Scientific-expert conference with International participation ‘CLIMATE CHANGE AND NEW CHALLENGES IN THE PRODUCTION OF HIGH QUALITY AND WELL ADAPTED FOREST REPRODUCTIVE MATERIAL’ was held on 3rd and 4th December 2019 organized by Croatian Forest Research Institute and co-organized by Faculty of Forestry University of Zagreb, Academy of Forestry Sciences, Croatian Forests Ltd Zagreb, Croatian Forestry Society, Croatian Chamber of Forestry and Wood Technology Engineers under the auspices of the President of the Republic of Croatia, Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia, Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Croatia, Croatian Accreditation Agency, European Forest Institute (EFI), International Union of Forest Research Organization (IUFRO), Divisions 1, 2 and sponsored by City of Zagreb, City of Jastrebarsko, Vode Jastrebarsko, d.o.o., Sunčane šume d.o.o., Zagreb County.
Forest seed is a significant factor in ensuring the sustainability of forest ecosystems. The proper selection of the forest seed as a vector of hereditary traits that will be visible to future generations is crucial. Global climate change results in visible negative effects on forest ecosystems. In such adverse climatic conditions, forest ecosystems are exposed to negative impacts that affect stand structure and management sustainability. Seed science, as a scientific and professional discipline, is the backbone of the conservation of genetic diversity of forest ecosystems. The use of genetically high quality and well-adapted forest reproductive material to the site conditions is an important condition (Conditio sine qua non) for successful forest management and sustainability of forest ecosystems.
The conference brought together scientists and experts from Germany, France, Poland, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Austria, Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia. A total of 33 oral presentations and 6 poster presentations were presented.
The Conference presented the achievements up to date and an overview of approaches, techniques, methods, and legislation according to the conservation of the gene pool, the biodiversity of forest ecosystems and forest seed production. The conference consisted of plenary, oral and poster sessions. The multidisciplinary approach provided a comprehensive and broad discussion of the significant factors affecting the production, storage, and use of genetically high-quality forest seed.
All conference abstracts were published in the Book of Abstracts “Climate Change and New Challenges in the Production of High Quality and Well Adapted Forest Reproductive Material”.
The conference field trip was held on Forest Administration Delnice near the seed stand of Common spruce, basic material in category “selected”. Exercises of cone collection with climbing techniques on trees using ropes were demonstrated. The participants of Congress visited also Training and Forest Research Centre Zalesina of Faculty of Forestry, University of Zagreb. The educational and experimental facility Zalesina is located in Gorski kotar, the territory in the north-west of Croatia, 130 km west of Zagreb. The forests of this facility comprise three economic units with the total surface area of 735,94 hectares. In 1963, the forests of all the three current economic units were excluded from regular forest management and declared forests of special purpose, such as forests for teaching and scientific research, and were consequently entrusted to the Faculty of Forestry of the University of Zagreb for further management.
More information: https://www.sumins.hr/sjemenarstvo60/?lang=en
