South Korea will host the largest ever world forestry congress later this month that aims to
find ways to cope with environmental degradation caused by climate change, local organizers said Wednesday.

The state-run Korea Forest Research Institute said the six-day World Congress of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) will draw a record 3,500 experts from 110 countries, with around 2,150 papers and findings to be announced.
The gathering that begins Aug. 23 at Seoul's Convention and Exhibition Center aims to find ways to achieve eco-friendly economic
growth, develop clean energy technologies and cope with global warming that is wreaking havoc on forests all around the world.
South Korea, as the host country, will also push for the creation of an "Asian forestry cooperation organization" that can help countries protect forests that are being destroyed by excessive logging and fires.
The IUFRO is one of the world's oldest and largest international institutions with its headquarters located in Vienna. It was established in 1892 and has more than 700 member institutes and universities representing 110 countries. Its current head is Lee Don-koo, a forestry science professor at South Korea's Seoul
National University.