ProPopulus Team
Due to the coronavirus outbreak many events programmed for 2020 have been postponed or suspended, like the 26th IPC Session and study tours, that was postponed from October 2020 to autumn of 2021 (please check https://www.ipc2020.it/ for further information). However, others are still taking place, beginning with FSC-Spain’s webinar on the new standard [FSC-STD-ESP-03-2018 ES] that entered into force on January 15th, 2020, and includes many new features especially related to the new FSC conservation criteria (indicator 6.5. 4), the network of conservation areas and representative sample area. You can register here.
Two other important events have been postponed till 2021. One is the 42nd Session of the Joint ECE/FAO Working Party on Forest Statistics, Economics and Management, that was supposed to take place in Geneva on June 2020 (for more information on this event, please contact Florian Steierer). The other is the Fire Across Boundaries Conference, that was to take place in Florence, Italy and which has been postponed to October 12th-15th, 2021. For this year, Fire across Boundaries has organized a webinar on October 20th-21st, from 17:00 to 19:00, which will be a space to understand and discuss the global wildfire situation and regional challenges in a changing climate, the uncertainties that need to be addressed, and potential fire ecology solutions for wildfire mitigation. To join the webinar, click here
On the other hand, there are some important meetings that haven’t been cancelled or postponed such as the 8th Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe that will take place on October 28th – 29th, in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Also, the EU Green Week 2020 will take place on October 19th-22nd, the main theme being nature and biodiversity. The opening event on the 19th, will take place in Lisbon, Portugal, while the High-Level Conference will be held in Brussels, Belgium from October 20th to 22nd. After the adoption of a new EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 last May, the Green Week will highlight the contribution that biodiversity can have on society and the economy. Along with the role it can play in supporting and stimulating recovery in a post-pandemic world, bringing jobs and sustainable growth. The new EU strategy is a chance to rethink our relationship with nature. EU Green Week will examine how EU policies such as the European Green Deal can help protect and restore nature, if it is given room to recover and thrive. This year’s Green Week will also act as a milestone on the path to the Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity, now planned for 2021. That would be the scenario for world leaders to adopt a 10-year action plan for biodiversity, a new global deal for people and nature.