Presentations from the international conference: Society and policy influences on biotechnology risk assessment for restoration of threatened forest tree species, April 2021

This novel conference, held in April 2021, integrated input from key scientists, regulators, and stakeholders toward forming broad consensus on the state of knowledge concerning the use of biotechnology to restore tree species threatened by introduced insects and diseases. The conference included three keynote presentations and additional presentations from 12 invited scientists, three federal regulatory agencies, and three nonprofit stakeholders working in the biotechnology, ecology, and social science areas of threatened forest tree species restoration. This journal supplement contains 20 recorded presentations and the transcripts from the conference. Five key conclusions were identified as a result of our conference: (1) unprecedented potential and momentum exists for restoration of threatened forest trees; (2) a sense of urgency to restore threatened forest trees is being driven by global incentives for tree planting, forest restoration, and maintaining biodiversity; (3) society is increasingly open to using biotechnology for restoration of threatened forest trees; (4) policy is likely to follow public opinion, provided that risk-benefits are favorable; and (5) the massive costs and scale will logically limit the pursuit of successful restoration to a few species in specific regions.
The purpose of the conference was to identify knowledge gaps and key research and policy/regulatory issues that must be overcome to achieve restoration of threatened tree species. Participants prioritized effective means for improved education and outreach in genetic engineering methods, benefits, and risks, and understanding of public opinion and concerns. These presentation and subsequent discussions among all participants formed the basis of a multi-authored synthesis article.
For more information, see the synthesis paper (Jacobs et al. 2023). This journal supplement was published on 07/06/2023. Minor metadata updates were made on 09/16/2024 to update URLs for associated publications.