By Thoko Changufu ‘23 MF
The International Society of Tropical Foresters conference is the longest-running student-led conference at the Yale School of the Environment. Celebrating their 29th annual conference, Yale ISTF gathered scientists and practitioners from all over the world on campus from February 2-4, 2023, under the theme: “Envisioning the future of tropical forests: the roles of feedback, interconnectedness, and adaptation.”
During the three-day conference, attendees exchanged ideas, shared resources, and developed interdisciplinary collaborations to promote resilient forests. Unpacking the roles of feedback and interconnectedness from interdisciplinary perspectives in ecology, social sciences, and economics helped inform actionable adaptations to promote a positive future for threatened forests.
Dr. Pablo Pacheco, global forests lead at the World Wildlife Fund, and Dr. Juliette Biao Koudenoukpo, director of the United Nations Forum on Forests, set the conference’s tone with keynote addresses. Pacheco, focusing on the push and pull of deforestation and restoration, and Biao Koudenoukpo, illustrating the important role of women’s leadership, contextualized the state of the world’s tropical forests.
Dr. Pablo Pacheco, global forests lead scientist at World Wildlife Fund, gives a keynote address on the “Fate of Tropical Forests in an Interconnected World.” Photo by: Frederick Addai ‘23 MF.
Dr. Juliette Biao Koudenoukpo, director of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) Secretariat, delivers a keynote address on influential women leadership in forestry and draws lessons learned from her experiences promoting sustainable forest management through the UNFF. Photo by: Frederick Addai ‘23 MF.
Notably, following their addresses, attendees had the opportunity to engage directly with Pacheco and Biao Koudenoukpo in small group sessions facilitated by YSE graduate students, a testament to the intimacy of this conference as well as student leadership and engagement which are a unique feature to this conference.
Thokozile Changufu ‘23 MF, ISTF organizer, facilitates a conversation with Dr. Biao and conference attendees on the roles of women leadership in forestry. Photo by: Frederick Addai ‘23 MF.
Through the panel sessions, participants discussed the value of degraded land for conservation and supporting biodiversity. Additionally, panels explored how to use art as a communication channel for communities to express their understanding of the ecosystems around them, as well as their hopes for the future. Conference speakers repeatedly called for investment to develop the capacity of communities and support the launch of investable community projects. Overall, the three panels, “Feedback Systems in the Tropics,” “Forest Dependent Livelihoods: Climate Change Impacts and Adaptations,” and “Sustainable Development and Tropical Forests” provided valuable insights into how to support communities and resilient tropical forests simultaneously.
The third day of the conference called for some creativity in envisioning the future of tropical forests. With the guidance of Dr. Agni (Intu) Boedhihartono, associate professor of tropical landscapes and livelihoods at the University of British Columbia, attendees collectively created a community mural, resulting in a mosaic of flourishing ecosystems that embodied natural, human, spiritual, and technological components. How would you visualize the future of forests?
Conference participants joyfully collaborate to create a community mural illustrating what the future of tropical forests could look like. Photo by: Frederick Addai ‘23 MF.
Since 2014, the Yale Chapter of ISTF has awarded an Innovation Prize to honor two outstanding initiatives and ideas related to tropical forest use and conservation. This year’s prize winner, Rainforest Biodiversity of Phalee, is a citizen science project in Phalee Village in the Manipur state of India, with the aim to improve agrosystems and environmental conservation systems by documenting Traditional Knowledge and scientific information harbored within their community. Their main objectives are the preservation, conservation, and education on biodiversity and culture. In second place, the Innovation Prize recognized Pro Eco Azuero, a “living laboratory” located on Panama’s Azuero Peninsula focused on reforestation, habitat restoration, sustainable land use, and environmental education.
In the closing remarks, conference co-chair Angela Xue ‘23 MEM remarked: “To envision the future of tropical forests, it is clear that we must learn from the past, to revisit previous failures to inform our actions now in safeguarding and restoring tropical ecosystems and beyond. We found hope in the midst of an often grim forecast for the tropics through learning innovative system approaches to building resiliency and adaptation.”
We look forward to exploring important themes and topics related to the future of tropical forests next year at our 30th annual conference!
