5th Day of the final LIFEGENMON conference

On the fifth and the final day of the LIFEGENMON “Forest science for future forests: Forest genetic monitoring and biodiversity in a changing environment” conference continued at 9 am with a lecture by Dr Robert Mavsar, who spoke about the past, present and future of forests and its management.

The main focus of this day was the press conference at which the public was addressed by:

The project coordinator Prof. Dr. Hojka Kraigher from Slovenian forestry Institute in her closing address to the press, she emphasized: »Biodiversity, and its component, genetic diversity, are crucial to the adaptability of future forests to environmental / climate / change. Forest genetic monitoring will be able to warn us against the potential vulnerabilities of forests before they can be seen by the human eye«.

Dr. Aleš Poljanec, assistant to the director of Slovenian Forest Service spoke of the importance of science and reasearch in adapting to climate change.

Dr. Robert Mavsar, vice director of European Forest Institute emphasised: »Forests are our key asset for mastering the transition to a sustainable future, a future based on a new economic model – the circular bioeconomy«.

The audience was also addressed by Prof. Dr. Miha Humar from the Biotechnical Faculty of the University of Ljubljana, who presented aspects of the use of wood in the light of climate change, and Dr. Michele Bozzano, President of the European Program for the Conservation of Forest Genetic Resources (EUFORGEN), who presented in more detail the importance of genetic diversity for the future of forests and the program for the conservation of forest genetic resources in Europe.

At the end of the conference, Prof. Dr. Hojka Kraigher thanked the project partners for their excellent work.