The first session of Forest Culture Seminar was held in Beijing in September 24 � 25 2005, which was initiated and organized by the Editorial Board of Journal of Beijing Forestry University.

There were more than sixty scholars from twelve organizations participated the seminar, the organizations are: Tokyo University of Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Peking University, Beijing Normal University, Yunnan University, Shenyang Agricultural University, Nanjing Forestry University, Huazhong Agricultural University, South China Agricultural University, Central South Institute of Plan and Design in State Forestry Administration, Fujian Forestry Vocational Technical College and Beijing Forestry University(BJU).

Party secretary, Professor WU Bi in BJU addressed at the opening ceremony, welcomed delegates to the seminar, and anticipated the success of the seminar. Professor MITSUHIRO Minowa from Tokyo University of Agriculture (Former president of the Japanese Forestry Society), Professor CAI Gudeng from Chinese Academy of Forestry (vice president), and Professor CHEN Xiaoyang (vice president of BJU) also attended the opening ceremony.

Thirty participants presented their works on the theme: the role of forest culture in the development of ecological society with the focus on values of forest, forest culture and forest management. The forest culture was discussed from the angles of state, communities, schools and individuals with three aspects of traditional forest culture, forest management and culture, and review of forest culture.

1) Traditional forest culture: Scholars summarized that there has been being long traditional forest culture in China, such as culture on using willow, pine and cypress, red leaves, chrysanthemum and other plants as symbols of human feeling and totems of the communities.

2) Forest management and culture: Forest management becomes to be sustainable management from sustainable use of logs because of the further understanding of forest. More and more people realized that sustainable management of forest is the comprehensive process including administration, economics, law, society, culture and technology, which emphasizes the role of culture and policies. So it is demanded for people to re-evaluate the comprehensive values of forest, and re-understand the effect and constraints of culture in the forest management and re-inspect and coordinate the relationship between human being and forest.

3) Review of forest culture: Forest culture is always in the development process of human society, and so tightly related to our daily life. The forms and contents of forest culture are derived with the development of society, for example modern urban forest.

The first Forest Culture Seminar was a successful meeting for the systematical research on forest culture, and offered the great opportunities for the participants to show their research results and exchange their academic views. Their presentations involved the wide areas, and had a great amount of information and broad thinking ways. Many opinions and ideas were creative and profound.

Delegates believed that the construction of forest culture will be an important trend for the forestry construction, and also an important area in forest discipline. Participants got their research views inspired and opened, and anticipated the continuous held of the seminar by inviting more experts from multiple disciplines to the next seminars.