Chair: D.J.H. Sleep¹,F. Kraxner², M. Whelan³

¹ Conservation Science and Strategy, the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI®), ² International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) , ³ Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada

Format: Presentations followed by a panel discussion

The boreal biome has always been critical for providing many global ecological, societal and economic services. The demand on these services are increasing and public policy makers need to respond with answers such as Nature Based Solutions and other policy tools. Now more than ever, policy makers are looking to science to answer some of the most urgent questions. But are policy makers asking the right questions? Are researchers working on the right issues? How do we ensure that we collectively develop science and policy statements that provide a basis for sound decision-making?. This panel will explore a recent approach involving IBFRA, a number of boreal governments, and a new science-policy forum devoted to the boreal.