ISTANBUL
The Istanbul Forest Innovation Week (IFIW) concluded Friday with discussions and panels on forest restoration, innovation in forestry, bioeconomy applications, and integrated fire management.
The five-day meeting, which began Monday, brought together representatives from 75 countries, 30 international organizations, and more than 400 experts.
During the closing session of the European Forestry Commission (EFC), a new president and vice-presidents were elected.
The presidency went to a representative from Slovakia, while Switzerland and the United States were elected as vice presidents.
The next session of the EFC will be held in Rome in 2027.
- Experts highlight digitalization, data sharing, and innovation
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Forestry Specialist Rebecca Tavani introduced the organization’s Open Foris initiative and its associated toolkit, explaining that FAO has been providing training in this field for the past 15 years.
Open Foris is an open-source software initiative that provides analysis and reporting in areas such as activity monitoring, biodiversity, and forest inventories.
Tavani stated that the efforts demonstrate FAO's strong global presence in empowering users.
Predrag Jovic, forestry portfolio officer at the FAO Belgrade Project Office, explained FAO's National Forest Inventories (NFI) approach, associated phases and how data is collected within the system.
He said the recently launched third phase of the NFI aims to ensure continuous and up-to-date monitoring by collecting new data each year, enabling early detection of forest fires and other risks.
Ebba Henning Planck, head of the Forest Europe Liaison Unit in Sweden, stated that Forest Europe's “data-driven decision-making” approach is based on data collection and monitoring, adding that the goal is to create comparable, reliable and high-quality data over time and across countries.
Keith Anderson, senior advisor at the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment, noted that his agency has digitized forest data reporting processes, and data is now transferred directly, digitally and instantly between institutions. The goal, he said, is to create a faster, more transparent and integrated forest data network.
Dr. Johannes Schumacher, researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Bioeconomy Research, discussed the EU-funded MoniFun project, which uses a federated learning approach that enables modeling without data sharing between countries.
The MoniFun project, funded by the EU, is developing a blueprint for a harmonized European Forest Multifunctionality Monitoring System to support policy makers and stakeholders in assessing and promoting sustainable forest ecosystems in Europe.
FAO Natural Resources Specialist Evetta Zenina spoke about understanding carbon markets, integrating them into national strategies, and ways to develop countries' institutional capacity.
Ekrem Yazici, secretary general of the FAO’s European Forestry Commission (EFC), highlighted work carried out as part of IFIW. "Our goal is to prepare the Turkish forestry sector for the European Green Deal process, raise awareness of the potential challenges posed by the upcoming European Deforestation Regulation, and ensure the sector is ready for this process before it's too late."
Following the closing session, Yazici told Anadolu that the five-day event featured extensive discussions on innovation in forest fire management, as well as regional and international collaboration.
He added that the 43rd session of the EFC also took place during the week, covering topics such as the circular economy, youth and innovation, timber construction, forest monitoring, and innovation in data collection.
He stated that due to the intergovernmental nature of the EFC, a report was prepared at the end of the process, which the countries negotiated on and adopted.
He stressed that Türkiye made significant investments throughout the week as part of IFIW. "The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the General Directorate of Forestry, in particular, made significant contributions," he said.
Istanbul Forest Innovation Week, which brings together scientists, experts and industry representatives from around the world, was organized by the Turkish Agriculture and Forestry Ministry's General Directorate of Forestry in cooperation with the UN Forest Forum (UNFF) and the Food and Agriculture Organization. It serves as an important platform to shape the future of global forestry policies. Anadolu is the global communication partner of Istanbul Forest Innovation Week (IFIW) 2025.
