ENB:13:01
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THINGS TO LOOK FOR IN THE COMING MONTHS
CSD AD HOC OPEN-ENDED WORKING GROUP ON SECTORAL ISSUES: The CSD ad hoc open-ended working group on sectoral issues will meet in New York from 27 February - 3 March 1995. The five-day meeting will discuss six sectoral chapters of Agenda 21, namely, integrated planning and management of land resources (Chapter 10); forests (Chapter 11 and "Forest Principles"); desertification and drought (Chapter 12); mountains (Chapter 13); agriculture and rural development (Chapter 14); and biodiversity (Chapter 15), and elaborate relevant recommendations and policy options for consideration by the CSD at its third session.
NGO FORUM — FOREST POLICY AT THE CROSSROADS: IUCN, the Biodiversity Action Network (BIONET), the Latin American Forest Network, the Global Forest Policy Project, the Environment Liaison Centre International, and the Centre for Science and the Environment will co-sponsor a forum on forest policy issues on Monday, 27 February 1995, from 6:00 - 9:00 pm in Conference Room 4 at UN Headquarters in New York. The forum will examine the merits of the various policy options available to achieve the conservation and sustainable management of forests. For additional information, contact BIONET at <<bionet@igc.apc.org>>.
FAO MEETING WITH THE PRIVATE FOREST INDUSTRY SECTOR: A meeting between FAO and the private forest sector will be held in Rome on 8 March 1995. The provisional agenda for this meeting includes a review of the Secretary-General's Report on Forests, the role of industry in the implementation of UNCED decisions on forests, achievements toward sustainable forest management and environmentally friendly processing, problems encountered and proposals to alleviate these problems. The meeting is likely to review proposals for FAO's Programme of Work and Budget for 1996/1997 in forest management. Invited delegates include representatives of the private forest sector and the pulp and paper industry.
FAO MEETING WITH NGOS ON FORESTRY: A meeting with NGOs will be held in Rome on 10-11 March 1995. The agenda for this session includes discussion on the role of NGOs in the implementation of UNCED decisions on forests, a review of the Secretary-General's report on forests, FAO's Priorities and Activities, and collaboration between NGOs and the FAO. It is likely that NGOs attending the meeting will seek to convince FAO that changes in FAO procedures are needed to ensure the widest participation from all sectors and that a reprioritization is needed within FAO. NGOs at the meeting are likely to urge the FAO: to change its procedures to permit greater transparency and the participation of a wider diversity of NGOs and forest stakeholder groups in COFO and other FAO bodies; to re-orient FAO's forest-related priorities; and to work more collaboratively with other UN agencies.
FAO COMMITTEE ON FORESTS (TECHNICAL SESSION): The FAO Committee on Forests (COFO) will hold a technical session in Rome from 13-16 March 1995. Its agenda includes: major issues for CSD attention related to sustainable management and development of forests; regional perspectives on implementation of UNCED agreements for the attention of the CSD; a summary of post-UNCED initiatives on forests; efforts towards harmonization of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management; and a review of advantages and disadvantages related to initiating the evolution of the Forest Principles into a legally-binding international instrument or convention on forests.
FAO/COFO MINISTERIAL MEETING ON FORESTS: A meeting of over 30 ministers responsible for forests will take place 16-17 March 1995, immediately following the FAO/COFO meeting. Ministers will consider the recommendations of COFO on criteria and indicators and other major issues to be addressed at the CSD. This is the first time such a high-level meeting on forests will take place on the forest issue. For more information on the COFO or ministerial segments, contact Richard Lydiker, Director of FAO's Information Division, +39-6-5225-3510.
COMMISSION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT THIRD SESSION: The third session of the CSD will meet from 11-28 April 1995, at UN Headquarters in New York. Focus will be on the following cross-sectoral components of Agenda 21: Chapters 3 (poverty); 5 (demographics); 8 (integrating environment and development in decision-making);16 (biotechnology); 22-32 (major groups); and 40 (information). Financial resources and mechanisms (Chapter 33) and the chapters on transfer of environmentally sound technology, cooperation and capacity building (34), science (35) and education (36) will also be discussed. The sectoral cluster for this session includes: Chapters 10 (land management), 11 (forests); 12 (desertification and drought); 13 (mountains); 14 (sustainable agriculture); 15 (biological diversity); and the Forest Principles.
The proposed schedule is to open the session with a presentation of the work of the ad hoc open-ended working groups on finance and sectoral issues, followed by debate on the cross-sectoral and sectoral components of Agenda 21. On 18-19 April, there will be country presentations and exchanges of national experiences in the elaboration of sustainable development plans, presentations by local authorities and country presentations on integrated land management and sustainable agriculture.Three drafting groups will then be established to address the cross sectoral and sectoral issues under consideration. The High-Level Segment will take place from 26-28 April 1995. For more information, contact the CSD Secretariat at +1-212-963-5949; fax: +1-212-963-4260; e-mail: <<dpcsd@igc.apc.org>>.