COFO Reaches Halfway Mark
Above: IUCN Director General William Jackson and ITTO Executive Director Emmanuel Ze Meka shook hands at the launch of the IUCN/ITTO Guidelines for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in tropical timber production forests.
On Wednesday, delegates met for the second day of the 19th session of the
FAO Committee on Forestry (COFO) at FAO headquarters in Rome. In the
morning, delegates met in plenary to discuss reducing greenhouse gas
emissions from forestry and land use change. This included a joint
presentation by FAO, UNEP and the World Bank on reducing emissions from
deforestation and forest degradation (REDD), with an emphasis on:
measurement, assessment, reporting and verification; stakeholder engagement;
and provision of multiple benefits.
A concurrent session of World Forest Week special events addressed societal
needs and research realities shaping the future of public forestry research,
and new perspectives on forestry education. Participants shared views and
ideas on setting research agendas, securing research funds and ensuring
quality research and then discussed the state of and challenges to forestry
education.
In the afternoon, participants split into adjacent rooms for a series of
special events. In one room, the heads of the world's forest departments
engaged in a panel-led dialogue on challenges encountered in the forest
sector, including: budget constraints; changing societal and stakeholder
expectations; shifting government priorities and structures; and
environmental stresses. In the other, participants discussed fire and
climate change, highlighting linkages between the two. This was followed by
a discussion of national forest monitoring and assessment for climate
change mitigation and adaptation monitoring and reporting.
In the evening, delegates attended a reception celebrating the launch
of the IUCN/ITTO Guidelines for the conservation and sustainable use of
biodiversity in tropical timber production forests.
|