SUSTAINABLE LANDSCAPES: FROM BOREAL TO TROPICAL ECOSYSTEMS
10TH NORTH AMERICAN FOREST ECOLOGY WORKSHOP (NAFEW)

First announcement
We are delighted to announce that the 10th North American Forest Ecology Workshop (NAFEW) will take place in Veracruz, Mexico, organized by the Colegio de Postgraduados in association with Colegio de la Frontera Sur, the Mexican Academy of Forest Sciences, and the University of Veracruz, from June 14th to 18th, 2015. Forest ecologists from around North America will share ideas, knowledge, experiences, and challenges on forest ecosystems of Canada, Mexico and the United States, from boreal, arid and semi-arid, to tropical environments. The background of the 10th NAFEW will be the tropical and the mountain cloud forests of central and southeast Mexico. The program will include three days of oral and poster presentations, as well as one day of in-conference field trips. Oral presentations will consist of invited plenary speakers and volunteer presentations.

After the first day of technical sessions, a number of ‘in-Conference’ fieldtrips to nearby forest areas to the Conference Center “Fiesta Americana Hotel” (http://www.fiestamericana.com/en/veracruz/hotel-veracruz) will be available. The Coastal Research Center “La Mancha” in Actopan, Veracruz, which performs research in Forest Ecology, Natural Resources Management, Biodiversity, and Ecology and Management of Coastal Ecosystems (http://www1.inecol.edu.mx/lamancha/Default.htm) will be available for one of the fieldtrips; also, attendees will have the opportunity to visit the Ecological Reserve “Santa Gertrudis”, a 900 ha reserve of tropical forest mostly utilized for research and conservation. Other fieldtrips (to be announced) will also be available.

Both the indoor program and field tours will be reviewed for professional credits by the Society of American Foresters. Further details for SAF credits will be disclosed in following announcements.

Location
The City of Veracruz, officially known as ‘Heroica Veracruz’ is a major port city located on the Gulf of Mexico in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The city is located at approximately 100 km from the state capital (Xalapa or Jalapa), and about at 360 km from Mexico City. According to the 2010 census, the city of Veracruz had approximately 550,000 inhabitants, including the municipality of Veracruz and the municipality of Boca del Rio, which due to its proximity is considered as part of the overall Veracruz port and city area. This makes Veracruz the state’s most populous city. Since the European colonization (mostly by Spanish), Veracruz has been considered as the oldest, largest and historically most significant marine port in Mexico. From the heroic city of Veracruz, an approximately two-hour drive gives the opportunity to see pine, pine-oak, and mountain cloud forests, as well as many tourist areas within national parks, enclosed in one of the most ecologically fascinating regions of the Sierra Madre Oriental in south Mexico.

Travel and lodging
Veracruz City is approximately a 15 minute drive from “General Heriberto Jara” Veracruz International Airport (VER), and one-hour flight from “Benito Juarez” International Airport (MEX) in Mexico City. Aeroméxico, Aeromar, and Interjet airlines operate flights from Mexico City to Veracruz Port. Veracruz International Airport also handles direct flights from George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, and from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport; flights from these two airports to Veracruz are operated by Express Jet, American Eagle, and Air Canada.

The Fiesta Americana Veracruz Hotel has transportation from/to the International Airport. There are also the following major car rental agencies in the Veracruz International Airport: Alamo, Thrifty, Budget, Europcar, and Hertz.

Lodging rooms are being held at the Fiesta Americana Veracruz Hotel at a special lodging rate of $140.00 USD per night. Please reserve before January 5 2015, by calling the hotel directly (+52 229 98898989 x 8104) or by e-mailing reservations to: resfavz@posadas.com. Make sure to mention NAFEW 2015 when making your reservation. More options for lodging nearby the Conference Center at special rates might also be available. Further details will be given in following announcements.

Organizing Committee
Dr. Alejandro Velázquez Martínez – Chair
Professor: Silviculture and Forest Ecosystems Management
Colegio de Postgraduados – Campus Montecillo
Phone: +52-595-9520200 x 1470, 1480
alejvela@colpos.mx

Committee Members
Dr. Valentín J. Reyes Hernández, Colegio de Postgraduados.
Dra. Patricia Negreros Castillo, Universidad de Veracruz.
Dr. Mario González Espinoza, Colegio de la Frontera Sur.
Dra. Patricia Hernández de la Rosa, Colegio de Postgraduados.
Dr. Armando Gómez Guerrero, Colegio de Postgraduados.
Dr. Aurelio M. Fierros González, Colegio de Postgraduados.
Dr. Gregorio Ángeles Pérez, Colegio de Postgraduados.
Dra. Mary Ann Fajvan. USDA Forest Service.

PROGRAM DETAILS

GENERAL TOPICS:
1. Ecology and Silviculture
2. Forest ecosystems vulnerability
3. GIS and Remote sensing in forest ecology
4. Quantitative tools in Forest Ecology, Silviculture and Forest Management
5. Environmental goods and services in forest ecosystems
6. Forest ecology and climate change
7. Dendrochronology in forest ecology
8. Social Forestry

Abstracts
The deadline for abstract submission for both oral and poster presentations is January 15th, 2015. The organizing Committee will work on making arrangements for a group of presentations given in NAFEW 2015, to be published in a special issue of a top-ranked forest ecology journal. Please stay tuned for further details for abstracts guidelines, online submission, and the publication process.

We expect to have a fully functional website for online submission by late August 2014. Also, feel free to contact the Conference Organizer (Alejandro Velazquez – alejvela@colpos.mx ) if you have further questions.