A global arrangement on forests, bolstered by credible financing and means for monitoring and implementation, would help Governments and local communities tackle the illegal timber trade and economic activities that were eroding one of the world’s most valuable resources, ministers in the Forum on Forests said today, as they debated how to revise the normative framework guiding such decisions.
The Chair of the United Nations Forum on Forests today described the contours of the draft ministerial declaration and draft resolution that the policy body planned to send to the Economic and Social Council for adoption, following the close of its eleventh session on 15 May.
The nine major groups participating in the United Nations Forum on Forests had an essential role to play in translating international policy decisions into local activities for sustainably managing the world’s woodlands, speakers stressed today, with some advocating the creation of a body that elevated the many different voices of civil society.
With 1.6 billion people depending on forests for food, fuel, shelter and income, now was the time to strengthen the global political commitment to sustainably manage one of the planet’s most cherished resources, top United Nations officials stressed today, as the United Nations Forum on Forests opened its eleventh session.
