In the new season of Branching out: the forest podcast, host Jose Bolaños, together with various co-hosts, takes the audience through the world of IUFRO’s nine Divisions and their new leadership model, which now has 2 co-coordinators to improve geographical and gender diversity and balance their work.
The first episode of the podcast season features Division 1, Silviculture, with its two new Co-Coordinators: Pil Sun Park from Seoul National University, Republic of Korea, and Teresa De Jesus Fidalgo Fonseca from the University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal. The guest host for this episode is Alexander Watson from the International Forestry Students’ Association (IFSA) and a master’s student in Tropical Silviculture and Forest Ecology at the Georg-August University of Göttingen in Germany.
The podcast begins with introductions, moves to personal experiences, participation in the Division’s work, current scientific findings, and upcoming projects and conferences. Get to know the two Coordinators better, discover what excites Pil Sun Park most about her work, and learn about one moment that was most formative in Teresa Fonseca’s career.
The two guests also debunk the misconception that silviculture is solely focused on increasing timber yield. Silviculture encompasses much more, including forest restoration, biodiversity conservation, and, not least, strengthening forests in the face of climate change challenges. What should the forest look like? What demands should it meet? How can it become healthy and robust, and adapt to climate change? In this way, silviculture is also about preserving and maintaining the forest ecosystem and its diverse services, such as water, oxygen, and carbon storage. It is also crucial to engage the public and inform them about the goals of silvicultural measures.
We invite you to tune in to Branching Out: the forest podcast. Listen wherever you enjoy your podcasts, on Spotify and Apple Podcasts or on the IUFRO website, and don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review!
