FAO - COFO 13 - Report

(i)Progress towards sustainable forest management and follow-up to UNCED including implications of the work of the Inter-governmental Panel on Forests (IPF)

The development of criteria and indicators to assess progress in sustainable forest management were recognised by the Committee as being among the most significant endeavours in forestry during the post-UNCED era. It endorsed and recommended the implementation of IPF proposals for action directed to FAO, especially in (i) the undertaking of efforts to achieve common understanding of key concepts and essential terms and definitions; (ii) association of more countries and regions not yet involved or advanced in their processes; (iii) strengthening national capacities; (iv) incorporation of criteria and indicators in national forest programmes and forest resources assessments; (v) assisting countries in developing information on criteria and indicators that is transparent, scientifically sound and technically valid (para. 11).

The Committee reviewed the discussions and progress made in national forest programmes. It stressed the country-driven nature of national forest programmes and the merits of a bottom-up approach. The Committee recommended that FAO continue to support countries' efforts, monitor progress achieved and develop strategies to promote national forest programmes and regional work programmes. This support should focus on follow-up to planning initiatives and implementation of ongoing activities; enhancement of national capacities and facilitation of technology transfers; mobilisation of financial resources; promotion of partnerships and transparency; coordination of existing planning frameworks; and helping coordinate donors' involvement (para. 13).

(ii)Role of COFO and Regional Forestry Commissions

The Committee:

-recommended active and early involvement of countries and the bureaux of the Commissions in the preparation of agendas for the Commissions and COFO in order to encourage active participation of countries (para. 17);

-noted the need for a broad strategic framework for FAO's planning and implementation of activities in the field of forests and recommended that the Assistant Director-General of the Forestry Department draw up this framework and include the Forestry Department's objectives, priorities, issues, activities and partnership arrangements over the medium term, consistent with the results of the Committee's discussions of item 10. It further recommended that the Commissions be invited to participate in its development, perhaps through their bureaux, and noted the need for the document to be succinct, to outline strategic thrusts and to take into account the forest-related decisions of the fifth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development and the Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly (para. 18);

-agreed that this broad strategic framework be distributed as soon as possible to allow the Commissions to use it when planning their activities over the short and medium term. It was also suggested that note be taken of the document by the Conference in November 1997 and that it be submitted to the next session of COFO (para. 18);

-recommended that COFO and Regional Forestry Commissions be open and involve representatives of NGOs and the private sector (including forest owners, industries, academic institutions and rural people, including women, etc.) in their meetings, programmes and activities; and that FAO work with donor organizations and countries to identify innovative financial support to assist participation of developing member countries and countries in transition in the regular and inter-sessional activities of the Regional Forestry Commissions. It stressed the need for strengthened support to the Commissions (paras. 19 and 20).

(iii)Implications for forestry of the Plan of Action of the World Food Summit

The Committee recognised the vital contribution that forests, forest products and forest services made to food security and poverty alleviation. Forests and trees play an irreplaceable role in direct production of food, fuelwood and fodder, and also in their indirect contribution, through income generation activities, to the conservation of lands and the sustainable use of water resources. The Committee further recognised that the Forestry Department's emphasis on sustainable forest management helped ensure that forests would continue to make this vital contribution. It recommended that the Forestry Department maintain sustainable forest management as its guiding principle, in accordance with the decision taken at the World Food Summit (para. 21).

(iv)Conservation and sustainable utilization of forest genetic resources

The Committee:

-recognized the work done by FAO in the forest genetic resources field over several decades. It recommended that efforts to explore, conserve, evaluate and better utilize forest genetic resources be continued and further strengthened in collaboration with national institutes and international governmental and non-governmental partners (para. 24);

-noted the recent broadening of the mandate of the FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA) and recommended that the Panel of Experts on Forest Gene Resources continue to provide advice to the CGRFA in its fields of competence (para. 26).

(v)Review of FAO Regular and Field Programmes, including follow-up to the requests and recommendations of the twelfth session of the Committee

The Committee:

-recommended that, for future sessions, programme evaluations be included and requested that more qualitative information be provided in the review of the field programme (para. 32);

-commended the efforts being made for decentralisation; it noted the difficulties in staffing the forestry positions in the new sub-regional offices and urged FAO to increase its support to the sub-regional offices (para. 35).

(vi)Medium-term perspectives (1998-2003) and Programme of Work and Budget 1998-99 priorities

The Committee expressed concern at the limited budgetary allocation for forestry in general and at the fact that the share of forestry in the overall FAO budget remained limited and therefore inconsistent with the post-UNCED importance of forestry in relation to sustainable forest management, desertification, climate change and the conservation of biological diversity. It strongly recommended that FAO allocate additional resources for this programme period. Given the resource constraints, the Committee called for greater efficiency in the use of the limited funding that was available and strongly recommended that FAO further prioritize its activities (paras. 40 and 41).

