StarTree results were featured in the FP7 Result in Brief section of the European Commission's website.

The article states that forests, which make up 35 % of the EU's landmass, are key to Europe's bioeconomy, particularly in rural areas, and describes how the StarTree project tapped into the potential of non-wood goods towards an innovative, resource-efficient and bio-based economy.

Read the article

StarTree partners Jenny Wong (WRL) and Adam Thorogood (LlyG) were invited to present StarTree outcomes at the Royal Forestry Society (RFS) & Confederation of Forest Industries (CONFOR) conference on 1 November 2016.

The presentations Non-timber forest products - an overview and Case studies from the StarTree project can be found on the RFS website.

Este artículo en castellano.

The third and final meeting with stakeholders from the Province of Valladolid took place in Tabuyo del Monte (Castilla y Leon, Spain) on September 20, 2016.

IRMA S.L technicians. (Julio Santín and Juan Antonio) hosted the meeting which focussed on fungi, resin and production of raspberries.

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Cooperation between public and private (SME) sector in the area of NWFPs

As a part of StarTree’s stakeholder engagement activities, representatives of 8 private and public institutions and organisations active in the non-wood forest product (NWFP) sector have attended the 3rd Šumadija and Western Serbia stakeholder meeting on September 28, 2016 in Belgrade, under the topic “Cooperation between public and private (SME) sector in the area of NWFPs”.

The two-day conference heard presentations from around Europe and beyond on wild forest products, trade, management, regulation, innovation and more.

Here is the conference report in pictures.

A new StarTree infographic shows how forests provide us with a great deal more than wood and can be used to strengthen economic activities in rural areas.

The North Karelian Stakeholder Group gathered up for the last time on 6th of October in Joensuu. The ending of project is close, but discussion was already heading to future plans and ideas! The attendees in the meeting represented public and private actors and organizations at the sector.

The IG Innovation Generator is ready to be explored, featuring tales, tips and tools to share ideas and generate new ones.

We are happy to announce our second keynote speaker, Mr. Paul Vantomme, who has recently retired after a long and successful career in FAO. He will be talking about wild forest products as food and feed, looking into the trends in production and in regulative systems.

The registration for the conference is open so be sure to secure your seat.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/international-conference-on-wild-forest-products-in-europe-startree-tickets-26775973658

We are happy to announce our first key note speaker for the final conference – Dr. Freerk Wiersum, from the Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group at Wageningen, the Netherlands. In his presentation he will look at the traditional process of domestication of forest products and compare it with the recent new interest in 'wild' forest products.

The international conference on Wild Forest Products in Europe takes place in Barcelona on 13–14 October.

The conference features an interesting mixture of topics portraying the multitude of wild forest products and their importance and potential. The updated programme for the conference is now available, as well as a book of abstracts. For practical info, see here.

The Forest Sector Innovations for a Greener Future 2017 IUFRO Division 5 Conference incorporates an Innovation/Sustainability theme. This will form a unifying basis for the week-long conference and will guide the agenda through a series of plenary sessions that will catalyze discussion on what the future forest products sector might look like.

The programme includes seven Technical Sessions dedicated to different aspects of Non-wood Forest Products.

StarTree partner University of Padova is now offering a free elearning course on the theory and practise of marketing wild forest products. The course is based on the training school organised in March 2016 under the COST Action FP1203: European non-wood forest products network. The online course was compiled in collaboration with the StarTree project.

The StarTree 8th General Assembly took place in Bangor, North Wales, on 25–27 May 2016. The agenda of this project internal meeting was focussed on the final products of the project which will include various types of publications and outreach activities.

Knowledge Exchange Events (or KEEs for short) have been an integral part of the StarTree General Assemblies. This year, a very special KEE took place in the form of an open Wild Forest Products Fair in Glynllifon. The fair included workshops and demonstrations, as well as stalls for exhibitors coming from near and far.

During the day, hundreds of people visited the fair, making in a memorable day for all. The Fair was organised in collaboration with StarTree and Llais y Goedwig.

“STARTREE will provide a European perspective, and make explicit the potential of NWFP. We’ve so far shown that for certain regions, the market value of certain produce – cork trees, chestnut groves, mushrooms, or berries etc. – may easily outgrow wood production.”, says Robert Mavsar, the StarTree project co-ordinator, in a recent interview with the European Commission Information Centre.