The Conference opened on Thursday morning, 6 October, with a brief plenary to outline the procedures and vision for the morning's work. The four working groups labored during the morning until a 11:30 AM plenary convened by Co-chair Manfred Konukiewitz to hear the four rapporteurs report on the final outputs of their working groups.

The Working Group on Forest Valuation and Financing presented conclusions and recommendations that primarily focused on guidance for improved implementation of existing tools and instruments to better access financing and build capacity. The Group also directed their recommendations for building awareness and communication to effectively engage other sectors as well as the entire stakeholder community.

The Working Group on Institutions, Governance and Stakeholders recommended, inter alia, approaching forest policy more holistically, improving inter-agency coordination and planning, intensifying the work of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests, and creating enabling conditions and capacity to expand access to information, communications and telecommunications technology and geospatial technology services to rural and underserved areas.

The Working Group on Benefiting People stressed the need to not only focus on rural forest stakeholders in developing countries, but also those in developed countries, when discussing forests in a green economy. They also noted that while decentralization is often discussed, systems are still not fully decentralized to the point where local people and organizations are receiving benefits from resources.

The Working Group on Technology Transfer, Capacity Building, Bio-based Products and the Role of the Private Sector suggested that while there are enormous social and market opportunities that can incentivize the development of the forest sector and trigger multiple benefits, these incentives need to be “activated” by coherent policies at all levels and public-private partnerships (PPP) within the forest sector, and just as important, PPPs across forest-related sectors.

Co-chair Everton Vargas thanked the Working Groups for their hard work and noted that additional inputs could be accommodated by the drafting group for the Chair's report. Chief facilitator Alexander Buck, International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO), explained the drafting group composed of Conference facilitators, rapporteurs and organizers would work while the rest of the participants went on a boat trip on the Rhine. Vargas urged the drafters "not to be shy, be ambitious, but also realistic."

   Visit the web coverage for Thursday, 6 October 2011.

The Conference opened on Thursday morning, 6 October, with a brief plenary to outline the procedures and vision for the morning's work. The four working groups labored during the morning until a 11:30 AM plenary convened by Co-chair Manfred Konukiewitz to hear the four rapporteurs report on the final outputs of their working groups.

The Working Group on Forest Valuation and Financing presented conclusions and recommendations that primarily focused on guidance for improved implementation of existing tools and instruments to better access financing and build capacity. The Group also directed their recommendations for building awareness and communication to effectively engage other sectors as well as the entire stakeholder community.

The Working Group on Institutions, Governance and Stakeholders recommended, inter alia, approaching forest policy more holistically, improving inter-agency coordination and planning, intensifying the work of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests, and creating enabling conditions and capacity to expand access to information, communications and telecommunications technology and geospatial technology services to rural and underserved areas.

The Working Group on Benefiting People stressed the need to not only focus on rural forest stakeholders in developing countries, but also those in developed countries, when discussing forests in a green economy. They also noted that while decentralization is often discussed, systems are still not fully decentralized to the point where local people and organizations are receiving benefits from resources.

The Working Group on Technology Transfer, Capacity Building, Bio-based Products and the Role of the Private Sector suggested that while there are enormous social and market opportunities that can incentivize the development of the forest sector and trigger multiple benefits, these incentives need to be “activated” by coherent policies at all levels and public-private partnerships (PPP) within the forest sector, and just as important, PPPs across forest-related sectors.

Co-chair Everton Vargas thanked the Working Groups for their hard work and noted that additional inputs could be accommodated by the drafting group for the Chair's report. Chief facilitator Alexander Buck, International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO), explained the drafting group composed of Conference facilitators, rapporteurs and organizers would work while the rest of the participants went on a boat trip on the Rhine. Vargas urged the drafters "not to be shy, be ambitious, but also realistic."

On Wednesday, 5 October, the Conference on Contributions of Forests to a Green Economy convened for a second day in Bonn, Germany. After a brief plenary in the morning outlining the procedures and vision for the day's work, participants resumed their work in four working groups: "Forest valuation and financing"; "Institutions, governance and stakeholders"; "Benefiting people"; and "Technology transfer, capacity building, bio-based products and the role of the private sector." These working groups were charged with developing conclusions and recommendations to include in the chair's report of the Conference. The first three working groups were further divided by their facilitators into subgroups to discuss specific issue clusters in greater detail.

During lunch three side events were held concurrently: one by the Central African Forests Commission (COMIFAC) on the contribution of the Congo Basin forests to a green economy; another by China's State Forestry Administration on the contribution of forests to China's economic development and the transition of the forestry sector toward green growth; and a third by the World Bank and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)/United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degredation (UN-REDD) on trees, forests, rural landscapes and green economy, and REDD+ as a catalyst of a green economy.

Work resumed after lunch in working groups and subgroups. In mid-afternoon the subgroups reported their results to their respective working groups, which in turn began formulating with their rapporteurs the draft conclusions and recommendations. At 5 PM plenary reconvened to hear progress reports from the four rapporteurs.

In the evening, participants attended an event hosted by the World Future Council, a charitable foundation based in Hamburg, Germany, that seeks to form a voice for the rights of future generations. The event introduced the recipients recently awarded the Future Policy Award for 2011, which celebrated the "World's Best Forest Policies."

   Visit the web coverage for Wednesday, 5 October 2011.

The Conference on the Contributions of Forests to a Green Economy opened today at the Municipal Hall Bad Godesberg in Bonn, Germany. In attendance were representatives of governments, the private sectors, civil society and intergovernmental organizations.

Opening the conference, State Secretary Hans-Jürgen Beerfeltz, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Germany, said the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) should create a viable roadmap to a green economy that includes changes in land use and combatting deforestation. Conference Co-Chair Everton Vieira Vargas, Ambassador of Brazil to Germany, said processes and actions since the 1992 Earth Summit clarified the complexity of protecting forests. Jan McAlpine, Director, UN Forum for Forests (UNFF), described the activities of the International Year of Forests and said there has been enormous change in approach and vision to forests at the policy and operational level since the 1992 Summit. Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, Conservation International, Costa Rica, delivered a keynote address that described Costa Rica's experiences with innovative policies and economic instruments affecting forests while providing ecosystem services.

After the opening ceremony, two thematic panels were held: one on "Current contributions of forests to economic development and the role of the forest sector in the transition towards a Green Economy," and the second on "Potentials of forests: meeting multiple demands." The keynote for the first was delivered by Sten Nilsson, Keynote Speaker, Forest Sector Insights AB, Sweden, former Director of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), the keynote for the second by Sunita Narain, Director General of Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), India.

In the afternoon participants divided into four thematic working groups for detailed discussions: "Forest valuation and financing"; "Institutions, governance and stakeholders"; "Benefiting people"; and "Technology transfer, capacity building, bio-based products and the role of the private sector."

In the evening a reception was hosted by the German Government at Godesburg Castle, with an address by Parliamentary State Secretary Peter Bleser, Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection.

   Visit the web coverage for Tuesday, 4 October 2011.