(vii)Decisions of FAO Governing Bodies of interest to the Committee

Recommendations of other FAO Statutory Bodies in forestry of interest to the Committee

The Committee noted the recommendations arising from the meetings of the Regional Conferences regarding future meetings of ministers responsible for forestry and recommended that the advice of those Conferences be followed (para. 45).

INTRODUCTION (back to top)

1.The thirteenth session of the Committee on Forestry (COFO) was held at FAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy, from 10 to 13 March 1997.

2.The session was attended by delegates from 98 Members of the Committee, by observers from seven other Member Nations and the Holy See; by representatives from United Nations agencies and Programmes; and by observers from 11 intergovernmental and international non-governmental organizations. The full list of participants is given in Appendix B.

3.Mr Ján Ilavsky, outgoing Vice-Chairman, opened the session in the absence of the outgoing Chairman.

4.Mr D. Harcharik, Assistant Director-General, welcomed delegates and addressed the session on behalf of the Director-General.

ADOPTION OF AGENDA (Item 2) (back to top)

5.The Agenda (Appendix A) was adopted. The documents considered by the Committee are listed in Appendix C.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS AND DESIGNATION OF RAPPORTEUR (Item 3) (back to top)

6.The Committee elected Mr Yvan Hardy (Canada) to the Chair, Mr Víctor Sosa Cedillo (Mexico) as First Vice-Chairman, and as Vice-Chairmen:

Dato' Ismail Awang(Malaysia)- Asia

A. Kane (Senegal)- Africa

Ridha El Fekih (Tunisia)- Near East

E. Wermann (Germany)- Europe

Peter Thomas (Australia)- Pacific

Dr H.O. Abdel Nour (Sudan) was elected Rapporteur.

STATE OF THE WORLD'S FORESTS (Item 4) (back to top)

7.An overview of the main features which characterize the world forestry situation, derived from the second issue of the FAO biennial report State of the World's Forests, of which advanced copies were released at COFO, was presented to the Committee to put in context the discussions of the session.

MAJOR FORESTRY POLICY ISSUES (back to top)

Progress towards sustainable forest management and follow-up to UNCED including implications of the work of the Inter-governmental Panel on Forests (IPF) (Item 5)

8.The Committee noted that this session of COFO, held shortly after the final session of the IPF, offered a unique opportunity to review the activities of FAO in sustainable forest management and the overall international forestry agenda and provide advice to the Forestry Department on the development and implementation of its programme. The Committee was informed of the results of the overall IPF process and especially the proposals for action of its fourth Session. It commended the intensive work accomplished during these two years, through cooperation and partnership, and expressed appreciation of support provided by FAO, especially in chairing the Inter-Agency Task Force on Forests, and endorsed FAO's continued leadership role. Taking into account the conclusions and proposals for action of the IPF and the fact that a number of final decisions would be taken at CSD 5, the Committee declined further discussion on this issue.

9.The Committee took note of the efforts already taken towards the realisation of the Forest Resources Assessment 2000. It stressed the importance of the assessment of all types of forests and the role of FAO in facilitating work on internationally accepted definitions of key terms and concepts. The Committee supported the lead role of FAO and the role that FAO's European Forestry Commission and the ECE Timber Committee played in the assessment of temperate and boreal forests of developed countries. The Committee urged FAO to continue to develop partnerships with other international and bilateral organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The need to produce more reliable and comparable information at country level was recognised along with the need for providing assistance for national capacity building.

10.The Committee recognised the need for continuous assessments of the world's forests and the incorporation of elements relating to inter alia forest biological diversity, forest health and quality, while appreciating resource constraints. More resources were needed for FRA to be achieved satisfactorily and in this regard the Committee noted with appreciation the support expressed by some delegations. It urged FAO to finalise and circulate a detailed workplan for FRA 2000.

11.The development of criteria and indicators to assess progress in sustainable forest management were recognised by the Committee as being among the most significant endeavours in forestry during the post-UNCED era. The Committee commended the work conducted by FAO in cooperation with other international organizations and a number of countries which had supported and/or participated in regional initiatives to develop relevant criteria and indicators. It endorsed and recommended the implementation of IPF proposals for action directed to FAO, especially in (i) the undertaking of efforts to achieve common understanding of key concepts and essential terms and definitions; (ii) association of more countries and regions not yet involved or advanced in their processes; (iii) strengthening national capacities; (iv) incorporation of criteria and indicators in national forest programmes and forest resources assessments; (v) assisting countries in developing information on criteria and indicators that is transparent, scientifically sound and technically valid.

