Dear colleagues, We are looking forward to the 25th Annual Conference of the Yale Chapter of the International Society of Tropical Foresters (ISTF). The Conference will take place January 31-February 2, 2019 in New Haven, CT. Conference information here: https://istf.yale.edu/2019-conference The Yale ISTF Chapter is dedicated to the advancement of tropical forest studies at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. The ISTF Conference has been hosted at Yale for 25 years and is the longest-running entirely student-run conference at Yale University, bringing together representatives from governments, nonprofits, academia, and private sector to discuss vital issues related to tropical forests. The Conference has an average attendance of 150 participants from all over the world. Last year alone we had participants from 22 different countries. More information about ISTF and the annual conference is available here: http://istf.yale.edu/. Understanding where we have failed, where we have succeeded, and how we should move forward is essential. For the 2019 ISTF Conference, we invite academics, practitioners, policy-makers, activists and forest-dwelling peoples to share the challenges and opportunities in tropical forest landscapes and the perseverance of these complex networks in the face of global disturbances and transgressions. Over the last 25 years, many mechanisms and tools have emerged to identify threats and increase resilience in tropical forests, yet the competing pressures on forests have not been reconciled. As climate change disturbances and human transgressions continue to worsen, actions and solutions must be delivered at a much faster pace. Since 1994, the Yale Chapter ISTF annual conferences have addressed global priorities including illegal logging, conservation finance, conflict and cooperation, landscape-scale restoration, ecotourism, certification schemes, food, and biodiversity. The 25th Annual Yale ISTF Conference will demand reflection on past lessons while envisioning the next 25 years of tropical forestry in a rapidly changing world. Yale’s student chapter of the International Society of Tropical Foresters (ISTF) was first organized in 1989, as part of a network of natural resource professionals concerned with tropical resource management. ISTF provides a forum for students with interests and experiences in linking natural resource conservation and management with economic development.
