MINISTERIAL MEETING ON FORESTS

on
International Cooperation on Sustainable Forest Management

MAINTAINING INTERNATIONAL COMMITMENT TO SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT

1. Sustainable forest management evolved out of the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) and emphasizes the roles of forests and forest management in securing a sustainable environment, enhancing social wellbeing and generating economic growth. The concept is well aligned with the ambitions expressed in the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in 2002, and in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These goals emanated from the Millennium Declaration of the UN General Assembly (2000) which will be reviewed in September 2005. Support to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals has become a focus of UN agencies, including FAO, and of many international and bilateral development agencies.

2. More specifically, sustainable forest management contributes to poverty reduction, food security, energy and fibre supply, land productivity, water resources, conservation of biological diversity, forest industry development and air quality. The contributions of forests are often beneficial to other sectors – notably agriculture, energy and industry – and forests also provide considerable cultural and recreational values. In addition, wood is a source of renewable energy and of construction and packing materials, substitutes for which are not as environmentally friendly.

3. Progress towards sustainable forest management also depends greatly on developments in other sectors. Where economic growth has been slow, the opportunities for people to earn a living are often limited to non-intensive agricultural production, which leads to a demand for converting forest land, often resulting in unsustainable land use. Furthermore, investments in forestry depend on economic progress and are only realized when priorities such as health and food have been dealt with adequately.

4. Consequently, it must be accepted that, for some time, forests will continue to be under severe pressure in regions where economic progress is weak. Deforestation will continue where demand for agricultural land is strong and forest degradation will continue where grazing and wood energy requirements remain high. There are, therefore, strong reasons to remain concerned about the loss of forests and the consequent risks for climate change, reduced land productivity and irreversible loss of biological diversity.

5. At the same time, forest and tree cover are increasing in many regions, mainly through planting and natural expansion on abandoned agricultural land, thereby expanding the supply of forest goods and services. These trends are the result of investments in forest management, introduction of agroforestry systems, intensified agricultural production and the migration of rural people to urban areas.

6. Considering the potential of sustainable forest management to contribute to the achievement of the internationally-agreed development goals on the one hand and the alarming rates of deforestation and forest degradation on the other, it is essential that communication, policy coordination and intersectoral cooperation between the forest and other sectors be improved, particularly at the national level. Furthermore, the implementation of forest-related actions since UNCED needs to be intensified, notably through national forest programmes, and with ample involvement of relevant civil society groups.

7. To achieve sustainable forest management, it is ever more essential to increase the productivity and utility of international cooperation, seek new and additional resources and provide access to the modern technologies that are needed in many developing countries and countries with economies in transition. While the international forest policy dialogue has addressed these issues, progress has not met all the expectations.

8. Since UNCED and WSSD, governments have agreed on measurable targets in many sectors as a means of assessing progress towards sustainable development. It is considered that such targets help accelerate the implementation of agreed actions and communicate achievements to policy-makers, donors and society as a whole. One of the first such goals was established by the World Food Summit in 1996, which agreed to reduce by half the number of chronically undernourished people in the world by the year 2015.

9. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) include the target to reverse the loss of environmental resources, and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs has articulated “reverse loss of forests” as one of the targets under the MDG goal of ensuring environmental sustainability¹. The WSSD adopted the target of the Convention of Biological Diversity to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010. Further, the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) has emphasized the need to maintain forest cover to meet present and future needs and expressed that sustainable forest management is essential in maintaining forest cover².

10. Considering the significant role of the forest sector in contributing to these broader development goals, an explicit and measurable target for forests at the global level may have utility. Such a target could act as a useful reminder of the contribution of forests to sustainable development. It might help orient the future intergovernmental dialogue on forests, by providing a means of indicating where capacity building is needed, new and additional resources would be beneficial, market access is required and new technologies essential. The establishment of such a target could be considered within the review process of the Millennium Development Goals under the auspices of the UN General Assembly.

11. UNFF will consider the future international arrangement on forests at its Fifth Session in May 2005. This will be an important opportunity to renew the international commitment to sustainable forest management and to increase the political focus of the intergovernmental dialogue on forests and implementation of the actions agreed. Further, the role of the 14-member Collaborative Partnership on Forests³ (CPF) could be strengthened in the international arrangement.

12. FAO has played a key role in the international arrangement on forests, particularly through its support to national forest programmes, provision of global information on forests, and through its Regional Forestry Commissions. These have contributed to the implementation of the Rio Forest Principles and the proposals for action of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests and Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IPF/IFF) as well as monitoring, assessment and reporting on progress towards sustainable forest management. Equally important, FAO’s active role and leadership in the CPF has resulted in enhanced collaboration and many tangible products and initiatives that help achieve sustainable forest management.

13. In addressing the agenda item on Maintaining International Commitment to Sustainable Forest Management, Ministers may wish to consider the following issues:

(i) sustainable forest management is a fundamental vehicle for the achievement of sustainable development and of the Millennium Development Goals;

(ii) progress made so far on sustainable forest management, including the development and implementation of national forest programmes, criteria and indicators, and certification;

(iii) the continuing unacceptable rates of deforestation and forest degradation that pose threats to consumer acceptance of wood products as a renewable resource, and represent a challenge to the conservation of biological diversity and mitigation of climate change and, more broadly, to the achievement of sustainable development;

(iv) the need for new and additional financial resources and modern technologies in many developing countries and countries with economies in transition in order to maintain forest cover for present and future needs and to achieve sustainable forest management;

(v) the usefulness of an internationally agreed target(s) on forests, as a contribution to the efforts to achieve sustainable forest management and development goals set by countries, and to help accelerate the implementation of internationally-agreed actions on forests;

(vi) the importance of improving coordination of economic, social and environmental policies and integrated land use to enhance the contribution of sustainable forest management to sustainable development and to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals; and

(vii) the importance of strengthening the international arrangement on forests, and the need to focus UNFF on providing a high-level political forum and policy guidance for the implementation of the actions agreed.

14. In the above context, Ministers may also wish to request FAO to:

(i) help countries build capacity for sustainable forest management and assist them to strengthen their legislation, policies, institutions and programmes to this end;

(ii) further promote and apply integrated and cross-sectoral approaches in its programme of work;

(iii) enhance its proactive role in the international arrangement on forests, particularly by continuing to play a leading role in the Collaborative Partnership on Forests;

(iv) play a leading role in monitoring, assessment and reporting on forests through the provision of high-quality, easily accessible global information related to sustainable forest management; and

(v) provide inputs to the intergovernmental efforts to establish an internationally-agreed target on forests.

¹ Millennium Development Goals: Progress Report, produced by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the UN Department of Public Information – DPI/2363-A (Rev. 27 October 2004)

² Resolution 3/3 of the United Nations Forum on Forests on Maintaining forest cover to meet present and future needs (E/2003/42, E/CN.18/2003/13)

³ Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) member organizations: Center for International Forestry Research; FAO (Chair); International Tropical Timber Organization; International Union of Forest Research Organizations; Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity; Secretariat of the Global Environment Facility; Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification; Secretariat of the United Nations Forum on Forests; Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; United Nations Development Programme; United Nations Environment Programme; World Agroforestry Centre; World Bank; World Conservation Union.