Pine and Broadleaved Trees in Focus When NordGen Arranged a Forest Thematic Day in Norway

"Forestry – more than just spruce" was the main theme when NordGen arranged a thematic day in collaboration with Skogfrøverket and the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food. The event attracted around 60 participants who got to listen to many interesting presentations.

A total of 63 participants attended the thematic day, which was arranged on February 14 in Vitenparken, located in Norwegian Ås. During the day, presentations were given by lecturers from Skogfrøverket, Skogkurs, NIBIO, NMBU and AHO (The Oslo School of Architecture and Design). Skogfrøverket presented its new strategy for forest seed breeding and emphasized that spruce will continue to be important, but that there is also a need to focus on both pine and broadleaved trees in the future. The new method "breeding-without-breeding", which is central to the pine breeding program, was discussed before it was time to move on to fertilization and the establishment and planting of pine.

The second part of the thematic day was about broadleaved trees, with a focus on silver birch and common alder. The participants received a thorough presentation of the selection process carried out on birch and wood technical results on different clones. But they also listened to perspectives from the design sector, especially about how birch can be an exciting and versatile choice. The participants, with a background in different parts of the industry, also had the opportunity to meet and discuss in the breaks between the presentations. Such meeting places are also valuable.

FACTS

  • NordGen functions as a Nordic meeting place to promote the conservation and sustainable use of forest genetic resources.

  • Knowledge transfer between research, management and practical forestry in forest regeneration and management of genetic resources takes place through national thematic days and Nordic conferences.

  • The next event will be the NordGen Forest Conference 2024 taking place on September 18-19 in Rovaniemi, Finland.

  • NordGen also announces forest scholarships in collaboration with SNS (Nordic Forest Research).