Dear IFSA Family,

As most of you are aware, the outbreak of Coronavirus, or COVID-19, is causing serious discomfort in several regions of the world. This emergency is already having the expected impact on IFSA activities, considering our international nature and that most of our activities are based on travelling.

Determined to meet our social responsibility towards our members and our society, IFSA is taking this global situation seriously. The COVID-19 Task Force has been established for this reason, aiming to facilitate a communication channel between our LCs and members, with information from credible sources and updates from IFSA. As young people, we are the least affected by this virus, but it is essential to act in solidarity with the most vulnerable for the best interest of our society.

For our IFSA members planning to attend an event or delegation, we kindly invite you to follow information released by the Organizing Committee/Delegation Organizer to find out event-specific regulations. When travelling, follow safety measures as suggested by WHO and be aware of possible travel restrictions in your country, in the country you are visiting and in other countries you may cross. More information on air travel restrictions can be found on the IATA News section. To stay updated with the latest news from our side and with some general news around COVID-19, you are invited to follow our IFSA channels mentioned below.

Please take into account that IFSA events scheduled in the next months may be cancelled or postponed. This may affect official meetings (eg. Regional Meetings, etc.), unofficial meetings and delegations to external events.

For our members planning to organize an event or delegation, we kindly invite you to carefully consider the possible impact of the outbreak in your country and how that might affect your participants. Contacting your University Dean, possibly the sponsor(s) and the Health Ministry is strongly advised. Last but not least, it is requested to frequently update the IFSA Vice president on the current status of the event and on the situation in the respective country, with the aim of taking a decision together. In order to do so, send an email to vicepresident@ifsa.net and CC covid19.support@ifsa.net.

In general, we advise our members to follow the news worldwide and specifically in your country of residence for the latest development, making sure to use trustworthy sources, like the World Health Organization, the Health Ministry of your country of residence and your University channels.

The TF is constantly working on gathering important news from non-IFSA/forestry related channels, but also from our LCs and partners, which will be shared on a new section of our website and on a Twitter feed.

Twitter Feed Covid-19: https://bit.ly/38NhwyS

Webpage Covid-19: ifsa.net/covid19

Online activities will be organised to ensure a continuation of our mandate and to ensure the possibility of maintaining our personal relationships within our network. More information on this will follow soon.

If you have any questions, comments or you want to share relevant news, please send an email to covid19.support@ifsa.net.

On behalf of the IFSA Board and COVID-19 Task Force,

Damiano Cilio

IFSA Vice president