One of the world’s oldest and largest international forestry research organisations will hold its annual conference in Rotorua next year.
Founded in 1892, the International Union of Forest Research Organisations (IUFRO) is a non-profit, non- governmental network of forest scientists and researchers.
IUFRO’s focus is global co-operation and knowledge-sharing in forest-related research.
The upcoming sixth international conference, named “The might of vegetative propagation for healthy and productive forests to face climate challenges”, will run in Rotorua over five days from March 3.
Previous conferences have been held in the South Korea, the Czech Republic, Spain, Argentina, and Portugal.
Dr Jana Krajňáková, a senior researcher for tissue culture and project leader at Scion, is part of the event organising committee.
She said the conference will bring together researchers, university professors and PhD students from around the world to collaborate, exchange knowledge and address specific research topics in forestry and woody plants.
“The programme sessions proposed will cover all fields of application of vegetative propagation to preserve, assess, improve, adapt, and deploy tree genetic resources in resilient and productive forests.”
Krajňáková said that in the context of rapid climate change, there is an urgent need for cost-effective, efficient tree vegetative propagation technologies for supporting the development of precision forestry and delivery of forest products and services.
Scion has carried out significant work in vegetative propagation technologies, with many notable achievements, including developing and refining various vegetative propagation techniques (especially the promising somatic embryogenesis), developing and applying elite clonal forestry, and extensive research on tissue culture techniques for plant propagation.
Scion’s general manager for forests to timber products, Henri Baillères, said there is a marked societal dimension in forestry through the historically strong and practical involvement of Te Ao Māori.
“As part of this, there is going to be a dedicated space for Māori researchers to present their research and knowledge experience in indigenous propagation.”
He said indigenous knowledge and practices are crucial in New Zealand’s forestry.
“This inclusion recognises the deep-rooted connection between Māori culture and the whenua and highlights the intersection of indigenous knowledge, sustainable forest management and global collaboration, all of which are crucial aspects of the conference’s goals and objectives.”
