How can you recognise true forests? What sets an old-growth forest apart from a primeval one, and are any such forests still found in Hungary? What types of forests did we have in the past, and what will climate change bring in the future? By the end of the century, will we see Mediterranean pine or eucalyptus groves here at home? How can we protect our forest ecosystems – by creating new forests or by improving the health of those we already have? A forest is far more than a collection of trees; it’s a complex ecological system, a vibrant biological community with self-sustaining, regulatory, and service-providing functions.

These are some of the topics biologist Dr. László Gálhidy will address in his lecture. As head of the Forest Program at WWF Hungary he is actively involved in national and international conservation projects, and his recommendations were incorporated into the 2009 Forest Act. An advocate of close-to-nature forest management, he serves on the National Forestry Council and is committed to sustainable forest stewardship.

This event, which forms part of the MOME Zero initiative, invites all MOME citizens who are curious about how the vegetative cover on the hillsides regenerates, why it matters to us, and what we can do to support its survival. This professional lecture is an elective session within the Ecology to Design course. Registration is required via the following link: https://evt.to/eghmuhmhw