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CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

Delegates to the first Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity in December 1994, discussed forests issues in two areas: whether they would place consideration of a forest protocol into the COP's programme of work and when in the programme of work would forests be discussed. NGOs and some delegates felt that the Biodiversity Convention's emphasis on conservation and sustainable use could produce a more conservation-oriented forest agreement than one developed in another forum. Scheduling forests in the programme of work addressed a similar issue: early action would give the Biodiversity COP a stronger voice in the process, while the eventual decision to review the role of forests, which may be taken at the second meeting of the COP in late 1995, will fall after the anticipated decisions on a possible forest agreement.