The speed at which new challenges to sustainable development are arising is only matched by the rate at which innovations are emerging to deal with them. The incredible ingenuity of humans should give us hope that we can chart a course towards a sustainable planet and avert the threats we face.
Innovation is key for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – it is a focus of SDG 9 and it is implicit in all the SDGs and the actions needed to achieve them. Innovation is also an important accelerator for agrifood systems transformation and realizing the three major Global Goals: (1) eradication of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition; (2) elimination of poverty and the driving forward of economic and social progress for all; and (3) the sustainable management and utilization of natural resources.
But innovation does not arise in a vacuum. Among other things, it requires enabling policies; strong, transformative partnerships; investment; an inclusive culture that is open to and encouraging of new ideas; and a willingness to take calculated risks.
FAO recognizes that science and innovation are crucial ingredients for achieving forest-based solutions. We developed our first-ever FAO Science and Innovation Strategy in 2022, thus setting out how we intend to reinforce the use of science and innovation in our technical interventions and normative guidance. The Strategy, endorsed by the FAO Council at its 170th Session following an inclusive and transparent consultation process, is a key tool for implementing the FAO Strategic Framework 2022–31. It emphasizes the need to consider all scientific disciplines, all knowledge and all types of innovation.
This edition of The State of the World’s Forests (SOFO) report provides highlights on the state of the world’s forests and builds on the FAO Science and Innovation Strategy to explore the transformative power of evidence-based innovation in the forest sector. It presents a comprehensive overview of exciting developments, ranging from new technologies to creative and successful policies and institutional changes, to new ways of getting finance to forest owners and managers. Eighteen case studies from around the world provide a glimpse at the wide range of technological, social, policy, institutional and financial forest-sector innovations – and combinations of these – being tested and implemented in real-world conditions. The publication identifies barriers to and enablers of innovation and enumerates five actions for empowering people to apply their creativity in the forest sector to solve problems and scale up impacts.
FAO’s work in forestry is aimed at accelerating progress on forest conservation, restoration and sustainable use towards MORE efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems for better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life, leaving no one behind. This edition of SOFO will inform FAO’s work to scale up evidence-based innovation in forestry. I believe it will also support FAO Members and other stakeholders in enabling responsible, inclusive and essential innovation in the forest sector to strengthen sustainability and the resilience of agrifood systems for a better world and a better future for all.
QU Dongyu |
