Highlights and images for 27 November 2017

Summary

The fifty-third session of the International Tropical Timber Council (ITTC-53), and the Associated Sessions of the four Committees (Finance and Administration; Economics, Statistics and Markets; Forest Industry; and Reforestation and Forest Management) opened on Monday, 27 November 2017 in Lima, Peru. The opening ceremony included an address by Pedro Pablo Kuczynski Godard, President of Peru, and welcoming remarks by Pablo Benjamin Quijandría Salmón, Vice Minister, Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, Peru, on behalf of Minister José Manuel Hernández Calderón, ITTC-53 Chair Tabi Agyarko (Ghana), and International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) Executive Director Gerhard Dieterle.

After Chair Agyarko officially opened ITTC-53, the Council was addressed by Benito Owusu-Bio, Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Ghana, John Leigh, Executive Director of Peru's National Forestry and Wildlife Service (SERFOR), Manoel Sobral Filho, Director of the UN Forum on Forests (UNFF) Secretariat, and Eva Müller, UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Chair, Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF).

After lunch and the caucus sessions for Producers and Consumers, the Council addressed organizational matters, including the ascertainment of quorum for the meeting, redistribution of votes, adoption of the meeting's agenda, and approval of the admission of observers. Executive Director Dieterle then delivered a statement on the Secretariat's implementation of ITTC-52 decisions on impairment of funds and on the future of the ITTO.

In the evening delegates attended a reception hosted by the Government of Peru.

IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) Meeting Coverage, has provided daily web coverage and a summary and analysis report from the 53rd Session of the International Tropical Timber Council and Associated Sessions of the Committees. The summary and analysis is now available in HTML and PDF.

Photos by IISD/ENB | Ángeles Estrada
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Opening Ceremony

Pedro Pablo Kuczynski Godard, President of Peru

Gerhard Dieterle, ITTO Executive Director

Tabi Agyarko, Chair of ITTC-53

Pablo Benjamin Quijandría Salmón, Vice Minister, Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, Peru, welcomed delegates on behalf of Minister José Manuel Hernández Calderón.

Pedro Pablo Kuczynski Godard, President of Peru, addresses ITTC-53.

Gerhard Dieterle, ITTO Executive Director, Tabi Agyarko (Ghana), Chair of ITTC-53, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski Godard, President of Peru, and Pablo Benjamin Quijandría Salmón, Vice Minister, Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, Peru

National media prepares for the address of Peru's President to the Council.

Benito Owusu Bio, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, Ghana

John Leigh, Executive Director, National Forestry and Wildlife Service (SERFOR), Peru

Eva Müller, UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Chair of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF)

Manoel Sobral Filho, Director, UN Forum on Forests (UNFF) Secretariat, addresses the Council.

John Scanlon, Secretary-General, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), addresses the Council by video.

A view of of the session of ITTC-53 in Lima, Peru

Council Session

Gerhard Breulmann, ITTO Secretariat, Gerhard Dieterle, ITTO Executive Director, Tabi Agyarko, Chair of ITTC-53, and Zhang Zhongtian (China), Vice-Chair of ITTC-53