FO: LACFC/2000/7  |
| FO: LACFC/2000/7 |
LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN FORESTRY COMMISSION |
Item 6 of the Provisional Agenda |
TWENTY-FIRST SESSION |
Santa Fe de Bogota, Colombia, 4-8 September 2000 |
FOLLOW-UP TO UNCED AND IFF AS RELATED TO FORESTRY |
Secretariat Note |
OPORTUNITIES FOR NATIONAL FOREST PROGRAMMES DEVELOPMENT
UNCED FOLLOW-UP AND SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT IN THE REGION
1. The fourth and final session of the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF-4), which was held from 31 January to 11 February 2000 at United Nations Headquarters in New York, United States of America, offers the opportunity to review some possible future developments.
2. The last session of IFF had two main objectives: to finalize remaining unresolved issues concerning programme elements discussed by the first three sessions, and to decide on a text for Category III, "International arrangements and mechanisms to promote the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests". The delegates were highly committed to concluding all the issues at hand and to producing a final report, with no unresolved points, for submission to the eighth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-8) in April 2000.
3. IFF-4 was co-chaired by Ambassador Bagher Asadi of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Ambassador Ilkka Ristimäki of Finland. Opening speeches were given by the Chair of the Interagency Task Force on Forests (ITFF), Mr. David Harcharik, Deputy Director-General of FAO; the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Mr. Klaus Töpfer; the UN Deputy Secretary-General, Ms. Louise Fréchette; the Assistant Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Ms. Eimi Watanabe; and Mr. Juan Mayr, Colombian Minister of Environment and CSD-8 Chair. Mr. Harcharik summed up important concerns of many present when he pointed out the need for clear objectives, the importance of moving from talk to action, and the need for partnerships to avoid duplication and develop synergy.
4. Regarding the programme elements (see Box), the delegates arrived at conclusions and proposals for action regarding all the remaining issues, which was presented to CSD-8. The greatest attention, however, was focused on Category III, concerning international arrangements. Issues that emerged prominently in the debate were whether an international arrangement on forests should include a legally binding instrument; the financing of sustainable forest management; and transfer of environmentally sound technology. Although agreement was not reached easily, the meeting - at 6:00 a.m. on Saturday, 12 February - finally adopted a text which was submitted for adoption by CSD, entitled "International Arrangement on Forests".
5. The agreed text outlines the objectives, purpose, functions, structure, working modalities and coordination and implementation mechanisms of a proposed international arrangement whose objective would be "to promote the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests and to strengthen long-term political commitment to this end".
6. The purpose of this arrangement would be "to promote the implementation of internationally agreed actions on forests, at the national, regional and global levels, to provide a coherent, transparent and participatory global framework for policy implementation, coordination and development, and to carry out principal functions, based on the Rio Declaration, the Forest Principles, Chapter 11 of Agenda 21, and the outcomes of the IPF/IFF process, in a manner consistent with and complementary to existing international legally binding instruments relevant to forests".
7. To this end, it was proposed to create a new intergovernmental body, which may be called the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF). This high-level body would be established by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the General Assembly. It would be open to all States and to relevant United Nations and other international and regional organizations, institutions and instruments and major groups as identified in Agenda 21. It would initially meet annually, for a period of up to two weeks (subject to review), and would include a two- to three-day high-level ministerial segment, as well as a meeting between ministers and heads of member organizations.
8. UNFF would work on the basis of a multi-year programme of work, drawing on elements reflected in the Rio Declaration, the Forest Principles, Chapter 11 of Agenda 21 and the proposals for action of the ad hoc Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF) and IFF.
9. It was agreed that within five years, UNFF should consider with a view to recommending the parameters of a mandate for developing a legal framework on all types of forests; and that the body should take steps to devise approaches towards appropriate financial and technology transfer support to enable the implementation of sustainable forest management, as recommended under the IPF and IFF processes.
10. The Forum invited executive heads of relevant organizations of the United Nations system and heads of other relevant international and regional organizations, institutions and instruments to form a collaborative partnership on forests to support the work of the UNFF and to enhance cooperation and coordination among participants and further noted that this collaborative partnership could "build on a high-level, informal group, such as the Inter-agency Task Force on Forests (ITFF), which would receive guidance from the UNFF, facilitate and promote coordinated and cooperative action, including joint programming and submissions of coordinated proposals to their respective governing bodies; and facilitate donor coordination. Such a partnership would submit coordinated inputs and progress reports to the UNFF, and operate in an open, transparent and flexible manner, and undertake periodic reviews of its effectiveness."
11. Funding for the arrangement should be mobilized from the regular budget of the United Nations within existing resources, resources of organizations participating in the partnership and extrabudgetary resources provided by interested donors. It was agreed that the international arrangement on forests should be dynamic and should adapt to evolving conditions. Accordingly, the effectiveness of the arrangement would be reviewed in five years.
12. CSD-8 reviewed the proposals for the UNFF and passed them to ECOSOC, where they were being discussed at the time of drafting this Note.
Subjects deliberated and finalized at IFF-4
13. The compromises that were necessary to reach agreement at IFF-4 inevitably imply that no country was fully satisfied with the result. On the other hand, the determination that countries showed in reaching a result demonstrated their commitment to continuing the international dialogue on forests. A selection of some of the expressed expectations of countries from the UNFF include:
14. There was agreement on the definition of national forest programmes at the final meeting of the IPF, which has led to greater recognition of their role as a vehicle or framework for channelling funding, both domestic and international, from the public and private sectors. This in turn has led to examination of various forms of innovative funding for the forestry sector, particularly from domestic sources.
15. While respecting national sovereignty, there is recognition of the need to expand international support to country processes and to facilitate the flow of funding requiring perhaps the establishment of an International Partnership Agreement/Mechanism to support nfps at regional and national level. Regional and subregional country associations/integration can strengthen collaboration and cooperation to promote sustainable forestry development and common enforcement of appropriate forestry policies and regulation.
16. There is an important need to increase institutional capacity for developing and in transition countries to define, update and review policies, strategies and planning systems through appropriate training and cooperation activities among countries.
17. The agreement on common criteria by which sustainable forest management can be defined and indicators by which progress can be assessed or measured are important tools which can assist countries to regularly monitor the effects of forest management interventions and to adjust practices to ensure increased sustainability of the socio-economic, environmental and cultural values that forests and forest ecosystems provide.
18. Important progress has continued to be made in the development of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management, within the framework of the Tarapoto Proposal for Criteria and Indicators for the Sustainability of the Amazon Forest and the Central American Process of Lepaterique, as already reported in document FO:LACFC/2000/3 (paras. 2 and 3).
19. The need to convert rhetoric to action was one of the recurring themes of contributions to the debates of the IFF and the section above on the expectations of countries summarises the challenges in implementing the recommendations of member countries of the IFF to translate these expectations into action.
20. Members may wish to advise FAO on future actions related to follow-up to the IFF and the international dialogue.