12.The Committee noted the potential positive relationship between trade in forest products and sustainable forest management. It also noted that there were a number of areas needing further investigation in this regard. Many delegates supported FAO in continuing work in this area, in close cooperation with other relevant organisations such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO), particularly relating to the analysis of trade barriers, including non-tariff barriers.

13.The Committee reviewed the discussions and progress made in national forest programmes. It stressed the country-driven nature of national forest programmes and the merits of a bottom-up approach. The Committee recommended that FAO continue to support countries' efforts, monitor progress achieved and develop strategies to promote national forest programmes and regional work programmes. This support should focus on follow-up to planning initiatives and implementation of ongoing activities; enhancement of national capacities and facilitation of technology transfers; mobilisation of financial resources; promotion of partnerships and transparency; coordination of existing planning frameworks; and helping coordinate donors' involvement.

14.The Committee appreciated FAO's delivery of its task manager role for chapter 13 of Agenda 21 and encouraged it to continue its support to it, taking into account the importance of mountain forests, especially regarding water resources and the contribution of watershed management to food security. It further noted the gravity of the problems associated with desertification, and urged FAO to assist in the enhancement of the capabilities of affected countries to address such acute problems in line with the UN Convention to Combat Desertification and in strengthening national efforts made in this respect.

Role of COFO and Regional Forestry Commissions (Item 6)

15.The Committee noted that the Regional Forestry Commissions and COFO worked closely together within FAO to deal with forestry matters regionally and globally. FAO's continued support to the work of the Commissions was endorsed.

16.The Committee emphasized the importance of integration of the activities of Regional Forestry Commissions and, taking into account other regional activities and COFO, to benefit from synergies and avoid duplication.

17.The Committee recommended active and early involvement of countries and the bureaux of the Commissions in the preparation of agendas for the Commissions and COFO in order to encourage active participation of countries. It encouraged the Commissions to strengthen inter-sessional activities and cooperation between individual states and to form sub-regional groups as appropriate to identify, discuss and prepare specific forestry issues for wider consideration and to monitor their implementation. Networking and exchange of information between relevant interest groups either regionally or otherwise would increase efficiency.

18.The Committee noted the need for a broad strategic framework for FAO's planning and implementation of activities in the field of forests. Such a framework would assist the six Commissions to put their deliberations in a global context when developing and carrying out their individual programmes of work. It recommended that the Assistant Director-General of the Forestry Department draw up this framework and include the Forestry Department's objectives, priorities, issues, activities and partnership arrangements over the medium term, consistent with the results of the Committee's discussions of item 10. It further recommended that the Commissions be invited to participate in its development, perhaps through their bureaux, and noted the need for the document to be succinct, to outline strategic thrusts and to take into account the forest-related decisions of the fifth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development and the Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly. It was further agreed that this broad strategic framework be distributed as soon as possible to allow the Commissions to use it when planning their activities over the short and medium term. It was also suggested that note be taken of the document by the Conference in November 1997 and that it be submitted to the next session of COFO.

19.The Committee recommended that COFO and Regional Forestry Commissions be open and involve representatives of NGOs and the private sector (including forest owners, industries, academic institutions and rural people, including women, etc.) in their meetings, programmes and activities.

20.The Committee recommended that FAO work with donor organizations and countries to identify innovative financial support to assist participation of developing member countries and countries in transition in the regular and inter-sessional activities of the Regional Forestry Commissions. It stressed the need for strengthened support to the Commissions.

Implications for forestry of the Plan of Action of the World Food Summit (Item 7)

21.The Committee recognised the vital contribution that forests, forest products and forest services made to food security and poverty alleviation. Forests and trees play an irreplaceable role in direct production of food, fuelwood and fodder, and also in their indirect contribution, through income generation activities, to the conservation of lands and the sustainable use of water resources. The Committee further recognised that the Forestry Department's emphasis on sustainable forest management helped ensure that forests would continue to make this vital contribution. It recommended that the Forestry Department maintain sustainable forest management as its guiding principle, in accordance with the decision taken at the World Food Summit.

Conservation and sustainable utilization of forest genetic resources (Item 8)

22.The Committee recognized that the conservation and sustainable use of forest genetic resources were of high priority to all countries. It stressed that the conservation and sustainable utilization of forest genetic resources were integral to sustainable forest management, and helped underpin overall sustainable development.

23.The Committee highlighted the need to integrate forest genetic resources considerations into national forest programmes or other action frameworks at national or regional level.

