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Highlights from
Friday, 7 February 2003

On Friday, 7 February, CICI-2003 participants met in
Plenary throughout the day to review the draft final report containing
conclusions and recommendations from the four working groups.
Participants successfully finished their work at 5:50pm. The
conference concluded with closing statements by Forest Service of
Guatemala (INAB) Executive Director Luis Ernesto Barrera Garavito and
by Froylan Castañeda, FAO. CICI-2003 participants celebrated the
conclusion of the conference at an evening reception.
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Closing Plenary:
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On Friday morning, CICI-2003 Vice President Luis Alberto
Castaneda (Guatemala) introduced the draft final report of
CICI-2003, containing the
29 conclusions and 24 recommendations formulated by the four working
groups, compiled into one list. On the many applications of C&I,
delegates agreed to include reference to certification.
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Considering a conclusion on development assistance to
the forest sector, participants debated language stressing that the
donor community is guided by priorities set by national governments.
Some participants suggested re-phrasing the sentence, while the US,
supported by others, stressed the need to retain that conclusion.
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A participant from Iran proposed adding a new paragraph
to highlight the importance of small- and low-forest cover countries (LFCCs)
for the global and national significance to biodiversity and the need
to consider their needs and requirements at the international and
regional fora.
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Regarding C&I as a framework for certification
schemes and role of certification in developing C&I, a participant
from Finland suggested a text stating that "certification can also
serve in some cases as a tool supporting development of C&I".
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