FAO and EU Forests

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has called for proposals for the EU-supported programme on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT). Proposals must address at least one of seven thematic priorities:
- support for Voluntary Partnership Agreements;
- improved transparency;
- monitoring and national control systems;
- the enhancement of community forestry;
- support for legal and regulatory frameworks;
- support for relevant private sector efforts; and
- the improvement of timber markets.

Deadline for proposals is 12 December.

EU FAO FLEGT Programme Guidelines

Governance of Tenure

The Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security were endorsed by the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and the FAO Council in June 2012. They are to:

- serve as a reference and set out principles and internationally accepted standards for practices for the responsible governance of tenure;

- provide a framework that States can use when developing their own strategies, policies, legislation, programmes and activities;

- allow governments, civil society, the private sector and citizens to judge whether their proposed actions and the actions of others constitute acceptable practices.

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Global Forest Loss

FAO and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation have published a report titled "Mountain Forests in a Changing World" bringing attention to the threats to mountain forests including increasing temperatures and wildfires, population growth and food and fuel insecurity. It also calls on national policymakers to take the protection of mountain forests into account and integrate these concerns into climate change mitigation and adaptation policies.

ITTA 2006 In Force

The International Tropical Timber Agreement, 2006 entered into force on 12 December 2011. With the ratification by the Government of Benin, the new agreement takes the place of its predecessor.

Press release

FAO: REDD+ and Sustainable Agriculture

A new policy brief titled "Building bridges between REDD+ and sustainable agriculture:Addressing agriculture's role as a driver of deforestation" recommends, inter alia: promoting inter-sectoral policies; including integrated landscape approaches in the activities covered under different carbon finance funds; promoting evergreen agriculture, which combines agroforestry with conservation farming; reflecting on tenure rights, governance and other potential socioeconomic impacts during cross-sectoral REDD+ planning processes; and improving methods for landscape level carbon accounting.

Post-Conflict Assessment of Rwanda

The UNEP-led comprehensive, national-scale report titled "Rwanda: From Post-Conflict to Environmentally Sustainable Development," analyzes the most pressing environmental issues and offers a series of interventions that would help the country accelerate its sustainable development agenda. It urges, among other things, to create opportunities for a transition towards a green economy including reinforcing policies and investments in large-scale ecosystem rehabilitation, renewable energies, sustainable agriculture and agroforestry. Total cost of the recommendations proposed in the report is estimated to be $US147.35 million.

Mountain Partnership Holds Regional Meetings

Experts from Azerbaijan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Mongolia and Tajikistan recently convened at a meeting on "Climate Change: Impacts, Adaptation and Development in Mountain Regions" exploring how best to address evidence of climate change impacts on mountain regions in international discussions. Participants highlighted impacts on agriculture, stressing that the climate change negotiations do not adequately consider mountain ecosystems and populations and identified priority challenges and strategic actions related to:
- branding and better communicating the global importance of Central Asian mountains;
- advocating for mountain states to act as one;
- consideration of a variety of renewable energy sources including the advantages and disadvantages of hydropower;
- sustainable use and management of water resources;
- collection of monitoring data and strengthening networks;
- efforts to combat forest degradation;
- identifying appropriate financial mechanisms for climate adaptation;
- improvement of grazing areas; and
- risk prevention of natural disasters.

The meeting is part of a series of three regional meetings on adaptation and development in mountain regions hosted by the Mountain Partnership Secretariat. The meeting for the Latin American region was held in Chile in October 2011, and the meeting for the African region will be held in Mbale (Uganda) from 16-18 November 2011.

Mountain Partnership Meeting Website

Forest Sector and Climate Change

FAO and the National Forest Programme Facility have released a publication titled, "Climate Change for Policy-Makers: An approach for integrating climate change in forest programmes in support of sustainable forest management." The aim is to assist senior officials in government administrations and representatives of other stakeholders in preparing the forest sector for the challenges and opportunities posed by climate change. 

New Publication on Biodiversity Law and Policy

The World Future Council (WFC) and the Center for International Sustainable Development Law (CISDL) have published a new report entitled “Crafting Future Just Biodiversity Laws andPolicies”. It includes a survey of the world’s best biodiversity laws from Costa Rica, Norway, Bhutan and South Africa, as well as an analysis of successful sectoral biodiversity policies which address marine, forest and agricultural biodiversity.

