Session 3: Forest‑Water Coordinated and Multifunctional Management: Pathways and Policy Innovation

Brief Introduction:

In order to ensure that future forestry can better meet the increasing demands of social and economic development for the hydrological regulation and various other services of forests, this session mainly focuses on the topic of " Forest‑Water Coordinated and Multifunctional Management: Pathways and Policy Innovation". It plans to invite representatives from domestic and foreign research institutions, universities, international organizations, forestry departments and other relevant units to attend the session. 8‑9 academic reports will be convened and organized, covering the topics of drought and forest stability, forest‑water coordinated management, water carrying capacity of vegetation, spatial optimization of forests, multifunctional forest management, mechanism innovation of multifunctional payment for ecosystem services, model application and decision support systems, etc. The session will promote the theoretical, technical and policy exchanges on multifunctional forest management at multiple spatial scales in response to future global changes, and promote the high‑quality forestry development and the improvement of the governance level of the complex system of “mountain‑water‑forest‑farmland‑lake‑grassland‑sand”.

Meeting Agenda：

Speaker Biography：

Ethan Belair is a research forester on the Global Natural Climate Solutions Science Team, The Nature Conservancy, which conducts research on the impacts of implementing natural climate solutions, primarily in forests. His work focuses on measuring and modeling how forests respond to human interventions from local to global scales. Prior to joining the Conservancy in 2020, Ethan worked as a faculty member, extension forester and research scientist for the University of New Hampshire. His work has centered on improving the practice of silviculture in forest management, but has also included elements of forest biometrics, wildlife habitat improvement, remote sensing, and human demographics. He holds an M.S. in Forest Biology from Purdue University with a focus on hardwood silviculture, and a B.S. in Forestry from the University of New Hampshire.

Juan Diego González Parra is Freshwater Science Technical Lead, The Nature Conservancy. Juan is a Water Resources Engineer with over 15 years of experience in water-related environmental projects, including technical and policy development, as well as project management and coordination of interdisciplinary teams. He is a civil engineer and holds a master`s degree in water resources engineering (Universidad Nacional de Colombia). Juan has worked in several water-related projects in water sector consultancies and government agencies, involving hydrologic and hydraulic modelling of watersheds and aquatic ecosystems, and advised the development of technical documents, guidelines, and regulations related to integrated water resource management, including water quality, environmental flows, riparian zones, and sediment management.

Iskandar Zulkarnaen Siregar works at IPB University, holding dual roles as Researcher and Vice Rector. He completed his bachelor’s degree in Forestry at IPB University in 1989, earned his MSc in Forestry‑Tree Breeding from University of Canterbury, New Zealand in 1994, and obtained his Dr. forst degree from George August University of Goettingen, Germany in 2000. He has rich administrative and academic experience. He took office as Director of International Programme of IPB University from 2018 to 2022, and has been Vice Rector for Global Connectivity, Collaboration, and Alumni Affairs since 2023. Meanwhile, he has served as President of Indonesian Arboriculture Society since 2017. He has received numerous recognitions, such as best researcher honour, the 20‑Year Satyalancana Karya Satya Award, as well as international innovation and publication awards for his outstanding research output.

Dean Francis Meason is a New‑Zealand senior scientist affiliated with New Zealand Institute for Bioeconomy Science. He obtained his Honours Bachelor of Forestry Science from University of Canterbury in 1998, MSc in Forest Resources from University of Georgia in 2001, and PhD in Natural Resources and Environmental Management from University of Hawaii at Mānoa in 2009. His professional career covers multiple research‑focused positions across the UK, the United States and New Zealand. After working as Assistant Forester and Research Technician, he joined Scion as a post‑doctoral fellow, and was later promoted to Forest Scientist and Senior Scientist. Since 2025, he has served as Senior Scientist at New Zealand Institute for Bioeconomy Science. He has won many prestigious awards including the 2023 Roger Newman Award, 2024 MBIE Endeavour Forest Flow Programme Gold Rating, 2024 NZ Forest Owners Association Communication Award and 2025 New Zealand Institute of Forestry’s Forester of the Year.

Dr. Xinchao Sun is a Professor in the School of Earth System Science at Tianjin University, China. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Tsukuba, Japan, in 2014, and subsequently conducted postdoctoral research there as a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Fellow. He currently serves as Assistant Director of the Tianjin Bohai Rim Coastal Earth Critical Zone National Observation and Research Station, and as an Executive Committee Member of the Forest Hydrology and Watershed Management Branch of the Chinese Forestry Society. His research lies at the intersection of ecohydrology, biogeochemical cycling, and plant ecophysiology, focusing primarily on forest hydrological responses to thinning management, biogeochemical inputs at the canopy-atmosphere interface, and tree xylem water-nitrogen transport strategies. He has authored over 40 peer-reviewed papers in leading international journals, including Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, Journal of Hydrology, Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Hydrological Processes, Catena, and Forest Ecology and Management. As a Principal Investigator, Dr. Sun has led multiple projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and a sub-project of the Ministry of Science and Technology’s Basic Resources Survey Special Project. Additionally, he serves as an expert evaluator for the NSFC, the Ministry of Education's Degree Center, and the Shanghai Science and Technology Award, while also acting as a peer reviewer for numerous high-impact international journals.

