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Seventh Session of the United Nations Forum on Forests
United Nations Headquarters, New York | 16-27 April 2007
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Blue Skies, Optimism at Midpoint of Forest Forum
On Friday, 20 April, the Seventh Session of the United Nations Forum on
Forests (UNFF7) convened in two working groups at UN Headquarters in
New York to discuss the non-legally binding instrument (NLBI) on all
types of forests, and the Multi-Year Programme of Work (MYPOW) for
the period 2007-2015. In the afternoon, delegates reconvened in plenary
to take stock of the week's work, and Chair Hoogeveen encouraged them to
enjoy the pleasant weekend weather while reviewing documents, including
co-chairs' texts that will be released Sunday morning.
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Friday, 20 April
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Working Group I - NLBI
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Working Group I completed the first reading of a draft composite text on
the NLBI.
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Bernardo Velloso, Brazil, preferred focusing information exchange on implementation of SFM
and the Global Objectives.
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The Dominican Republic said technical assistance for monitoring and
reporting should not come from the UNFF Secretariat.
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Costa Rica noted many existing regional processes are too general.
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Luis Ernesto Barrera Garavito, Guatemala, stressed the importance of
regional organizations and processes in the implementation of SFM.
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Tony Bartlett, Australia, suggested the UNFF monitor and assess the
instrument's implementation, provision of financial resources, and
modalities for technology transfer.
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Ecuador called for reference to enhancing the institutional capacity of
developing countries.
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On Secretariat collaboration with other bodies, Nigeria, for the African
Group, opposed denoting major groups.
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Sibylle Vermont, Switzerland, supported retention of text on progress
review.
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Oleg Shamanov, Russian Federation, opposed including non-preambular text
on adoption, principles and purpose in the preamble.
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Working Group II - MYPOW
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Working Group II continued discussion on a proposed matrix for the MYPOW
on themes and cross-cutting issues.
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Mohammad Naeemi, Afghanistan, supported means of implementation as a
major theme for UNFF8.
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Indonesia supported the theme "Forests for Growth and Sustainability" for
UNFF10.
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The Philippines called for a focus on people and communities in forests.
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Papua New Guinea felt strongly about the inclusion of climate change as
a key task at UNFF8.
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Charles Barber, US, requested equal emphasis on means of implementation
and governance and law, given inter-linkages between them.
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Stefanie von Scheliha, Germany for the EU, stressed climate change as an
important component of the economic-themed session.
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Plenary
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Working Group II Co-Chair Arvids Ozols, Latvia, reported on the group's
progress.
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UNFF7 Chair Hans Hoogeveen complimented delegates on their hard work, and
urged them to find common ground on remaining issues of contention.
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Indonesia thanked the Chair and the working group Co-Chairs for their
hard work.
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Stephanie Caswell, US, asked the Secretariat for a report on the status
of the UNFF trust fund.
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Bangladesh noted an omission in the provisional list of participants.
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Javad Amin-Mansour, Islamic Republic of Iran, expressed hopes that no
more than two sessions would occur in parallel, for the sake of small
delegations.
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Around the Forum
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In what has become an annual tradition, delegates from the Children and
Youth major group gathered for a photo in the hall of flags.
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Related Links
United Nations Forum on Forests
UNFF 7
UNFF-7
Provisional Agenda
Related IISD Coverage of Forest Meetings
18th Session of the FAO Committee on
Forestry, 13-16 March 2007, Rome
CLI in Support of the UNFF:
Multi-Year Programme of Work, 13-16 February 2007, Bali
UNFF Ad hoc
Expert Group Meeting, 11-15 December 2006, New York
Sixth Session of the
UN Forum on Forests (UNFF-6), 13-24 February 2006, New York
CLI in Support of the UNFF:
Scoping a Future Agreement on Forests, 16-18 November 2005, Berlin
Fifth Session of the
UN Forum on Forests (UNFF-5), 16-27 May 2005, New York
CLI in Support of the UNFF:
Future International Arrangement on Forests, 25-28 January 2005,
Guadalajara
UNFF
Ad Hoc Expert Group Meeting (AHEG-PARAM)
7-10 September 2004, New York
Fourth Session of the
UN Forum on Forests (UNFF-4), 3-14 May 2004, Geneva
IISD
Linkages - Forest, Desertification, Land
A
Brief Introduction to Global Forest Policy
Linkages Update
MEA-L - Multilateral
Environmental Agreements Listserve
Africa Regional Coverage
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