|
Editorial: Expo 2015 opens – a global window to the world of food, with forests in the landscape
by Eduardo Rojas-Briales, Commissioner-General for the United Nations at Expo 2015, Assistant Director-General, FAO Forestry
 On Friday 1 May, Expo 2015 opened its doors in Milan, Italy. For the first time, a World Fair has made the concept of food, in its infinitely varied but often challenging dimensions, the core of its overarching theme. Expo is an experience for broadening the mind and stimulating the senses, but mainly it is for reflecting on what needs to be done to ensure that, early in the 21st century, we can guarantee nutritious food for all. Forestry, as an integral part of food security, will continue to contribute to this fundamental global objective.
Read more ...
In Memoriam
Colleagues pay tribute to two foresters with a longstanding association with FAO Forestry who have sadly passed away.
|
Dr F. Thomas (Tom) Ledig
Obituary
by Christel Palmberg
 |
|
Dr Haluk Hilmi
Obituary
by Manuel Paveri
 |
FAO Forestry news
XIV World Forestry Congress, Durban, South Africa:
7–11 September 2015
Congress launch heralds new era in people-centred sustainable forestry
The growing threat of climate change and the need for forestry to reach its full potential for sustainable socioeconomic development are two compelling reasons why the XIV World Forestry Congress is an opportunity not to be missed. Speaking at the Congress’s official launch in Pretoria, representatives of South Africa and FAO urged the forest sector and partners to be present in Durban and help define a vision for forests and forestry for decades to come.
Read more about the official launch of the XIV Congress by the Government of the Republic of South Africa and FAO in Pretoria, South Africa, on 1 June.
Congress newsletter issue No.1: latest information and more
All the latest updates on the Congress arrangements and events are now available in the first issue of the Congress newsletter. Take advantage of "early-bird" registration rates, valid until 30 June, and also read about the photo contest, Forests and people. A trip to the Congress is the prize for the top entry, to be selected by a jury led by award-winning Magnum photographer, Stuart Franklin.
Read about this and much more in Congress newsletter issue No 1.
Preparing to debate social protection and forestry
Social protection for building resilience of forest-dependent people will be discussed at a Congress side event. As part of the preparations, an online consultation is gathering views and experiences on the linkages between social protection and forestry, a relatively unexplored area.
Visit the Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition website to contribute to the consultation, which closes on Friday, 12 June.
Growing the forest sector sustainably, using national forest funds
To grow sustainably and contribute fully to climate change adaptation and mitigation and socioeconomic development, the forest sector needs responsibly managed investment. Two FAO publications launched at a UNFF 11 side event describe how, when well-designed, national forest funds have a crucial and catalytic role in channeling investment, and propose how their use and effectiveness could be increased.
Read more in FAO Forestry Paper 174 Towards effective national forest funds, policy brief Making national forest funds more effective as well as the FAO news release, and visit the FAO Forestry Forest Finance webpage.
Also track the forest sector’s economic evolution in FAO Forest Finance Working Paper: Contribution of the forest sector to national economies 1990–2011 in English and Spanish.
Kids take to the forest, and young minds are transformed
For a group of Bangkok students, a two-day field visit led to a transformation in their understanding of forests’ multiple environmental and socioeconomic benefits. An FAO initiative, Kids-to-Forests provides youngsters with hands-on experience of sustainable forest management activities and encourages them to appreciate local people’s key roles in the stewardship of Asia’s forests, roles that they will one day assume.
 ©Reza Esapour
Conserving the health and integrity of forest resources
FAO and the Islamic Republic of Iran recently expanded their collaboration in sustainable forest management, following the formal signing of an agreement to protect the country’s forest resource. The memorandum, on addressing oak decline in the Zagrus region and Boxwood blight in the Caspian region, and signed by the parties in early April, outlines the scale and scope of future activities.
Read more about the memorandum of understanding signed by the Deputy Minister for Agriculture Jihad of the Islamic Republic of Iran and FAO.
Global news
United Nations Forum on Forests 11, 4–15 May 2015
The global forestry policy debate took a step forward following UNFF 11's endorsement of a ministerial declaration and a draft resolution. The UN Economic and Social Council will now be invited to consider and adopt the UNFF 11 report, including the draft resolution on the International Arrangement on Forests beyond 2015, thereby giving the green light for global implementation of the resolution's provisions.
Read more about the UNFF 11 main outcome documents - Ministerial Declaration and ECOSOC draft resolution as well as a UNFF 11 fact sheet. Statements and presentations can also be viewed at the UNFF 11 website. Click to read a summary of how FAO contributed to the session's discussions, through its organization of and participation in several side events. Also view some photos taken at the events.