Hongyan Liu is a Boya Distinguished Professor and doctoral supervisor at the College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University. He is a recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, a Leading Talent in Scientific and Technological Innovation under the National TenThousand Talents Program, and an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow. He completed his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees at Peking University. He joined the faculty of Peking University in 1992, was promoted to full professor in 2004, and previously served as ViceDean of the College of Urban and Environmental Sciences. His main research interests include vegetation ecology and ecological remote sensing, Quaternary ecology and global change. Focusing on ecologically vulnerable regions such as the arid areas of northern China, he conducts research on vegetation pattern dynamics, vegetationwater coupling relationships, and ecological responses and adaptation mechanisms to climate change, providing scientific support for vegetation restoration guided by the “greening constrained by water availability” principle in arid zones. He has led major research programs including an Innovation Team Project funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology and multiple projects supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. He has published more than 300 papers in journals such as Nature Communications and Global Change Biology, and authored several textbooks and monographs. He has been listed among the world’s top 1000 most influential scientists in climate change research. His academic appointments include VicePresident of the Ecological Society of China, Chair of the Biogeography Committee of the Geographical Society of China, and Chair of the Environmental Remote Sensing Branch of the China Association for Remote Sensing Application.

Pengtao Yu is a Research Professor at the Ecology and Nature Conservation Institute, Chinese Academy of Forestry. She received her bachelor’s degree in Physical Geography and master’s degree in Environmental Science from Peking University, and her doctorate in Forest Ecology from the Chinese Academy of Forestry. Joining the Chinese Academy of Forestry in 1996, her research mainly covers forest ecology, forest hydrology and ecological modelling. Focusing on arid regions in Northwest China such as the Loess Plateau, her research emphasizes the interactions between forest vegetation structure and hydrological processes, as well as response mechanisms of multiple ecosystem services of forest ecosystems. Her research findings support the formulation of the “forest establishment constrained by water availability” afforestation strategy for arid zones and advance the transition from traditional forest hydrology towards forest eco‑hydrology. She serves as Co‑Deputy Coordinator of the IUFRO Working Party on Forest Water Supply and Water Quality, and a member of the Working Group on Forest‑Soil Interactions. Her has presided over numerous research projects including Key and General Programs of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, sub‑projects of the National Key R&D Program, China‑Israel international cooperation projects, and research grants from The Nature Conservancy. She was awarded the 13th Chinese Forestry Youth Science and Technology Prize by the Chinese Society of Forestry, and has received the Second‑Class Prize for Science and Technology Progress of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and the Second‑Class Liang Xi Forestry Science and Technology Award on multiple occasions, and she has authored more than 300 publications.

Yanhui Wang is a Research Professor at the Institute of Forest Ecology, Environment and Nature Conservation, Chinese Academy of Forestry. He obtained his doctoral degree in Forest Nutrition and Soil Science from the University of Göttingen, Germany, in 1996. He has conducted scientific research at the Chinese Academy of Forestry since 1985. His main research interests include forest eco‑hydrology, forest soils, acid deposition and forest damage, and multi‑functional forest management. With 40 years of experience in research, teaching and field practice, his studies span both southern and northern China, with a particular focus on arid Northwest China including the Loess Plateau. He has carried out systematic research on soil erosion control, forest‑water interactions, and multi‑functional forest management. He served as Coordinator of the IUFRO Division Working Party on Water Supply and Water Quality (2015‑2024), Vice‑Chairman of the Forest Hydrology and Watershed Management Branch of the Chinese Society of Forestry, Associate Editor of *Scientia Silvae Sinicae* and *Terrestrial Ecosystems and Conservation*, and editorial board member for several international journals. He has repeatedly acted as domestic consultant for Sino‑foreign forestry‑ecology projects sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme and the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture. He has long engaged in technical training and outreach for close‑to‑nature forestry and multi‑functional forest management. He has received honors including the Outstanding Contributor to the Three‑North Shelter‑Forest System Programme and the National Advanced Individual in Field Science and Technology Work. He has won multiple provincial‑municipal prizes and the Liang Xi Forestry Science and Technology Award, and was elected Corresponding Member of the German Soil Science Society in 2022, and he has published over 400 publications.