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IN THE CORRIDORS

Delegates and observers differed on whether the forest biodiversity decision adopted Tuesday represents progress or a missed opportunity. Many concur that the establishment of a work programme is a significant step, but disagree on whether the programme’s draft status and specific priorities undermine its value. They also point to the decision’s instructions on common priorities with and advice to the IPF, but diverge on whether those provisions strengthen or equivocate the CBD’s voice in the international dialogue on forests. A third difference relates to the political and ecological urgency of the decision, with some pointing to its reference to “some” forests as a realistic political compromise and others decrying it as a denial of a worsening trend in worldwide forest degradation.