Project team announced for global forestry-food security and nutrition review
An open call for experts to form a project team to prepare a global report on sustainable forestry for food security and nutrition has resulted in the selection of eight experts from the 72 candidatures received. Using the proposed scope of the study, the team will develop an advance draft of the report, which will be available for comment through an online consultation from 16 November 2015 to 10 January 2016.
Read more on the project team for the Committee on World Food Security High-Level Panel of Expert's report on "Sustainable forestry for food security and nutrition" as well as the report's preparatory process.
Support for UN-REDD Programme's strategic development reaffirmed as Programme's results increase
The development of UN-REDD's 2016–2020 strategic framework advanced in May when the Programme's 14th Policy Board meeting held in Arlington, USA, reaffirmed support for the process. The 70 participants commended the Programme on its latest outputs, results and impacts, including its support for 60 partner countries, 28 of which have either completed or progressed in the operational elements of REDD+ readiness.
Read more on the UN-REDD 14th Programme Policy Board meeting, including in the UN-REDD press release. Also view the keynote video messages from the FAO Director-General and the heads of the two UN-REDD partner agencies, UNDP and UNEP.
Indigenous Peoples can benefit from FFF model of learning
Forest and Farm Facility (FFF) activities implemented by FFF-supported partners in four Mayangna Indigenous Territories in Nicaragua’s Bosawás Biosphere Reserve were praised for their inclusive, didactic methods of increasing local capacity in sustainable resource management. Speaking at an FAO event at a major forum in New York, the country’s Vice-Minister encouraged other countries to consider the FFF approach.
Meetings and events
Meetings
Collaborative Partnership on Forests events calendar
United Nations events 2015
Partner and country events:
Expo 2015: Feeding the planet - energy for life, Milan, Italy, 1 May to 31 October 2015
A greener Europe - FAO video
The "green" architecture of Austria's Expo 2015 pavilion could serve as a model for cities of the future, not only in Austria but also in the rest of Europe and around the world. The pavilion's "star" are forests, a source of food, timber, energy and employment, regulators of climate and biodiversity, and a green space for recreational activities.
View the video in English, German and Italian.
*****
Guinness World Records in forestry broken!
Ecuador - mass reforestation
- variety of planted species: 179
- volunteers in action: more than 44 000
- number of plants planted: 570 000
Bhutan - number of trees planted in one hour: 49 672
Weaver Lecture: Humankind challenges and forests
In early May, FAO Forestry Assistant Director-General Eduardo Rojas-Briales travelled to Auburn University in Alabama, USA, to deliver its School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences' Weaver Lecture. The Lecture takes place only once per semester, and Mr Rojas-Briales, who was nominated by the Weaver Lecture Committee, was invited to speak on the topic "Humankind challenges and forests".
View Mr Rojas presentation here.
International Days - June to August 2015
Publications and videos
Videos
- Building a 3D model for land-use and nature conservation planning, Savaii Island, Samoa - A documentary on buiding a P3D model for land-use and nature conservation planning, Taga and Gataivai, Savaii Island, Samoa. FAO
- Looking for the manumea: an ecological survey in community conservations areas, Savaii island, Samoa - The tooth-billed pigeon Didunculus strigirostris, is a large pigeon found only in Samoa. It is the only living species of the genus Didunculus and is critically endangered. FAO
- A greener Europe - FAO, in English, German and Italian
Publications
Publications prepared within the framework of the Global Forest Resources Asssessment 2015
Collaborative Partnership on Forests
A stroll down memory lane
Classic book resurrected in digital form - The ecological basis of rainforest management, by George Baurs
George Baur, a research forester of the New South Wales (NSW) Forestry Commission, was awarded the FAO Andre Meyer Fellowship in 1961-62 to travel to tropical countries and study the different silvicultural systems then in use. He wrote a large report (499 pages) and a shorter article, which was published in Unasylva 72 in 1964. The report was simply a typewritten version of 499 pages with simple binding, and was not widely distributed as you can imagine.
David Lamb, of the University of Queensland, states we have “resurrected” this report putting it in digital form to make it more accessible. “Times have changed and nobody is going to necessarily re-introduce these silvicultural systems. But they could be of considerable interest to those trying to develop methods of dealing with heavily (badly?) logged over secondary rainforests because they provide an excellent survey of the literature of the time (much of it grey) when a lot of thought was being given to rainforest silviculture”.
View The ecological basis of rainforest management (1968) by George Baurs.
|
http://forestry.fao.msgfocus.com/u/1hxItxcjT9
