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Editorial: 2015 - a global crossroads. Where do forests stand?
Eduardo Rojas-Briales, Assistant Director-General
FAO Forestry Department
 2015 will be a decisive year. The post-2015 agenda will be adopted, including the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and an inclusive global climate change agreement is expected. We will also celebrate the International Year of Soils, while the Hyogo Framework for Action on disaster risk reduction will be approved and Beijing +20 will push forward the gender agenda. Expo Milano, following the FAO/WHO second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN-2) will consolidate the place of food and nutrition on the international agenda. Read more ...
FAO Forestry news
XIV World Forestry Congress (WFC), Durban, South Africa, 7-11 September, 2015
| Call for abstracts: deadline extended to 6 February |
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Abstracts on the Congress's central theme “Forests and People: Investing in a Sustainable Future” and six sub-themes will be accepted until 6 February. View more details here in English, French and Spanish.
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| Call for events: deadline 27 February |
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Applications to organize an event related to the Congress's central theme or six sub-themes are now being accepted. The Congress organizers welcome proposals for side events, networking/regional events, launches or performances. View more details here in English, French and Spanish.
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Building momentum to put people at the heart of WFC XIV: preliminary information on WFC XIV event
A key aspiration of forest-and-farm producer organizations and Indigenous Peoples is to be empowered in defining the future of their communities. Through its Pre-Congress of Forest Producers and its contribution to a key related sub-theme, the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF) and partners will ensure that such stakeholders have a strong Congress presence as well as a central platform from which to voice their needs and influence global policy making.
Read more in the flyer The Road to Durban on how to support a powerful representation of local producers at the Congress and on the related sub-theme Forests for socioeconomic development and food security.
Global online conference on forest sector and climate change mitigation about to start
The Economics of climate change mitigation options in the forest sector online conference has attracted over 1600 registered participants from 127 countries, who will engage remotely and interactively with renowned experts in these fields. Organized by FAO Forestry, the conference will open on 6 February at 15.00 Rome time, with keynote speakers leading a questions and answers session on afforestation and reforestation.
Read more here on the Economics of climate change mitigation options in forest sector online conference website.
Regional backing for small-scale forest enterprise development to reduce poverty
Seventeen Latin American and Caribbean countries that recognize the viability of community-based forest enterprises (CFE) for reducing poverty and improving livelihoods have agreed on the outline of a regional programme for future support. At a recent meeting, 28 experts identified key constraints, challenges, enabling factors and solutions to shape the new programme, which will help steer sustainable CFE development in the region.
Read more on the summary of key outcomes in English and Spanish of the expert meeting on Creating an enabling environment for the commercialization of timber from community-based forest enterprises in Latin America, held in Santiago, Chile, from 26 to 28 November 2014.
Also visit the FAO Forestry website on Community-based Forest Enterprises Development.
From global policy to sustainable practice, forest criteria and indicators have a key role
Forest indicators are essential tools to promote and demonstrate sustainability, but realizing their full potential requires focused action, an expert workshop concluded. Future work should centre on three areas: effective monitoring and reporting of forests’ contributions to major international processes; improving practical, value-adding tools; and developing integrated sustainability assessments across different land uses.
Read more in the final report of the global expert workshop on Strengthening criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management in forest policy and practice, held at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy, from 15 to 16 January 2015.
Also visit the FAO Forestry website on Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest.
Global news
International Day of Forests, 21 March 2015:
Forests | Climate | Change
To celebrate the invaluable ways in which forests and trees sustain and protect us, particularly as our natural defence against climate change, FAO has produced a video spot to promote the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) theme for the 2015 International Day of Forests: Forests | Climate | Change. Help us to increase understanding of the forests-trees-climate change nexus and to rally greater global support for action, by sharing the video spot with colleagues, partners, communities and friends.
View here the 2015 FAO IDF video spot in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Spanish, and Russian, and visit the FAO Forestry 2015 IDF webpage for more information on other free, online multi-media products and to find out how you can contribute to the celebrations.
Also visit the CPF website to find out how FAO's partners will be marking the day around the world.
European Union supports Zimbabwean forest sector in efforts to increase food security
Zimbabwean forestry is one of four sectors to benefit from a European Union donation of equipment to help improve food security and the income of vulnerable rural communities. Sustainable forest management with value-addition for forest products and livelihood diversification lie at the heart of Forest Forces, the EU-funded, FAO-implemented project currently operational in four Zimbabwean provinces.
Read more about the European Union-Government of Zimbabwe-FAO projects in the FAO Regional Office for Africa news release.
Meetings and events
Meetings
- 3rd World Teak Conference 2015 – Strengthening Global Teak Resources and Markets for Sustainable Development – Asociación Ecuatoriana de Productores de Teca y Maderas Tropicales, FAO, International Teak Information Network, IUFRO – Guayaquil, Eduador, 11–16 May 2015
Collaborative Partnership on Forests events calendar, including:
Partner and country events
International Days - February to April 2015
Publications and videos
Publications
Newsletters and information notes
- ETFRN News 57 Call for papers - share your experience, effective forest and farm producer organisations. ETFRN, Tropenbos International, Forest and Farm Facility
- Information Note No 5 (January 2015), Contribution of non-Wood forest products to the Millennium Development Goals: evidence from COMIFAC countries. Project: Enhancing the contribution of non-wood forest products to food security in Central Africa. In English and French.
Videos
Unasylva: a stroll down memory lane
In this occasional series, we feature reprints of extracts from early editions of Unasylva, FAO Forestry’s international journal of forestry and forest industries.
Unasylva, 157/158
Small-scale forest enterprises
Editorial
… In response to government concerns, FAO has begun to develop more information on the nature of small forest enterprises, their contributions to rural incomes, the constraints that hold the small entrepreneur back, and the opportunities that strengthening this sector hold for improved rural incomes.
This does not mean that industrial forestry is to be abandoned. It does however mean that "small" begins to be recognized as being as important as "big" when it comes to forest enterprise for rural development and food security…
The importance of small forest-based processing enterprises in developing countries
Conclusions
… Small-scale rural forest-based processing activities constitute an important part of the forestry sector in many developing countries, contributing significantly to the development both of the sector and of the rural and industrial economies.
Particular measures to improve their raw material situation could include, improving forest management and raw material allocation procedures to serve small as well as large enterprises more evenhandedly; broadening forest management to include non-wood raw materials of value to small enterprises; amending legislation and regulations which unnecessarily restrict beneficial small-scale activities; and assisting rural communities in developing ways of managing local forest resources to supply sustainable small-enterprise activities ...
J.E.M. Arnold, M.E. Chipeta and Y. Fisseha
Unasylva, 157/158, Vol 39, 1987/3 &4
Update by the Social forestry team on small and medium-scale and community-based forest enterprises (SMFE/CBFE)
January 2015
Since the late 1980s, some countries have made progress in facilitating local communities’ subsistence-level access to forest resources and in establishing and developing small and medium scale forest-enterprises (SMFE) and community-based forest enterprises (CBFE). However, their attempts at creating adequate enabling environments for building policy, legal and institutional capacities – a fundamental requirement for sustainable SMFE/ CBFE development - still need more support.
Similarly, local communities involved in SMFE/CBFE require specific assistance in developing business and entrepreneurial insight as well as corresponding SMFE/CBFE organizational and managerial skills. In the absence of this support, it becomes extremely challenging to manage SMFE/CBFE and to generate sustainable incomes to improve the communities’ livelihoods and reduce poverty, while also ensuring the sustainability of the forest resource. FAO’s current technical assistance to countries on SMFE/CBFE development is therefore aimed at helping them overcome these challenges.
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