We invite you to the city of Sundsvall, Sweden in August 2010 to take part in the scientific conference - Northern Primeval forests: Ecology, Conservation and Management.

Sizeable areas of the Northern hemispheres' forests remain unmanaged by man. These primeval forests not only harbour unique conservation and recreational values, but also provide important reference areas, critical to our understanding of forest structure, composition and processes.

The scientific scope of the conference will gather researchers, administrators and conservation managers from a wide spectrum of regions and disciplines. Results will aid in designing scientifically well founded strategies to deal with current threats to forest biodiversity. The following themes form a base for the scientific content:

• Old growth forests - The historical impact of man
• What is efficient protection of natural forests? - The conservation toolbox
• Restoring naturalness - a paradox or the only option in human dominated landscapes?
• Protecting natural forests in an era of climate change
• Forest disturbance dynamics - interacting disturbances and climate change
• Carbon sequestration in natural forests - sinks, sources and soils
• Biodiversity value of old-growth forest remnants: lifeboats for endangered species?
• Primeval forests as sources for genetic diversity
• Old growth elements in managed forests - waste of timber or effective conservation?
• People and old growth - ecosystem services, non-timber values and attitudes

Register now and join us in 2010 - the year that the world has decided to halt the decline in biodiversity!

/Organising committee, Northern Primeval Forests
Professor Bengt Gunnar Jonsson, Mid Sweden University
Professor Jari Kouki, University of Eastern Finland - Joensuu
Professor Timo Kuuluvainen, University of Helsinki
Nic Kruys PhD, Conservation consultant