Economic and Social Council

Overcoming nagging problems with its innovative but often-frustrating “Paperless Computer System”, the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations today, after reverting to traditional printed documentation, was able to recommend to the Economic and Social Council seven civil society groups for consultative status, while it postponed consideration of nine groups pending receipt of answers to questions posed.

As the United Nations kicked off the International Year of Forests today at Headquarters, a renowned environmental activist urged Governments and other stakeholders worldwide to take action to protect the planet’s vital forestry resources on which 1.6 billion depended for their livelihood and subsistence.

Environmental experts and world leaders called today for the sustainable management of forests in the interest of human development as the United Nations Forum on Forests began its High-level Ministerial Segment by launching the International Year of Forests, 2011, which was followed by discussions on people-centred forestry and financing for forest communities.

The International Year of Forests was launched at United Nations Headquarters in New York on a day when ice, rain and snow were blanketing the region, yet the point of the observance was to heighten awareness of the value of forests in people’s lives and to galvanize action for forests around the world, correspondents heard today at a press conference highlighting the Forest Film Festival.

The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations today recommended eight organizations for special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council and postponed consideration of 19 applications. In other action, the Committee recommended that one non-governmental organization be reclassified as having special consultative status and that three organizations be reclassified as having general consultative status.

Leading environmental activists lauded today the Rwandan Government’s plan to restore all of the steadily recovering Central African nation’s lost forest lands and boost national development as a far-sighted move that should be replicated by other Governments.

Meeting in plenary this afternoon, the United Nations Forum on Forests again facilitated the “cross-fertilization” of information between its two working groups, and assessed their respective progress.

During the second day of deliberations at its 2011 session, the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) recommended special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council for 17 organizations and roster status for one, while it postponed consideration of 39 other applications pending receipt of additional information from the civil society groups.

The latest report of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), entitled True Economic Value of Forests, was premised on the notion that a better evaluation of what forests were worth would generate direct benefits for poor forest dwellers, open up new markets and affect global economic growth, correspondents learned today at a Headquarters press conference.

The International Year of Forests — a year-long celebration of the vital role that forests play in people’s lives — will be launched on 2 February, at a ceremony attended by world leaders, Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai and United Nations forest experts. Global observance of the Year comes amid growing recognition of the role that forests managed in a sustainable manner play in everything from mitigating climate change to providing wood, medicines and livelihoods for people around the world.