THIRD NATIONAL CONGRESS OF SILVICULTURE

For the improvement and conservation of Italian forests

16-19 october 2008 - Taormina (Sicily, Italy)

Silviculture has changed over the years under the pressure of two factors: scientific progress; the growing awareness of the importance of forests in making the present livable and the future possible.

The forest is an environmental and cultural asset of significant social importance. Consequently, silviculture has moved beyond its traditional boundaries, from the classic production-centered paradigm to the current approach based on principles of environmental sustainability.

Forest cultivation is turning to the care and protection of the public interest. In this sense, it must recognize and enhance all the goods and services related to the ecological functions that make the forests a key factor for land protection and environmental quality. The most relevant of these functions include:

- soil and water conservation: forest systems reduce land vulnerability, soil degradation and desertification processes; they mitigate the effects of natural calamities such as drought and floods and they contribute to the protection and enhancement of water resources.

- biodiversity conservation: forests are among the richest habitats for plant and animal species and contribute to the conservation of genetic resources.

- climate change mitigation, air and water purification: forest ecosystems are capable of absorbing pollutants found in water, air and the soil, essential factor for quality of life; their ability to store carbon helps mitigate climate change, one of the primary goals of the Kyoto Protocol.

- production, certification and the wood chain: forests are a source of essential renewable raw materials; these, together with non-timber products and ensuing product and process certification, generate economic and social advantages.

- protection of landscape identity: forest and agro-forest ecosystems characterize landscapes and contribute to the conservation of historical and cultural values.

Forests are complex biological systems with social utility; they must be protected and defended from biotic and abiotic adversities–also due to climate change–such as phytopathies, uncontrolled grazing, floods, fires, and pollution.

Silviculture is characterized by high costs and low profits and requires an environmental and forest policy providing for a system of incentives and a system to compensate for lost revenue when forest utilization has to be restricted.

The increasing interest in environmental protection issues is reviving the market’s interest in wood and non-wood products that can satisfy responsible consumers while limiting environmental impact, and specifically:

- the demand for energy from renewable sources: in addition to traditional firewood, forest biomasses can contribute to energy production;

- the demand for timber for sustainable building and living: wood has high structural efficiency, good thermal and aseismic characteristics, and a neutral carbon balance.

If regulated by appropriate forestry and environmental policies, these market trends and pressures may represent an incentive for a new approach to business related to the wood chain and based on locally supplied raw materials. In this way silviculture can become the driving force behind local development in an integrated, land-based economic system.

Nevertheless, historical degradation factors (forest fires, uncontrolled grazing, irrational forest exploitation) still exist in the Mediterranean region, and have severely impacted the bio-ecological efficiency of many Italian forests. In these cases, the costs of silviculture are justified and must be covered not only for the sake of the forest, but for the protection of environmental quality and the beauty of the area.

This, in turn, leads to the need for testing, where it is technically feasible, and there are economically rewarding methods of direct payment for such services. In addition they would need to be incorporated into well-defined land-based marketing strategies.

This complex scenario clearly shows how important silviculture is, and that its role goes well beyond the cultivation and improvement of existing forests. For example, we must consider the increasing need for reforestation to mitigate desertification, the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol, the development of sustainable management models for “forests outside the forest” to produce biomass, the creation and management of forested belts in the vicinity of farmlands to help protect crops, and the protection and expansion of green areas in and around our cities.

The Congress is organized by the Italian Academy of Forest Sciences, the National Forest Service and the Sicilian Region, with the collaboration of «Consulta Nazionale per le Foreste, il Legno e la Carta» and the «Fondazione San Giovanni Gualberto», and the support of the Food and Agriculture Organization, the European Commission on Agriculture and Rural Development, the most important academic and scientific institutions in Italy, the main forestry professional organizations, the production and industrial sector, and environmental and nature conservation organizations.

The Congress will be an opportunity to discuss all these issues, both from scientific and technical points of view. An understanding of the importance of silviculture requires a profound and precise comprehension of forests and of the interactions between forests, the biosphere and society. All this information must be integrated within a system of shared values in order that respect for the ecosystem’s complexity and for social and economic needs become part of our culture and central elements of progress.

In this context, with the challenges facing silviculture in the third millennium, the Congress will offer an opportunity to reach innovative scientific conclusions, projected towards the future. The aim is to mainstream and implement the concept of sustainable management among the many public and private agents who are involved in forest issues on the national, intermediate and local levels. The Congress will take place before the “Pan-European Forestry Week,” which FAO will organize in collaboration with UNECE, MCPFE and UE with the aim to strengthen the European forestry sector.