Treescapes2020 – bringing research and practice together

A unique two-day conference, Treescapes2020, is being led by PhD students from a number of UK universities for foresters, land managers and researchers. It aims to stimulate lasting conversations between the research and forestry practitioner communities.

Panel discussions will be chaired by Professor Nicola Spence, Defra’s Chief Plant Health Officer, and by biological anthropologist, author and well known broadcaster Professor Alice Roberts, who is also Professor of Public Engagement in Science at the University of Birmingham.

Keynote speakers include:

• Jaboury Ghazoul, the Director of the Centre for Sustainable Forests and Landscapes at the University of Edinburgh, and Professor of Ecosystem Management at ETH Zurich, Switzerland;
• Chris Quine, Chief Scientist at Forest Research (FR) and a member of FR’s executive team
• Geraint Richards, Head Forester at the Duchy of Cornwall chair of Action Oak and formerly co-chair of Future Trees Trust and the National Tree Improvement Strategy

Treescapes2020 is co-hosted by Doctoral Training Programmes Centa, EnVision, and Forest Edge and by the Royal Forestry Society (RFS) at the University of Birmingham on 1 & 2 July 2020. Details of the packed programme of panels, workshops, and speakers and booking are available at www.birmingham.ac.uk/treescapes2020

RFS Chief Executive Simon Lloyd says: “An incredible range of presentations and workshops is expected to create new conversations, insights and actions across the research and forestry practitioner communities. With so much change and uncertainty, close collaboration between these communities is more important than ever.”

Workshops include topics such as climate smart forestry, natural regeneration, managing changing treescapes. More than 30 presentations and 20 posters will represent a wide spectrum of research into all aspects of woodland management and forestry.

Delegates can also opt for an additional guided tour of the only forest scale Free Air Carbon Enrichment (FACE) facility in the Northern Hemisphere (BIFoR) at Norbury Park in Staffordshire on Day 3 (July 3).

Sponsors include the Woodland Trust and the RFS is offering up to five Spencer Bursaries to enable students to attend the conference. Bursary details are available at https://www.rfs.org.uk/learning/bursaries-and-studentships/rfs-spencer-bursary/