Members of the EXTEMIT-K team attended the Forests’ Future 2025 conference, entitled “Bark Beetle Outbreak in Central Europe – Consequences and Future Challenges,” which was held in Průhonice near Prague, Czechia, from September 22 to 25, 2025, close to the UNESCO World Heritage site. The conference represented the third meeting in the Forests’ Future series, following the previous conference in Jihlava in 2022 that focused on the peak of the bark beetle outbreak in Central Europe.
Although the current intensity of bark beetle outbreaks is decreasing, the central focus of the Forests’ Future 2025 conference was on their long-term consequences for forest management, forest economics, and policy development. Attention was paid to the continued risk of renewed outbreaks driven by ongoing climate change and increasing weather extremes.
The conference was organized under the auspices of the Czech Minister of Agriculture and held as a joint meeting with IUFRO Working Party 7.03.10 – Methodology of Forest Insect and Disease Survey. Two EXTEMIT-K team members presented their research in the form of poster contributions based on results obtained within the EXTEMIT-K project. Scientific sessions addressed recent trends in forest pests and diseases, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning on large clear-cuts, pathways toward the establishment of resilient forest stands, and the social and economic implications for forest policy.
In addition to the scientific program, a field excursion was organized to the Czech-Moravian Highlands, a region severely affected by bark beetle outbreaks between 2018 and 2021. Participants visited long-term monitoring sites and reforested clear-cuts to discuss the impacts of large-scale forest disturbance on hydrological processes, forest regeneration strategies, and ecosystem resilience. The excursion also provided a platform for discussion on forest protection measures, emerging threats from other pathogens, and societal perceptions of post-disturbance forest management.