Forest ecosystems provide key goods and services for the subsistence and survival of local populations. Within the framework of the activities of the Seventh Mediterranean Forest Week (7MWF), an exchange between young scientists and forestry professionals was organised by video conference on 22 March 2022. The exchange highlighted the need to involve young people and women in decision-making processes within the forestry sector. Inequality in access to information between urban and rural areas was also noted. This inequality has led to a real lack of interest due to the exclusion of rural youth and women. Thus, we are witnessing massive rural exoduses of young people to the cities, who prefer to go into other more lucrative professions than forest management. In addition to the above, there is a lack of technical, financial and institutional support for youth and women's initiatives. 

As a result, forestry jobs are increasingly being abandoned by young people and women, particularly due to the lack of information, communication and job opportunities in the forestry sector. In our opinion, it is urgent and necessary to raise awareness among young people and women about forestry jobs.

This dialogue reinforced our professional project to serve the world by becoming researchers in the forestry sector. It was also a real learning opportunity and created a greater awareness of the challenges that young people face in the forestry sector in the Mediterranean area and in the world in general. In the future, it will be important to encourage young people and women to take an interest in the forestry sector and to become involved in it through community life.

To this end, we intend to sensitise and train rural youth and women in all value chains of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) such as edible mushrooms, medicinal plants, aromatic plants and honey. These NTFPs are socio-economically important and have a strong potential to diversify income sources for youth and women. In addition to their medicinal use, they contribute significantly to the conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable management of forest ecosystems. This initiative targets rural youth and women, as they are highly discriminated against in the forestry sector.

Together with global efforts, special attention should be given to agroforestry cooperatives and/or small enterprises run by youth and women. These initiatives include technical and financial support for:

- the training of youth and women in NTFP value chains and the valorisation of NTFPs; 

- the processing of wild tree kernels; 

- the production of vegetable oils that can be used in cosmetics, renewable energies and human food;  

- the valorisation of traditional ancestral knowledge in the use of medicinal plants from the forests;

- the integration of new technologies through digital platforms and social media to raise the interest of young people and women in the development and conservation of forest resources; and

- research by young people and women on climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies. 

Lionel Constantin Fosso (Karadeniz Technical University) and Moustapha Arèmou Kolawolé (University of Abomey-Calavi)