Istanbul Forest Innovation Week to bring together foresters from around the world

- Total of 336 scientists, practitioners, firefighting experts and government and ministry officials from 75 countries to participate, along with 30 international organizations

ISTANBUL

Istanbul Forest Innovation Week (IFIW) 2025, which will be held from Oct. 20-25, will bring together forestry experts from around the world, offering a unique opportunity to influence the future of global forestry.

The event will be organized by the Turkish Agriculture and Forestry Ministry's General Directorate of Forestry at the Pullman Istanbul Hotel & Convention Center.

It will host panels, side events, exhibitions and field trips aimed at shaping the future of the forestry sector with innovation.

Anadolu will serve as the global communication partner of Istanbul Forest Innovation Week 2025.

General Director of Forestry Bekir Karacabey said Monday that they have sent invitations to 193 countries for the event so far and that 75 of the countries will participate.

"We have also received responses from 30 international organizations. It has been reported that a total of 336 expert scientists, practitioners, firefighting experts and government and ministry officials will participate.

"It is very important that our forestry experience and success in combating forest fires sheds light on foresters in other countries under the umbrella of the UN," he added.

Karacabey, noting that they brought up the UN Forest Forum's request for forest fires to be addressed as a special topic and for Türkiye to take a leadership initiative, said "this application we made in February was deemed appropriate by the UN, and at the meeting in May, it was decided that Türkiye would take such a leadership initiative."

"This week will be a week where innovative technologies from around the world, particularly those related to forests and forest fires, will be discussed. Techniques and technologies used to combat forest fires to date will be discussed and experiences will be shared. This event is crucial for our country, as it will shed light on our 186 years of forestry experience and our success in combating forest fires to foresters in other countries under the UN umbrella," he said.

Karacabey noted that forest fires are no longer just a problem for the country in question.

"Unfortunately, a forest fire in one country affects all countries. Therefore, it is important for all countries to share their experiences, resources, technologies and technical knowledge in the fields of forestry, and especially forest fires. We believe that bringing this knowledge together and developing it to a level that can serve global forestry is extremely important," he said.

Karacabey said Antalya has an International Forestry Training Center where they primarily provide training on forest fires and that more than 250 experts from 22 countries have received training there so far.

He said these efforts form the basis of the event.

"A declaration will be prepared based on the issues raised in the panels and the output from the presentations made by the speakers, and this will be submitted to the UN Forest Forum as the 'Istanbul Declaration.' The Istanbul Declaration will be sent to all countries within the UN," he added.

Karacabey emphasized that Türkiye is one of the few countries in the world that has increased its forest resources and that it has achieved internationally recognized success in this regard.

"Türkiye's success is being closely followed by the UN and especially by countries in our region. We are striving to take this experience we possess to even greater heights by combining it with today's changing and developing technologies. We are striving to learn from and benefit from the experiences and technologies used by other countries and to further contribute to our country's forestry, and subsequently, to global forestry. This combined experience will also contribute more to global forestry," he added.