Bioenergy and forest education at the XIII World Forestry Congress

Will the development of bioenergy be good or bad for the forest sector? This question was made to the audience attending the Forest and Energy Forum during the XIII World Forestry Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina, held from 19th to 23rd October 2009. The forum (click here for its detailed programme) gathered numerous world experts in the field and was, together with the thematic session 2.5 on Forests and Energy (click here for its detailed programme), the main venue for discussions on bioenergy.

Interestingly, the numbers of hands raised in response to the question was quite even between yes and no, with a slight majority –as appreciated by the chairman of the session- for the “no”, i.e. for those thinking that bioenergy development will be bad for forestry. Why so many “no” answers? Judging from the discussions that took place, there seemed to be the wide spread perception that plantations for energy will need a huge area and therefore will contribute to deforestation of natural forests.

The subject forestry education was also debated throughout the Congress, with a thematic session (6.4) on the last day (click here for a detailed programme). With the moderation of August Temu, there were presentations by Hosny El-Lakany, Florent Kaiser, Michael Rivoire, Nicolas Dolidon, Marta Bonilla, as well as a presentation by our group entitled “Exploring the motivation of international forestry degree students”. Also a follow-up meeting for further discussing forestry education was held, chaired by the International Partnership for Forestry Education (IPFE).