Editorial: XIV World Forestry Congress – forests are coming back 

by Tiina Vahanen, Associate Secretary-General, XIV World Forestry Congress 

The good news delivered at the XIV World Forestry Congress in September was that, after decades of net global forest loss, forests are coming back, with their role in food security and links to other forms of land use recognized more strongly than ever. As reported in FAO’s 2015 Global Forest Resources Assessment, launched at the Congress, the rate of net natural forest loss is declining and the area under sustainable forest management is increasing. 

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XIV World Forestry Congress

The XIV World Forestry Congress was a defining event for global forestry, producing four outcome documents that are expected to provide significant inputs to the global discourse on forests and forestry.

Video messages from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretary, Christiana Figueres, and the opening statements of FAO's Director-General, José Graziano da Silva, and Republic of South Africa Deputy President, Cyril Ramaphosa, among others, have added authoritative weight to international recognition of forests' key roles in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and in measures to address climate change.

XIV World Forestry Congress, Durban, South Africa, opening ceremony, 7 September 2015. © FAO

Read more in the four outcome documents of the XIV World Forestry Congress, Durban, South Africa, 7–11 September 2015.  

• The Durban Declaration, including actions recommended by Congress participants to implement the 2050 vision for forests and forestry. 
• Message from the XIV World Forestry Congress on the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 
• Message on climate change from the XIV World Forestry Congress  
• XIV World Forestry Congress – action points presented in plenary on 10 September

Also read the op-ed of the FAO Director-General, José Graziano da Silva: Forests: key for survival of mankind

FAO and partners at the Congress: sharing knowledge for a new vision for forests and forestry

FAO, partner and host and member country contributions to the Congress were significant, as manifest in the rich programme of pre-Congress, plenary and special and side events. Innovative and inclusive dialogues and debates provided a unique space for sharing and increasing cross-sectoral knowledge and experiences, resulting in a wealth of ideas for visionary and viable action to support forest communities, sustainable forestry and, consequently, the planet.

Read more about the key information, views and conclusions generated at some of the main FAO-partner events:  

• Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015 launch 
• High-level dialogue of the heads of member organizations of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests, summary compiled by the United Nations Forum on Forests Secretariat   
• We know the forest and the forest knows us! Call of Indigenous Peoples, local communities and family smallholders    
• More than heat! Wood energy for the future
• Wildlife forum 
• Forests and water 
• Innovation and investment forum 
• Improving forest governance: what needs to be done?
• Mobilizing the full potential of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management: the way forward 
• 2015 Collaborative Partnership on Forests Wangari Maathai Forest Champion Award winner
  

Read more in the XIV World Forestry Congress secretariat full highlights and in the comprehensive summary report compiled by the IISD Reporting Services together with its photo gallery of all key events here. 

©FAO/Joan Manuel Baliellas. Back Kan, Viet Nam. Researchers for the National Forest Assessment using laser technology measuring devices.

Online consultation to help shape new voluntary guidelines on national forest monitoring

Establishing and implementing a national forest monitoring system (NFMS) customized to a country’s needs and environmental conditions is a complex scientific-technical undertaking that can also give rise to organizational challenges. Recognizing that NFMS is a key component of sustainable forest management and of national and international reporting processes, the 21st Committee on Forestry requested FAO to prepare a set of voluntary guidelines, draft section III of which is now available online for comment.

Significant move to increase regional capacity in West African forest and landscapes' restoration

FLUDE: new online tool to help improve analyses of global forest land-use trends

Global news

Beijing+20: Global leaders' commitment forum on gender equality and women's empowerment

Twenty years ago, 189 countries adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a visionary roadmap for women's rights and empowerment. On 26 September, 80 world leaders met and agreed to step up action in their countries to end discrimination against women and help meet Sustainable Development Goal 5 on women’s empowerment. FAO is working with some of these countries to implement forest-related activities with gender initiatives to help achieve this goal.

Read more on the Beijing+20: Global Leaders' Commitment Forum on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment held at UN headquarters in New York on 26 September 2015. Also visit the FAO and FAO Forestry websites on gender.

The outcomes of the following two recent UN events and the implications for forestry will be summarized in inFO news issue 34.

• United Nations Summit to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals/2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – UN headquarters, New York, USA, 25–27 September 2015

• 12th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, 12–23 October 2015, Ankara, Turkey

Signatories to an online petition being promoted by the Mountain Partnership are calling on delegates attending December’s UNFCCC COP21 to recognize mountain peoples and ecosystems in the negotiations. Mountain ecosystems are fragile and their sensitivity to the impacts of climate change can result in livelihood and biodiversity loss, a situation the petition sponsors wish to highlight at the Conference.

Read more about the Mountain Partnership, an international alliance of governments and organizations, and the online international petition on mountain ecosystems and peoples affected by climate change. Also visit the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change COP21 website and the Paris COP21 Information Hub.

