also contribute substantially to an effective communication strategy. For example in Italy Carrus et al. (2020) after conducting a research funded by the Italian Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology,  found that the public overestimates the presence of forests, something that may enhance a trend of underestimation of the needs for forest conservation.

References

Carrus, G., A. Panno, J. Aragones, M. Marchetti, R. Motta, G. Tonon and G. Sanesi 2020. Public perceptions of forests across Italy: an exploratory national survey. iForest – Biogeosciences and Forestry 13: 323-328.

Findlay, Alyssa. 2020. Documenting climate change. Nature Climate Change. 10: 882-887.

FOREST EUROPE 2020. Adaptation to Climate Change in Sustainable Forest Management in Europe, Liaison Unit Bratislava, Zvolen, 2020.

IUFRO, 2020. IUFRO News, Volume 49, Issue 9, 2020 (https://www.iufro.org/publications/news/electronic-news/io-news-2009/).

Kolandai-Matchett K. 2009. Improving news media communication of sustainability and the environment: an exploration of approaches. Phd thesis. University of Canterbury.

Seyranian, V., G. M. Sinatra and M. S. Polikoff. 2015. Comparing communication strategies for reducing residential water consumption. Journal of Environmental Psychology. 41:81-90. DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2014.11.009.

Skamnakis, A. and I. Kostarella. 2018. “Environmental journalism and local media” in Georgiakakis, P., et al. Environmental responsibility, prevention and restoration Heraklion, University of Crete Press.

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In order to strengthen the touristic identity Greek protected areas, the Green Fund assigned to GNHM-EKBY the project entitled “Promotion of the protected areas of the country”. Along with its main task, the project seeks to contribute to the mitigation of the effects of tourism and leisure activities, by attracting informed and properly prepared visitors. The main actions of the project are: (a) the evaluation of the level of use of new technologies for the promotion and promotion of protected areas, as well as the services and goods they offer, (b) the conduct of needs research to upgrade the online promotion of protected areas (c) the training of protected areas staff on online promotion of the protected areas, (d) the promotion of the social media presence of the management bodies and (e) the dissemination of information regarding the project’s activities and results.

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CEETO (Central Europe Eco-Tourism), an Interreg Central Europe project, is organising its final (online) conference on Sustainable Tourism  at May 14th 2020. The conference’s programme will cover different examples of visitor monitoring and management measures presented by CEETO project partners, along with an in-depth analysis of CEETO project achievements. These achievments include, inter allia, a Handbook on Successful and Innovative Sustainable Tourism Practices in Europe;     Guidelines for developing a Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas and a Manual of Sustainable Tourism Governance for Protected Areas managers.

CEETO project main objective is to protect and enhance the natural heritage of Protected Areas (PAs) and Natura 2000 Network, by promoting an innovative sustainable tourism planning model, which reduces usage conflicts, sustains social and territorial cohesion, improves the quality of life of local communities and encourages the tourism industry to concretely contribute to nature conservation.

More information about the conference programme and registration.

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Plant health is increasingly under threat. Climate change and other human activities, are altering ecosystems, reducing biodiversity and creating new niches where pests can thrive. At the same time, international travel and trade has tripled in volume in the last decade and can quickly spread pests and diseases around the world causing great damage to native plants and the environment.

Prevention is crucial in order to tackle the impacts of plant pests and diseases and everybody has a role in it:

• Travelers need to avoid taking plants and plant products with them across borders.
• People in the transportation industries need to make sure that ships, airplanes, trucks and trains don’t carry plant pests and diseases into new areas.
• Governments need to increase their support to national and regional plant protection organizations that are the first line of defense.

The national competent authority for plant health is the Directorate of Plant Production Protection. The competent authority for the forest sector is the Directorate of Forest Protection of the Ministry of Environment and Energy.

Further reading:

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) http://www.fao.org/plant-health-2020/home/en/

European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO) http://www.eppo.int

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In the frame of CEETO Interreg Central Europe project (Central Europe Eco Tourism: tools for nature protection), EUROPARC Federation organises a webinar on Sustainable Tourism entitled “Monitoring & Managing visitors in Protected Areas”.

The webinar will take place on March 7th 2019 at 15:00h CET and will give an overview on the best and more cost-effective tools to monitor tourist flows in protected areas.

Tourism has been growing at an unprecedented rate in recent years, and areas of particular natural value are among those that attract a large number of visitors. The aim of the seminar is to empower all those who work in protected areas and provide recreation and tourism services or are responsible for the protection and management of protected areas in order to ensure the socioeconomic benefits of tourism, without compromising the conservation status of natural environment.

The webinar will be in the English language and its duration will be 1 hr and 15 minutes. Participation is free, but registration to the webinar is needed.

