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14th World Forestry Congress (WFC XIV) - Forests and People: Investing in a Sustainable Future

7-11 September 2015 | Durban, South Africa


Highlights for Monday, 7 September 2015

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Daily Web CoverageAbout | 7 Sep | 8 Sep | 9 Sep | 10 Sep | 11 Sep | Summary
WFC XIV
WFC XIV

José Graziano da Silva, Director-General, FAO, presents Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa,
an achievement award for reducing hunger within the country

The fourteenth World Forestry Congress (XIV WFC), opened in Durban, South Africa, and will continue until Friday 11 September 2015. Prior to the opening plenary, during a flag-raising ceremony, South Africa’s Working on Fire teams delivered traditional song and dance performances. After welcoming remarks from the South African government representatives, HRH Prince Laurent of Belgium, FAO Special Ambassador for Forests and the Environment, underlined the need to raise awareness on forests among young people and invest in research and forest education with particular attention to the role of women in it. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, stressed the importance of sustainable forest management (SFM) for climate change mitigation and the protection of coastal areas and for peace and security.

Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General, via video, emphasized the role of SFM as vital for several sustainable development goals, while calling on forest managers to raise the potential for SFM to complement the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

Hosny El-Lakany, Alexandria University, and Bheki Cele, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, South Africa, co-chaired a High-Level Dialogue on the Global Forest Agenda, with ministers and dignitaries discussing: the need to promote experience exchange in forest governance; adopting sustainable development goals (SDGs) related to forests; developing innovative solutions to meeting environmental challenges; building capacity in local communities to facilitate SFM successfully; and developing a long-term vision for forests that include more investments in gender equality, secure tenure and good governance, and forest education.

During the opening plenary in the afternoon, Channel 4 News presenter Matt Frei, challenged participants to “take the forest out of the woods” and address the challenge of “how to feed the planet’s growing population without killing its lungs.” Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary, UNFCCC, via video, emphasized forests’ roles in addressing climate change and stressed the need for catalyzing coordinated and coherent investments in sustainable forest management. In a special address, South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa highlighted important lessons on collaborative integration between nations in managing forest resources, as exemplified by South Africa’s “Working on Fire” initiative. He urged that policies related to the forestry sector be attuned to the economic, hydrological and environmental values vital to all African economies.

In the evening, participants attended six sub-thematic dialogues. In the session on forests for socio-economic development and food security, participants discussed issues relating to land tenure and creating enabling environments for local communities. The session covered the disconnect between policy formation and adoption at ground level, as well as encouraging land tenure reform effective at benefitting women and the youth.

In the session on building resilience with forests, five panelists presented on resilience initiatives from research, the economic sector, indigenous communities and regional resilience initiatives from the African and Latin American continents. In the session on integrating forests and other land uses through “feeding the world: land use options and the role of forests and trees," participants explored the constraints facing stakeholders to manage lands so as to minimize trade-offs between multiple land uses, and discussed actions to facilitate complementary land uses and meet needs for food, fibre and fuel.

In the sub-thematic session on product innovation and sustainable trade, two panels focused on the role of innovation and the potential application of citizen science. Presentations covered the need to think about forests and engage the public in new ways, and examine how technology and innovation is leveraged.

In the session on monitoring forests for better decision making, panelists explored the beneficiaries and return on investments in monitoring practices. In the session on improving governance by building capacity, panelists suggested that building capacity in forest management requires adequate governance arrangements across sectors through informed political leadership, inclusive decision-making and improved inter-sectoral capacity for collaboration.

IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, has provided daily web coverage and a summary report from the XIV World Forestry Congress (WFC XIV) - Forests and People: Investing in a Sustainable Future. Available in ENB Mobile at: http://enb.iisd.mobi/forestry-world-forestry-congress-wfc14/



Opening Ceremony


South African fire fighters perform for the flag raising ceremony


The UN, South African and African Union (AU) flags
are raised in the opening ceremony

A local group performs for the opening plenary


Opening Plenary


View of the dais during the opening plenary


Bheki Cele, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, South Africa

Willies Mchunu, Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for the Department of Transport, Community Safety, and Liaison, South Africa

HRH Prince Laurent of Belgium, Special Ambassador to FAO for Forests and the Environment


Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission

José Graziano da Silva, Director-General, Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)

Senzeni Zokwana, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, South Africa


Tree planting ceremony


Ministers and VIPs gather for a tree planting ceremony


Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chairperson of the
African Union (AU) Commission

José Graziano da Silva, Director-General, Food and
Agricultural Organization (FAO)


High-Level Dialogue on Global Forest Agenda


Panelists for the high-level dialogue


Henri Djombo, Minister for Forest Economy and
Sustainable Development, Republic of Congo

Jo Goodhew, Associate Minister,
Ministry for Primary Industries, New Zealand


Noël Nelson Messone, Minister for Forestry, Environment and Protection
of Natural Resources, Gabon

Zhang Jianlong, Minister, State Forestry Administration, China

Philip Ngolle Ngwesse, Ministry of
Forestry and Fauna, Cameroon


Elisabeth Backteman, State Secretary,
Ministry of Rural Affairs, Sweden

Barbara Serwaa Asamoah, Deputy Minister,
Lands and Natural Resources, Ghana


Side events throughout the day


Side event titled 'Genes, drones and satellites: the promise of new technologies for improving transparency and accountability
in wood supply chains' hosted by the Nature Conservancy/Responsible Asia Forestry and Trade,
the FAO, the European Forest Institute (EFI), and World Resources Institute (WRI)


Side event titled 'Opportunities and challenges for harnessing local forest management to improve rural livelihoods in Africa'
hosted by the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO)


Side event titled 'A new tool to guide us in tropical forests - The ITTO voluntary guidelines for the sustainable management of natural tropical forests' hosted by the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), Government of Switzerland, and the Forest Department of Malaysia


Launch of the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015 and
Plenary for Forest and People: Investing in a Sustainable Future


Kenneth MacDicken, FAO, launches the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015


Moderator Matt Frei, Channel 4 News, and Elizabeth de Carvalhães, Chair, International Council of Forest
and Paper Associations

Kumi Naidoo, Executive Director, Greenpeace International


Paula Caballero, Senior Director for the Environment and Natural Resources
Global Practice, World Bank

Magdy Martínez-Solimán, Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, UN Development Programme (UNDP)

Peter Holmgren, Director General, Center for International Forestry Research


Panelists for Forest and People: Investing in a Sustainable Future


Sub-Thematic Dialogues


Local actors perform a drama relating to Sub-Theme 4: Encouraging product innovation and sustainable trade


Panel for Sub-Theme 6: Improving governance by building capacity

Panel for Sub-Theme 5: Monitoring forests for better decision-making


Panel for Sub-Theme 3: Integrating forests and other land uses

Panel for Sub-Theme 2: Building resilience with forests


Panel for Sub-Theme 1: Forests for socio-economic development and food security


Around the venue


 


Delegates gather before the opening plenary

 


 

 


Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, enjoys a moment with Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa, and Senzeni Zokwana, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, South Africa



 

 


 

Daily Web CoverageAbout | 7 Sep | 8 Sep | 9 Sep | 10 Sep | 11 Sep | Summary
Funding for Coverage of WFC XIV has been provided by FAO