The IUFRO 3.08.00 Small-scale Forestry Group, together with the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania and the Lithuanian Forest Research Institute, would like to call to your attention to an international symposium on "Small-scale Forestry in a Changing Environment", to be held in Vilnius, Lithuania, over May 30 to June 4, 2005.

The International Union of Forest Research Organisations (IUFRO) is a non-profit, non-governmental international network of forest scientists. Its objectives are to promote international co-operation in forestry and forest products research. It is an international scientific body founded in 1892; is open, non-discriminatory, voluntarily working and fully devoted to science; has a strong and co-ordinated presence all over the world; is non-profit, non-governmental and non-political; unites more than 15,000 co-operating member scientists in over 700 member institutions in over 100 countries; is an associate member of ICSU, the International Council for Science. The history of the Working Unit started at the IUFRO XVIII World Congress in 1986 when a project group on "Small-Scale Forestry" was founded as a co-operative effort of interested members. Since then this group has met twelve times with an interval of 1.5 years on the average.
IUFRO Research Group 3.08.00 - Small-scale Forestry has membership of about 700 scientists, extension professionals, policy makers, decision-makers, and post graduate students from: Australia, Estonia, Italy, Scotland, Austria, Fiji Islands, Japan, Slovakia, Belgium, Finland, Latvia, Slovenia, Bhutan, France, Lithuania, Spain, Bulgaria, Germany, Luxembourg, Sweden, Canada, Greece, Netherlands, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Hungary, New Zealand, Taiwan, Croatia, India, Norway, Thailand, Czech Republic, Ireland, Poland, United Kingdom, Denmark, Israel, Portugal, and United States. Dr. Pentii Hytinen, Dr. Ikuo Ota and Dr. John Herbohn are the Co-ordinator and Deputy Co-ordinators respectively of IUFRO 3.08.00.
IUFRO 3.08.00 Small-scale Forestry also produces the journal of Small-scale Forest Economics, Management and Policy.
Small-scale forestry faces many challenges in a rapidly changing environment. The objective of this symposium is to bring together scientists and practitioners from around the world to discuss research problems, results and practical applications related to small-scale forestry in this changing environment.
For instance, in the Baltic States the recent political changes and the recent addition of these countries into the EU have led to major changes in forest ownership and administration. Elsewhere in Europe and the US, changing demographics and land use patterns are leading to the parcelisation and fragmentation of forest lands, which poses many challenges for management. In Asia, a shift to community-based forest management in the past decade has resulted in many opportunities and also problems for smallholders and communities. There has also been a corresponding devolution of forest management from the State to communities in many countries, often without adequate funding.
Small-scale forestry in a changing environment topics to be discussed include, but are not limited to, problems at policy, economics and management of small-scale private forestry both in the countries with long traditions at private forestry and in countries in transition.
Possible areas of interest and topics of presentations may include, but are not restricted to, the following:
Changes in forest ownership, policy and administration (e.g. land restitution, devolution, community forestry, co-operatives and associations).
The changing goals and values of forest owners.
Land-use changes in forestry (e.g. land fragmentation and parcelisation, landscape amenity).
Nature and impacts of increasing rates of absentee ownership of family forests.
Forestry and livelihoods and the role of small-scale forestry in rural development.
Changes in forestry financing (e.g. grant schemes, joint ventures, venture capital, payments for ecosystem services).
Small-scale forestry accounting systems and financial modelling and their role in a changing environment.
Advances in forestry extension (e.g. targeting through landholder typologies).
Timber marketing and product value-adding innovations.
Changes in the market environment: timber, fuel wood and NTFPs.
Changes in small-scale forestry technology.
Changes in forest policy measures and new modes of governance.
Other topics related to small-scale forestry in a changing environment.
Both oral and poster presentations will be accepted for the symposium. The proceedings will be distributed at the symposium. If you are interested in presenting a paper at the symposium you are most welcome to submit an abstract, of up to one page in length. Abstract submissions will be assessed by the Scientific Committee.