PRESS BRIEFING BY UNITED NATIONS FORUM ON FORESTS

PRESS BRIEFING BY UNITED NATIONS FORUM ON FORESTS

During its first two-week session, the new international body on forests -- the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) -- had had an opportunity to define its scope of work, initiate a framework for a plan of action, design new approaches to international cooperation, and expand coordination through the newly formed collaborative partnerships on forests (CPF), correspondents were told at a Headquarters press briefing this morning.

Meeting with the press were the Head of the UNFF Secretariat, Jagmohan Maini; the Forum's Chairman, Mubarak Hussein Rahmtalla (Sudan); and Assistant Director of the International Tropical Timber Organization, Amha Bin Buang.

Providing the background on the issue, Mr. Maini said that forests had been very high on the international agenda for the last 20 years.  About one third of the Earth's surface is covered by forests and woodlands, with about 85 per cent of the forests concentrated in 25 countries of the world.  Between 123 and

130 countries have been classified as countries with low forest cover.  Between 300 and 400 million people depend on forests for their daily subsistence.  However, the situation needed serious attention as a result of a high rate of deforestation (up to 30 to 37 million acres a year) and the loss of associated socio-economic benefits.

A set of guiding principles for the sustainable development of all types of forests had been negotiated at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, he said.  During the past five years, the main intergovernmental bodies for international forest policy development have been the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF) and the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF).  As a result of international efforts, agreement has been achieved on over 250 proposals for action that applied to all types of forests.  The United Nations Forum on Forests, due to end its session today, was established on 18 October 2000.

Speaking on the activities of the UNFF, Mr. Rahmtalla said that although established as a subsidiary body of the Economic and Social Council, the new Forum was open to all Member States.  A high-level permanent body with universal membership, it reported to the General Assembly through the Economic and Social Council.  The Ministerial segment provided a unique opportunity to strengthen political commitments and mobilize support for sustainable forestry at national, regional and global levels.  The Forum is charged with advancing policy development and dialogue on forest management and related issues; promoting implementation of agreed actions; and enhancing coordination towards sustainable management of all types of forests.

He said that during the two weeks of its work, the Forum had considered numerous proposals for action advanced by both the IPF and the IFF in the last five years.  The success of the new enterprise would be defined by action on the ground.  He felt confident that by the end of the day, the Forum would adopt its programme of work, setting a clear and defined agenda for forest development and a plan of action that would advance the implementation of agreed action.  Most probably, tonight the Forum would also decide on its next session to be held in Costa Rica in March 2002.

The decisions of the session took on particular significance as the international community prepared for the upcoming World Summit, informally known as "Rio + 10", in Johannesburg, South Africa.  The session had also set in motion the work on the so-called collaborative partnership on forests, which included about a dozen international organizations and instruments, including the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the secretariats of the Convention to Combat Deforestation (CCD), Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Control (UNFCCC).

Mr. Bin Buang added that the collaborative partnership on forests had been established in April this year in response to the Economic and Social Council decision inviting all players to support UNFF efforts in the promotion of management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests, and in the strengthening of political commitment towards that end.  Besides the current participants, several other players were expected to join the partnership in the future.  One of the main outreach activities planned by the Forum included establishment of a CPF network, reaching out to members of civil society, international organizations and any other parties interested in forests.

Responding to a question about forest fires, Mr. Rahmtalla said that prior to the establishment of the new institution the Member States, within the framework of the IPF/IFF, had reached consensus on more than 270 proposals for action on forests.  It was important to emphasize that there was also consensus that national governments should be responsible for taking action for sustainable development of forests.  He believed that forest fires represented a very important problem in many countries, and they were among the Forum's objectives.

Mr. Maini added that about three years before, there had been extensive forest fires in Indonesia, which produced air pollutants, causing bronchial problems in several countries.  As a result, forest fires had become an international issue, but as yet there was no binding international agreement on the matter.  Most countries had mechanisms for predicting and managing forest fires, but some of the major recent forest fires were beyond the national capacity to deal with them.

Asked if the Forum had addressed the question of forest fires during its current session, Mr. Maini said no.  However, within the framework of the Climate Change Convention discussions, forest fires were considered an important factor, contributing to greenhouse gases.  The issue of forest fires was among the proposals to be looked at by the Forum, but so far it had not been considered.

Responding to a question about the population living in forested areas,

Mr. Rahmtalla said that forests represented a very important industrial sector and a source of income.  Over 300 million people depended on forests and forest products for their livelihood.

In conclusion, he expressed hope that the press would follow the Forum's proceedings tonight.  He also hoped that the meeting would succeed in adopting the three major decisions before it, including its multi-year programme of work; the plan of action; and a decision on the collaborative partnership on forests.

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