Scientists and practitioners from across Europe used an agroforestry conference in Milan to illustrate how the sector can contribute to improved food, fibre and energy security in Europe while also protecting the environment. The conference's aim of promoting the use of trees on farms and silvo-pastoralism aligns with FAO’s strategic work to make agriculture, forestry and fisheries more productive and sustainable.

Read more about the conference on Agroforestry: sustainably feeding the planet and providing energy, held on 12 September, organized by the European Agroforestry Federation (EURAF) as part of the European Union Directorate General Agriculture stakeholders’ week of events at Expo Milan 2015. All conference presentations can be viewed at this EURAF webpage.   

Meetings and events

Meetings  

• Land and Water Day, 10–12 November 2015 – an FAO initiative in collaboration with the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the World Food Programme. Register for the event here. 
• 1st International Symposium on Moringa, 15–18 November 2015, Manila, Philippines
• 51st Session of the International Tropical Timber Council and Associated Sessions of the Committees, 16–21 November 2015, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 

Regional Forestry Commission meetings 2015–16

• Joint Session of the 38th European Forestry Commission and 73rd UNECE Committee on Forest and Forest Industry, "Silva 2015" - European Forest Week, Engelberg, Switzerland, 2–6 November 2015. Also find out what is happening in the region in the UNECE–FAO Forest Information Billboard 3/2015.

• 29th Session of the Latin American and Caribbean Forestry Commission, Lima, Peru, 9–13 November 2015

• 22nd Session of the Near East Forestry and Range Commission, Tlemcen, Algeria, 13–17 December 2015

• 28th Session of the North American Forest Commission, 11–15 January 2016, Campeche, Mexico

• 20th Session of the African Forestry and Wildlife Commission, 1–5 February 2016 - venue to be confirmed.

• Asia-Pacific Forestry Week 2016, 26th Session of the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission, 22–26 February 2016, Clark Freeport Zone, Philippines

Collaborative Partnership on Forests events calendar 

Expo Milano 2015  

Feeding the planet - energy for life, Milan, Italy, 1 May to 31 October 2015

On 16 October, FAO celebrated World Food Day (WFD) under the theme Social protection and agriculture: breaking the cycle of rural poverty. This year's celebrations also marked the 70th anniversary of FAO's founding in 1945. A special global WFD observance was held at Expo Milano 2015 in the presence of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the President of the Republic of Italy, H.E. Sergio Mattarella, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva and other dignitaries and high-level representatives, including the heads of the two other Rome-based agencies. The Charter of Milan, the cultural legacy of Expo Milano 2015, was officially presented to Mr Ban Ki-moon.

International Days 2015 

The full list of international days can be viewed here. 

31 October – World Cities Day, Designed to live together

5 December – World Soil Day, Soils a solid ground for life. Also read the FAO Forestry key messages on soils

11 December – International Mountain Day, Promoting mountain products for better livelihoods. Also view the new publication Promoting mountain products for better livelihoods – English and Spanish. 

Publications

• Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015: How are the world's forests changing? – Synthesis document 
• Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015 – Desk reference
• Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015 infographic: How are the world's forests changing?

• Selected FAO Forestry and other publications 2015 – XIV World Forestry Congress special edition 

• Southern Africa's forests and people – investing in a sustainable future

• Global guidelines for the restoration of degraded forests and landscapes in drylands: building resilience and benefitting livelihoods – FAO Forestry Paper 175

• Sustainable financing for forest and landscape restoration – the role of public policymakers

• Typology of the forest private sector's players – English and Spanish

• Promoting mountain products for better livelihoods – English and Spanish

• Wood fuels handbook – English, Albanian and Serbian 
  

• The role of natural regeneration in large-scale forest and landscape restoration: challenge and opportunity – International Institute for Sustainability and partners, including FAO

• State of Europe's Forests 2015 and Summary for Policy Makers – FOREST EUROPE and partners, including FAO  

• Towards effective national forest funds - FAO Forestry Paper 174, now also available in French: Vers des fonds forestiers nationaux efficaces 

• Emerging approaches to forest reference emission levels and/or forest reference levels for REDD+

• Technical considerations for forest reference level construction for REDD+ under the UNFCCC

• 70 years of FAO (1945–2015)

Forest and Farm Facility partner publications

• Democratising forest business: a compendium of successful locally controlled forest business models – International Institute for Environment and Development
• Effective forest and farm producer organizations – European Tropical Forest Research Network

Collaborative Partnership on Sustainable Wildlife Management Fact Sheets

• Fact Sheet 3: Sustainable wildlife management and animal health
• Fact Sheet 4: Sustainable wildlife management and human-wildlife conflict

Newsletters

• Nature & Faune 29(2) – Forests and people: investing in Africa's sustainable future. Special XIV World Forestry edition to mark the first Africa-hosted World Forestry Congress
• NWFP Update 2015/6 This issue looks at health and wellbeing, Goal No.3 of the new Sustainable Development Goals, through the prism of non-wood forest products and forests.
• REDD+ weekly update
• Forest Information Billboard 3/2015 – UNECE-FAO