ENB @ ITTC-43, Yokohama, Japan: Highlights for 5 November 2007

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	43rd Session of the International Tropical Timber Council and Associated Sessions of the Committees Yokohama, Japan \| 5-10 November 2007


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Curtain Raiser
Daily Web Coverage	Mon, November 5
	Tue, November 6
	Wed, November 7
	Thu, November 8
	Fri, November 9
	Sat, November 10
Summary			-	-	-	-
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ITTC-43 Opens in Yokohama

The Forty-third session of the International Tropical Timber Council (ITTC) and the Associated Sessions of the four Committees (Finance and Administration; Economic Information and Market Intelligence; Forest Industry; and Reforestation and Forest Management) opened today in Yokohama, Japan. During the opening session, delegates listened to opening speeches by the Executive Director and dignitaries from Japan, Cameroon; Ghana; Côte d'Ivoire, along with several intergovernmental organizations.

The Council addressed organizational matters swiftly, including ascertainment of quorum, distribution of votes, and adoption of the meeting's agenda. In the afternoon, participants met in a Joint Committee Session to hear: an ex-post evaluation of a project on biodiversity management and conservation in a forest concession adjacent to a protected area in the Republic of Congo and the Report of the Expert Panel for Technical Appraisal of ITTO Project Proposals. Following this, participants met in concurrent sessions of the CEM/CFI and the CRF. In the evening, participants attended a reception hosted by the Chairperson of ITTC and ITTO Executive Director Emmanuel Ze Meka.

Above: Plenary during the opening session.

Monday, 5 November
Opening Session of the Council

Edmond Collins Ahadome, ITTO Information Officer, welcomed participants and introduced speakers.	Ambassador Luis Macchiavello Amoroz, Chairperson of the Council.	Hiroshi Nakada, Mayor, City of Yokohama.
Emmanuel Ze Meka, Executive Director, ITTO.	Osamu Uno, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Japan.	Elvis Ngolle Ngolle, Minister of Forests and Wildlife, Cameroon.
Esther Obeng Dapaah, Minister of Lands, Forestry and Mines, Ghana.	Daniel Ahizi Aka, Minister of Environment and Forests, Côte d'Ivoire.	Emile Doumba, Minister of Forest Economy, Water, Fisheries and National Parks, Gabon.
Ambassador Ali Mchumo, Managing Director, Common Fund for Commodities.	Don Koo Lee, President, International Union of Forestry Research Organizations.	Coosje Hoogendoorn, Director-General, International Network for Bamboo and Rattan.
Sri Murniningtyas, Indonesia.	John T. Woods, Liberia.	David Brooks, United States.
Joint Committee Session

Monica Borner, consultant.	Hideaki Takai, Japan.	Ricardo Umali, Philippines.
Committee Session CRF
The Committee on Restoration and Forest Management (CRF), chaired by Flip van Helden, the Netherlands, met on Monday afternoon. They discussed completed projects and pre-projects, reviewed the status of implementation of approved projects and pre-projects, and formed an informal working group consisting of Switzerland, the U.S. and Ghana to select projects for ex-post evaluation.
CRF Chair Flip van Helden.	Tasso Rezende Azevedo, Brazil.	John Leigh, ITTO Secretariat.
Committee Session CEM/CFI
The Committee on Economic Information and Market Intelligence (CEM), chaired by Heya Chantal Adingra (Côte d'Ivoire), and the Committee on Forest Industry (CFI), chaired by Dani Pitoyo (Indonesia), met on Monday afternoon to consider completed projects and pre-projects; ex-post evaluation; and projects, pre-projects and activities in progress.
Guy Robertson, United States.	Hwan Ok Ma, ITTO Secretariat.	CEM Chair Heya Chantal Adingra, Côte d'Ivoire.
Around the ITTC
In the evening, delegates attended a reception at the Pan Pacific Hotel, hosted by the ITTC Chairperson and the Executive Director.
Our industrious registration desk workers.