International Commission on Poplars and Other Fast-Growing Trees Sustaining People and the Environment
Back Kan, Viet Nam - A worker weeding an Acacia tree nursery. ©FAO/Joan Manuel Baliellas

Working Party on Production Systems for the Bioeconomy

Objective

The mandate of the Working Party on Production Systems for the Bioeconomy (WP-PRO), formerly Working Party on Sustainable Livelihoods, Land Use, Products and Bioenergy, is to facilitate the exchange of scientific and technical information about growing and utilization of poplars, willows and other fast growing species, particularly through collaborative research programmes.

The focus has historically been on plantations with a bioeconomy outcome using keywords like productions systems, harvesting or products. Often, Members’ expertise is technology-based and the integration of industry relevance is important. The activities of WP-POL have been regrouped into three main focus areas: (1) Plantations and engineered wood products (EWP); (2) Agroforestry (AF); (3) Short Rotation Coppice (SRC) and bioenergy/biorefineries.

Action plan 2023-2024

  1. Establish (specific) membership in all IPC Member Countries and seek country based information;
  2. Focus on networking, including follow-up of the AGROPOPTECH initiative in the EU dealing with agroforestry in relation to the production of engineered wood products (EWP);
  3. Exchange of scientific and technical information through specific interaction with national and regional (research) projects like BIOPOPTECH in Spain;
  4. Producing a white paper together with ProPopulus on new opportunities for poplar plantations, globally and with a focus on Europe;
  5. Seek active participation from the extended geographical and fast growing tree species under the new scope of the IPC;
  6. Develop a database on both reviewed papers and grey literature relavant for WP-PRO;
  7. Linking with other Working Parties, for example on the potential of new poplar hybrids for semi-arid and colder regions with the Working Party on Genetic Resources (WP-GEN), on the potential to increase wood resources through fast growing trees in agroforestry with the Working Party on Policy and Livelihood (WP-POL) and the complementarity with interaction with environmental challenges with the Working Party on Environmental and Ecosystem Services (WP-ENV);
  8. Check on the need to update the FAO/IPC Book “Poplars and Willows in the World”, Chapter 10: Properties, processing and utilization. 

WP-PRO Contacts 

  • Prof. Joris Van Acker, Chairperson, Laboratory of Wood Technology, Ghent University, Belgium. Contact: [email protected].
  • Oscar Crespo, Vice-Chairperson with a focus on plantations and engineered wood products (EWP), Spain. Contact: [email protected]. 
  • Dr. Sanjeev K. Chauhan, Vice-Chairperson with a focus on Agroforestry (AF), YSP University of Horticulture and Forestry, India. Contact: [email protected].
  • Richard Krygier, Vice-Chairperson with a focus on Short Rotation Coppice (SRC) and bioenergy/biorefineries, Canadian Wood Fibre Centre Canadian Forest Service, Canada. Contact: [email protected]. 
  • Xinwu Xu, Vice-Chairperson with a focus on planted forests, Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, China. Contact: [email protected].  
  • Wanzhao Li, Secretary, Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, China. Contact: [email protected].