Symposium for policy makers

On March 5, 2024, the partners behind LIFE Climate Forest organized a first symposium. This symposium ‘climate-smart forest management’ was specifically aimed at policy makers and policy influencers.

The reason for this symposium is the urgency of climate adaptation of our forests and the very positively received course series for forest managers, of which we would like to present an adapted and tailor-made version so that we can subsequently exchange ideas about this.

During the symposium in Hotel Mastbos (Breda) we have four speakers who share new insights into climate smart forest management:

We started with Jan den Ouden (Wageningen University) who introduced us to what climate-smart forest management actually is and explained important principles such as adaptation and mitigation.

With Ellen Desie (University of Leuven) and Leon van den Berg (Bosgroep Zuid Nederland), we then delve into the issues surrounding the forest growth site and the importance of a healthy soil for a resilient forest.

Bart Muys (University of Leuven) then takes us through the results and insights gained in a recent project called climate trees, in which advice has been drawn up for Flanders for dealing with tree species in the light of climate change.

Jan den Ouden concludes the lectures with the importance of continuous forest rejuvenation for the adaptability of forests and the role of game.

Harrie Hekhuis (Staatsbosbeheer) will introduce the day and guide the discussion during the day. We conclude with a short excursion (by Etiënne Thomassen and Sander Wijdeven) in the Mastbos where we see and jointly discuss principles and challenges of climate smart forest management.