IUFRO Headquarters 82d ago

Webinar on Forest-Steppe Recovery after Landscape Fires in Eastern Ukraine: land-use history, climate change, and war By the IUFRO Task Force on Post-Conflict Forest Landscape Restoration 12 March 2026, 15:00 CET; Presented by Brian Milakovsky The first webinar of the IUFRO Task Force on Post-Conflict Forest Landscape Restoration marked the launch of a series of discussions aimed at exploring the challenges and opportunities of restoring forest landscapes affected by armed conflicts. The webinar brought together 28 participants from different countries and professional backgrounds. The keynote presentation by Brian Milakovsky, who shared insights based on his extensive experience working in Ukraine in regions affected by the Russian war, addressed the complex interactions between armed conflict, land-use history, and forest landscape dynamics. A central theme of the presentation was the long-term environmental consequences of armed conflict. Military activities, fires, unexploded ordnance, land degradation, and infrastructure damage create multiple pressures on forest ecosystems. These impacts often extend far beyond the immediate conflict period, affecting soil conditions, biodiversity, forest regeneration, and the capacity of landscapes to recover naturally.