UN FORUM ON FORESTS CONCLUDES ORGANIZATIONAL SESSION, DECIDES TO LOCATE SECRETARIAT IN NEW YORK

UN FORUM ON FORESTS CONCLUDES ORGANIZATIONAL SESSION,

DECIDES TO LOCATE SECRETARIAT IN NEW YORK

The recently established United Nations Forum on Forests decided on Friday to locate its secretariat in New York.  The decision was taken as the Forum finished up a week-long organizational session and informal consultations to set a new approach towards international forest policy.

The United Nations Forum on Forests was established in October 2000, under the United Nations Economic and Social Council, to be a permanent negotiating forum to advance implementation and to monitor progress on agreed actions for sustainable forest management.  It continues the work of two intergovernmnetal ad hoc forest bodies that grew out of the 1992 Earth Summit.

“The mood in the Forum is that it is time to move from dialogue to action now that governments have finally developed a consensus on what sustainability in forest management means and how it can be achieved”, said Ambassador Mubarak Rahmtalla of Sudan, Chairman of the Forum.

Some of the long-standing politically sensitive and controversial issues that the Forum will address are the continuing high rate of deforestation -- some 13 million hectares of forests are lost annually, mainly in the tropics -- lack of capacity in developing countries, poverty alleviation through forest development and trade issues, such as illegal logging.  It has also been charged with assessing, within five years, the parameters of a mandate for developing a legal framework for all types of forests.

The Forum will include ministerial segments and is open to all governments. Participation by international and non-governmental organizations, the private sector and other interested stakeholders is planned to promote dialogue and coordinated action.

As a part of this new international arrangement on forests, the Economic and Social Council has also invited the heads of relevant international organizations to form a Collaborative Partnership on Forests, to support the work of the Forum on Forests and to enhance international cooperation on forest-related issues.

Contact:  Ms. Pragati Pascale, United Nations Department of Public Information; Tel:  (212) 963-6870, E-mail:  pascale@un.org.

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