24.The Committee recognized the work done by FAO in the forest genetic resources field over several decades. It recommended that efforts to explore, conserve, evaluate and better utilize forest genetic resources be continued and further strengthened in collaboration with national institutes and international governmental and non-governmental partners.

25.The Committee welcomed the cooperation established by FAO with the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, and encouraged further strengthening of collaboration. It stressed the need to continue close collaboration in the forest genetic resources field also with traditional partners such as the Centres of the CGIAR (notably IPGRI, CIFOR, ICRAF), and concerned NGOs, including IUFRO.

26.The Committee noted the recent broadening of the mandate of the FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA). It recommended that the Panel of Experts on Forest Gene Resources continue to provide advice to the CGRFA in its fields of competence. Some delegations suggested that the Panel review the institutional options and Terms of Reference of a possible inter-governmental technical working group on forest genetic resources, if established.

27.There was no consensus concerning a global plan of action on forest genetic resources. Some delegations were of the opinion that efforts to consider a global plan of action on conservation and sustainable utilization of forest genetic resources were premature. Other delegations considered that FAO should pursue efforts to develop regional plans of action for the conservation and sustainable use of forest genetic resources as a first step to develop a global plan of action.

28.The Committee agreed that there was an urgent need for concerted action to strengthen national, regional and international activities in the conservation and sustainable use of forest genetic resources, to help enhance country capacities and to support the exchange of information, experiences and know-how. Efforts in this regard, which rested on the principles of national sovereignty over natural resources, as set out in the Forest Principles and the Rio Declaration, should be country-driven in recognition of the fact that the most appropriate action varied according to environmental, social and economic circumstances, institutional and legal frameworks, and prevailing needs and priorities of countries concerned.

29.The Committee noted the Council's discussion that action proceed in a stepwise, country-driven manner, respecting national sovereignty, within the overall framework of the CGRFA and, in addition, with the technical and scientific advice of the Panel of Experts on Forest Gene Resources.

30.FAO, in conjunction with Regional Forestry Commissions and countries that request it, could convene regional and sub-regional forest genetic workshops complementary to those already held in 1995 for boreal and temperate zones.

FAO PROGRAMMES IN FORESTRY (back to top)

Review of FAO Regular and Field Programmes, including follow-up to the requests and recommendations of the twelfth session of the Committee (Item 9)

31.The Committee commended FAO for effectively following up the recommendations of its previous session. The increased emphasis on sustainable forest management of the Regular Programme and support of the implementation of Agenda 21 was noted and endorsed.

32.The Committee recommended that, for future sessions, programme evaluations be included and requested that more qualitative information be provided in the review of the field programme.

33.The Committee supported additional efforts towards increased efficiency in FAO's Regular Programme and continued efforts towards prioritisation and programme coherence. The IPF report was noted as a sound source for the identification of actions requiring priority attention in due course.

34.The Committee commended FAO's:

-continued efforts and support to countries in national forest planning exercises, noting in particular the activities in the Mediterranean region;

-focus on community forestry as an effective model of networking, cooperation, people's participation and involvement of women; and

-enhancement of contacts with the private sector through the Advisory Committee on Paper and Wood Products.

35.The Committee commended the efforts being made for decentralisation. It noted the difficulties in staffing the forestry positions in the new sub-regional offices, and urged FAO to increase its support to the sub-regional offices.

36.The Committee noted the necessity of complementarity between the forestry regular and field programmes and called for a stronger synergy between the two. Noting the difficulties of decentralisation and its impact on the field programme, support was expressed for maintaining a strong field programme in FAO. In this regard, FAO expected that the decline in programme funding for the Asia-Pacific region would be reversed as the operational effectiveness of the Bangkok regional office improved.

37.Concern was expressed at the decline in the FAO field programme in Africa and FAO was requested to review the situation and to develop a strategy to increase support to the region. The Committee requested that future reports on the field programme also include information on international development assistance of the international donor community at large for comparative purposes.

Medium-term perspectives (1998-2003) and Programme of Work and Budget 1998-99 priorities (Item 10)

38.The Committee welcomed the efforts of FAO to prepare a strategy for its role in forestry, to redefine its mission, to identify areas of concentration based on its comparative advantage and mandate relative to those of other institutions, and to reflect the long-term orientations which emerged from this in its Programme of Work and Budget for 1998-99.

39.The Committee noted the continuing high level of international interest in forestry matters which had been further reinforced as a result of the activities of the ad hoc Inter-governmental Panel on Forests (IPF) which recently concluded its work. International dialogue had been accompanied by expectations on the part of member countries and other interest groups regarding the roles of FAO. The Committee requested FAO to remain aware of these expectations and to the outcome of international dialogue as it charted its way into the future.

