On Wednesday morning the Congress reconvened in a plenary panel discussion on critical aspects that remain missing in making forestry more sustainable, moderated by Matt Frei, Channel 4 News. Panelists discussed: the need for participatory governance models for forest-dependent communities to both secure their livelihoods and protect the forest; the need to integrate sustainable forest management (SFM) into agricultural intensification to meet food security objectives for a growing population; and the role of governments in recognizing the economic potential of forests while sustaining existing arable land on the African continent. Photographer Stuart Franklin presented award-winning photographs from the Forests and People contest, announcing the winner as Sofía Alvarez Capuñay.
A Wildlife Forum special event was held in three sessions during which panelists and keynote speakers addressed: rights, governance and tenure in wildlife management and whether strengthening communities' roles in wildlife management improves conservation; and cooperation, legislation and innovation in conservation.
During the third session of the Sub-Thematic Dialogues, parallel sessions considered: small and medium forest enterprises as drivers for sustainability, equal benefit-sharing, and investments for forests and people; critical insights into resilience from experiences across the world; perspectives on planted forests; new developments from Buenos Aires to Durban and beyond in sustainable trade; experiences in forest monitoring for better decision making around the world; and connecting local and global governance-building capacity to implement the post-2015 development agenda.
In the afternoon, the fourth and final session of the Sub-Thematic Dialogues focused on: building effective forest and farm producer organizations as primary actors for a sustainable future; the importance of an enabling environment to support resilience; integrating land use practice and policies in urban environments, multi-purpose landscapes, landscape restoration and agroforestry; innovation in energy, financial markets and investments in forest and land; new technologies and approaches for monitoring forest and tree cover; and strengthening public forestry institutions through improved forest governance.
A special event: Youth - Forests for the Future was held in the afternoon, and underscored being committed to understanding the needs of the youth, actively engaging with the youth, and creating forums for their meaningful participation. Impassioned youth speakers called for urgent action, saying the time to act is now.
In the second and last day of the Forests and Water Dialogue, two keynote speakers presented the policy challenges related to the integration of forests and water emphasizing the need to look at these issues in a broad context and to remove misconceptions about forests and water interactions. Breakout groups discussed the establishment of an international forests and water network. In the afternoon, Forests and Water: a five-year action plan was launched, which currently has a project portfolio of US$10 million for research to understand forest-water relationships and for improving water resources through SFM. A closing panel commended the Dialogue as a successful opportunity for knowledge and experience sharing on forests and water issues, and emphasized the importance of coherent, simple science messages and of implementing the action plan through multi-stakeholder and multi-sectoral participation. |
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