IISD Reporting Services at UNFF-3, 26 May - June 6 2003, Geneva, Switzerland

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SUMMARY

United Nations Forum on Forests, Third Session
26 May - 6 June 2003 Geneva, Switzerland

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French	\|Rideau\|	\|Lun 26\|	\|Mar 27\|	\|Mer 28\|	\|Jeu 29\|	\|Ven 30\|
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Highlights for

Monday, 2 June 2003

On Monday, delegates discussed progress in implementation relating to maintaining forest cover (MFC) and, in the afternoon, resumed discussion on economic aspects of forests (EAF) before engaging in a substantive discussion on reporting format. In the evening, delegates met informally to discuss decisions relating to the trust fund. Above photo: Delegates during an informal session on the trust fund.


MAINTAINING FOREST COVER:

Fiji, on behalf of the Pacific Islands Forum Group, stressed the importance of non-timber forest services such as fuel, medicines and soil and water protection, and called for the development of partnerships through the UNFF process to address the problem of the region's limited financial and human resources.

CONGO noted that difficulties with policy implementation are due to a lack of human and financial resources, and called for more funding for land use projects and protected areas.

NEW ZEALAND stressed the long-term investments needed to develop policies, legislation, management practices, and the political will to deliver SFM.

TURKEY stressed the need to focus on the important role of non-wood forest products in GNP and poverty alleviation challenges.

CANADA supported the need for NFPs and other national strategies relevant to forests, and welcomed suggestions relating to: international assistance; global and regional studies by FAO and Economic Commision for Europe (ECE); and criteria and indicators.

SWITZERLAND detailed its history of sustainable forest management and underlined the necessity of cross-sectoral approaches and the need to address the undervaluation of forests.

ARGENTINA described its social forestry programme, which brings together poverty reduction forestry projects with the aim of working in favor of rural populations and ensuring their activities are sustainable.

MEXICO described its NFP based on a sectoral approach and emphasized the role of regional assistance in providing information sharing mechanisms.

ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF FORESTS:

CUBA called for a better balance between public and private sector involvement in achieving SFM and stressed the need for improved technology transfer.

CHINA urged donor countries to fulfill their international commitments regarding official development aid, technology transfer and capacity building.


COLOMBIA stressed that more cross-sectoral balance is needed on the local, regional and global levels in order to achieve SFM, and called for more investments to ensure the economic competitiveness of SFM.

TOGO said more research is needed to design economic instruments supporting environmental protection, particularly in developing countries.

ITALY underlined the importance of an approach integrating EAF into conservation measures aimed at promoting forest health and productivity.

The US stressed the need to: improve MAR with regard to forest economics; promote legal trade and combat illegal logging; and establish partnerships to enhance, inter alia, economic development, good governance, natural resources conservation, and poverty alleviation.

REPORTING FORMAT:

Pekka Patosaari, Coordinator and Head of the UNFF Secretariat, presented the draft format on voluntary reporting to UNFF-3 prepared in collaboration with the CPF and highlighted the Secretariat's intention to produce a structured yet flexible format for reporting.

TRUST FUND:

Delegates informally discussed draft resolutions requesting the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC) to authorize the UNFF Secretariat to use the trust fund to support daily subsistence allowances (DSA) of developing country participants at UNFF sessions.

UNFF-3 Side Events:

report of the UNFF Intersessional meeting: the role of planted forests in sustainable forest management

Don Wijewardana, New Zealand, presented the outcomes and recommendations of the recent intersessional meeting on "The Role of Planted Forests in Sustainable Forest Management". Wijewardana addressed the roles of planted forests in SFM in terms of the creation of various forest goods and services, poverty eradication, and environmental services such as rehabilitation of degraded lands. Commentaries were made by Miguel Lovera, Tim Rollinson and Peter Laurence. Left photo L-R: Roger Lincoln (New Zealand), Don Wijewardana (New Zealand), Miguel Lovera (Global forest Coaliation), Tim Rollinson (UK) and Peter Laurence (Australia)





low forest cover countries secretariat (LFCCs):
Mostafa Jafari, Head of LFCC Secretariat (near left) presented an introduction to the Tehran Process and the eventual conception of the LFCC Secretariat. Jafari addressed geographical, social and economic constraints as key issues on maintaining forest cover in low forest cover countries.