Legal Frameworks for REDD

This new IUCN publication identifies and analyzes critical issues in the formulation and implementation of national and sub-national legal frameworks for REDD activities. It is based on substantive findings from four national case studies (Brazil, Cameroon, Guyana and Papua New Guinea) chosen for their varying geographies, forest cover and deforestation rates, and stages of REDD preparations.

Download PDF

Aral Sea: 3rd Programme Underway

It was announced during the joint session of the UNECE Timber Committee and the FAO European Forestry Commission that, in cooperation with the Governments of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, a regional project on the forestation of the dry bed of the Aral Sea will be undertaken. The project is part of the 3rd Aral Basin Sea Basin Programme undertaken by the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) to improve environmental, social and economic conditions in the region.

In addition to this noteworthy project, 15 other project proposals fall under the specific focus "improving the instituional and legal instruments".

UNEP: DRC Post-Conflcit Assessment

UNEP has released a new assessment titled: “The Democratic Republic of the Congo: Post-Conflict Environmental Assessment UN Environment Programme Synthesis for Policy Makers,” which underlines the significance of DRC’s natural and mineral resources, while also addressing the need to urgently allay multiple pressures on natural resources. The study highlights numerous threats, including increased deforestation, species depletion, heavy metal pollution and land degradation from mining. It also underscores the acute drinking water crisis faced by DRC, leaving an estimated 51 million Congolese without access to potable water.

Role of Forests in a Green Economy

The Conference on Forests in a Green Economy concluded with recommended actions on how to realize the potential of forests to help build a green economy. The recommendations and conclusions will now be submitted to both UNCSD (Rio+20) in 2012 and UNFF-10), to be held in 2013.

FAO: Urban Forestry

FAO has announced that it is helping to develop guidelines for decision-makers on urban and peri-urban forestry. To be published in July 2012, the guidelines are to promote sound policies and review good practices, highlighting lessons learned from initiatives around the world.

Press Release

CITES: New Hardwood Species Listings

Following requests from Madagascar and Panama, CITES has announced that it will list 91 species of hardwood from Madagascar and Panama on its Appendix III, effective 22 December 2011. Appendix III lists those species identified by a CITES Party as being subject to regulation within its jurisdiction for the purpose of preventing or restricting exploitation, and as needing the co-operation of other Parties in the control of trade.
CITES Press Release

UNECE: Forest Sector in 2010-2030

The European Forest Sector Outlook Study II (EFSOS II) covers the 27 members of the EU, as well as Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, illustrating the consequences of today's policy choices for the future of forests.

ITTO: Forest Management Guidelines

The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) convened the 2nd expert meeting for the review and update of its Guidelines for the Sustainable Management of Natural Tropical Forests from 22-25 August in Acre (Brazil). Experts from member countries, as well as partner research institutions completed the final draft of the Guidelines, which will be submitted for adoption by the ITTO Council at its next meeting, in November 2011 while also discussing methodologies for field testing of the Guidelines.
Meeting Website

UNEP: Forests in Green Economy an Climate Change

The fifth issue of the Policy Series on Ecosystem Management titled "Sustaining Forests: Investing in Our Common Future"  has been released. It addresses the role of forests in a green economy and opportunities for innovative solutions to forest management incorporating economic values of forests to human well-being; the importance of forests for mitigating climate change through carbon sequestration; the use of innovative market and policy mechanisms; and mechanisms that combine social, economic and environmental benefits to encourage sustained investment in forests for the success of a green economy.

New Report Related to Water and Food

UNEP and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) have released a report titled “An Ecosystems Approach to Water and Food Security," which recommend that policymakers consider farmland, fisheries and other agricultural areas as "agroecosystems." UNEP and IWMI recommend closer collaboration between government authorities in agriculture, environment, forestry, fisheries and other sectors and hightlight the potential role for incentives, including paying farmers to plant and maintain trees on their land, to bolster ecosystem services and thus their contribution to water and food security.

FAO: Extreme Weather and Forests

FAO has released a report titled "Abiotic Disturbances and their Influence on Forest Health," which highlights the increasing threat posed to the world's forests by extreme weather events. Recommendations include the use of adaptive forest management to protect forest resources against increasing abiotic disturbances, and calls for the use of strategies such as species diversification, windbreaks and mixed cropping patterns to enhance ecosystem resilience, as well as selective planting.