For more information please visit the following link:
https://www.interreg-central.eu/Content.Node/Sustainable-Tourism–Monitoring—Managing-visitors-in-Pr.html

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The European Forest Week, an initiative of FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), was celebrated for the first time in 2008. Ever since, it is being organized every two years, providing a unique opportunity for participants to present the forest wealth of their country, to raise awareness on the importance of forests and to influence European policies. National and local events, competitions and exhibitions, lectures and presentations are held simultaneously in the participating countries. Past events included recreational tours in the nature of Austria, lectures on forests in Spain, film festivals for forests in the Czech Republic, working meetings on the contribution of forests to the prevention of floods in Ukraine and many more.

Key messages for 2017 European Forest Week

Europe’s forests – where biodiversity lives.

Forest policy in Europe has a strong focus on biodiversity; more than 30 million hectares of European forests are protected to conserve biodiversity and landscape. Over the last 15 years, the area of protected forests in Europe has increased annually by half a million hectares. More than 90 percent of European countries have specific objectives related to biodiversity.

Europe’s forests – for the climate!

Sustainably managed forests help to mitigate the effects of climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, while providing products based on a carbon-neutral renewable resource. Forests cover more than a third of Europe’s land surface acting as a natural carbon sink as they grow. It is estimated that every year the European forest biomass sequesters an average of 719 million tonnes of CO2. This corresponds to about 9% of Europe’s annual net greenhouse gas emissions. Soil is the largest forest carbon sink, followed by the above-ground biomass, litter, below ground biomass and dead wood.

Europe’s forests – nature’s savings account

Like a savings account, the forest is growing – every year Europe gains almost 2 billion trees, the equivalent of about 900 million m3 of wood; a valuable natural resource with regaining interest as renewable long-live construction material and source of energy.

More information:

http://www.fao.org/about/meetings/european-forest-week/en/

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The 11th Forest Fire Special Interest Group Workshop of the European Association of Remote Sensing Laboratories -EARSeL, was held on 25-27 September 2017 at the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (MAICh). The conference was co-organized by the Laboratory of Forest Management and Remote Sensing of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, MAICh and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), with the support of the European Space Agency (ESA).

The thematic sessions of the conference included, among other, the impact of climate change on forest fires, contribution of the recent ESA’s Sentinel missions on forest fire research and exploitation of Big Data and dense satellite time-series data for monitoring of forest fire disturbance.

The conference was attended by 60 researchers from Europe, USA, Canada, Russia, China, Australia and Lebanon. There were 43 papers and presentations were given by invited speakers from ESA, the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, NASA and the University of South Dakota.

Among the participants were researchers with long experience in the use of remote sensing for forest fire monitoring, and who are members of advisory committees responsible for defining policies of large organizations such as ESA, NASA and the Canadian Space Agency. Discussions during the conference focused on identifying synergies and possible collaborations of satellite missions of these organisations, as well as the present and future needs on satellite data, in order to determine the characteristics of future missions accordingly. The overall aim of these conferences is to update research achievements and develop methodologies using satellite data to produce imagery products that can be exploited by public bodies for the detection and monitoring of forest fires and burned areas.

Within the framework of the conference, a field trip to Samaria Gorge was held, with the support of the Chania Directorate of Forests.

Source: https://dasarxeio.com

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The poster of the 18th Hellenic Foresters Congress

With the topic “Hellenic Forestry facing major challenges: sustainable forest management, forest cadastre, environmental technologies-networking and nature protection”, the 18th Panhellenic Forestry Congress & International Workshop will be held at Edessa, Greece (October 8-11). The Hellenic Forestry Society organizes the congress. The International Workshop «Information Technology, Sustainable Development, Scientific Network & Nature Protection» will run in parallel with the congress. During the congress, almost 160 oral presentations have been scheduled along with 47 posters. Two very interesting round tables have also been scheduled; “A big step ahead: Forests and forests’ chain of value for sustainable development. Proposals for a new Strategy” and “The role of Scientific Networks in Nature Protection”.

Forestry congresses are organised every two years and are major events mainly, but not exclusively, for the Greek forest sector. Several scientists and professionals use to attend working in forest management, constructions, wood trade and processing, nature conservation, range management etc.The 18th Panhellenic Forestry Conference & International Workshop will be held at Watermills, a traditional village area at Varosi & Open Air Water Museum in the town of Edessa, near Thessaloniki.

The conference is under the auspices of the Hellenic Parliament, the Ministry of Environment and Energy and the Ministry of Rural Development and Food.

More information about the conference can be found at:

http://www.forestry.gr/default.asp?sid=12482&psid=&page=

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