The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) is proud to announce the Fifth Natural Forests and Woodlands Symposium. The Symposium is to be held from 10 – 14 April 2011 at The Richards Hotel, Richards bay, KwaZulu-Natal , South Africa . The theme for the Fifth Natural Forests and Woodlands Symposium will be “ Towards sustainable natural resource management in a changing environment ”.

The Fifth Natural Forests and Woodlands Symposium will build on the successes of the previous symposia. The Symposium will consist of 5 main sessions with the following main themes: Ecology and Management, Protection, Sustainable Resource Utilisation and Economics, Monitoring and Inventory and Policy and socio-economic issues . In addition to the scientific programme, the Symposium will include a full day field excursion.

The Department regards this Symposium of critical importance to the sector and the sustainable management of our natural resources. The Symposium furthermore will provide an opportunity to further common understanding about the key subject areas of the symposium and to facilitate communication among participants. The Symposium will also expose young scientists, researchers and learners to the sector and motivate them to commit to the sector and address and decrease the current lack of capacity and skills.

The need to hold a symposium focussing on natural forests and woodlands was identified at the National Conference for Conservation Forestry held in October 1997. To date the Natural Forests and Woodlands Symposium has been hosted four times. By presenting these series of symposia, the Department endeavours to promote the sustainable use and management of natural forests and woodland resources.

For more information please feel free to contact the Symposium Chairperson, Dr. Ronald Heath at:

Phone: +27 12 336 6981
Cell: +27 83 611 6946
E-mail: RonaldH@daff.gov.za

Or

Ms Noncedo Vutula
Acting Chief Director: Communication and Information
012 319 7348
082 523 4904