The recent 5th Forest Science Symposium co-hosted by the Institute for Commercial Forestry Research (ICFR) and the South African Department of Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries (DAFF) provided the southern African forest research community with an opportunity to interact and share knowledge around the diverse research being carried out across this important sector of the economy. Source: African Brains
Around 240 delegates attended the Symposium from forestry companies, research organisations, academic institutions, government and private entities.
The theme for this year’s Symposium was “Risks to sustainable plantation forestry in southern Africa: The role of Research“.
Looking to the future, the Symposium indicated that African forestry in 2020 will need to be competitive, modernised, include community grower schemes, address risk around climate, pests/diseases and water use, and provide sustainable job creation.
To achieve these will require a focus on partnerships – between universities, research organisations, government, the private sector and communities.
A sub-theme of the Symposium was the need for strong collaboration and partnerships.
In striving to support developing the competitive advantage of the South African Forestry sector, the ICFR is focussed on developing and transferring research-based knowledge to the forestry stakeholders, and on synthesising and transferring knowledge into products to support forest management.