40.The Committee expressed concern at the limited budgetary allocation for forestry in general and at the fact that the share of forestry in the overall FAO budget remained limited and therefore inconsistent with the post-UNCED importance of forestry in relation to sustainable forest management, desertification, climate change and the conservation of biological diversity. It strongly recommended that FAO allocate additional resources for this programme period.

41.Given the resource constraints, the Committee called for greater efficiency in the use of the limited funding that was available and strongly recommended that FAO further prioritize its activities. It noted, for example, that over 20 activities were considered priorities, of which six were labelled as special priorities. The Committee requested that these be screened further, taking into account FAO's comparative advantage. However, in view of the fact that FAO had a global mandate and addressed a broad spectrum of forestry development issues and served countries with a diverse range of needs, the Committee recognized that complete elimination of some activities may not be practical. The Committee encouraged FAO to further increase its cooperation and establish strategic alliances with partners so that they could collectively serve a broad constituency while each achieved greater focus in their respective areas of concentration.

42.While noting that the documentation for this session was a great improvement compared to previous sessions, the Committee regretted that the manner in which the budget was presented did not permit clear matching of expressed priorities with budgetary allocations. In the context of overall support for sustainable forest management, it endorsed the following overall priorities, in no order of ranking: (a) the general area of follow-up to key recommendations arising from the IPF in those areas which fall within FAO's competence; (b) forest resources assessment (including capacity building); (c) national forest programmes, with focus on capacity building; (d) community forestry; (e) outlook studies and statistics; and (f) criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management. It urged FAO to convene an early meeting of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Forests to agree on inter-agency division of responsibilities with respect to IPF follow-up.

43.A number of other areas of interest to specific countries or regions were also mentioned as priorities, including: sustainable mountain development, non-wood forest products, forest genetic resources, plantations, fuelwood, forestry in dry zones and areas subject to desertification, and support to research networks. The strengthening of Regional Forestry Commissions was also considered important. Areas mentioned as being of lower overall priority were mainly where other international agencies had particular strengths, such as trade and marketing, agroforestry, wildlife and protected area management.

44.There was overall appreciation that it was valuable for FAO to maintain a balance among the environmental, economic and social roles of forests. Therefore, within the context of the above priorities, the Committee agreed that the work of the Organization should include the three programme areas of forest resources, policy and planning, and forest products.

MATTERS REFERRED TO THE ATTENTION OF THE COMMITTEE (back to top)

Decisions of FAO Governing Bodies of interest to the Committee

Recommendations of other FAO Statutory Bodies in forestry of interest to the Committee (Item 11)

45.The Committee noted the recommendations arising from the meetings of the Regional Conferences regarding future meetings of ministers responsible for forestry and recommended that the advice of those Conferences be followed.

OTHER MATTERS (back to top)

XI World Forestry Congress (Item 12)

46.The Committee was informed of progress being made with the preparations for the XI World Forestry Congress, to be held in Antalya (Turkey) from 13 to 22 October 1997, by its Associate Secretary-General and a short promotional video on Forestry in Turkey and on the site of the Congress was shown. The Committee took note of the statement made by the Turkish delegation highlighting the features offered by Turkey and expressed its gratitude to the Government of Turkey for progress made to date.

Date and place of next session (Item 13)

47.The fourteenth session of the Committee will be held in Rome in the first half of 1999.

APPENDIX A - AGENDA

1.Opening of Session

2.Adoption of Agenda

3.Election of Officers and designation of Drafting Committee

4. State of the world's forests

MAJOR FORESTRY POLICY ISSUES

5.Progress towards sustainable forestry development and follow-up to UNCED including implications of the work of the Inter-governmental Panel on Forests

6.Role of COFO and regional forestry commissions

7.Implications for forestry of the Plan of Action of the World Food Summit

8.Conservation and sustainable utilization of forest genetic resources

FAO PROGRAMMES IN FORESTRY

9.Review of FAO Regular and Field Programmes, including follow-up to the requests and recommendations of the Twelfth Session of the Committee

10.Medium-term perspectives (1998-2003) and Programme of Work and Budget 1998-99 priorities

MATTERS REFERRED TO THE ATTENTION OF THE COMMITTEE (for information)

11.-Decisions of FAO Governing Bodies of interest to the Committee

-Recommendations of other FAO Statutory Bodies in forestry of interest to the Committee

OTHER MATTERS

12.XI World Forestry Congress

13.Date and place of next Session

14.Adoption of Report

15.Closing of Session

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