FO:NEFC/02/7

AFWC/EFC/NEFC¹ COMMITTEE ON MEDITERRANEAN FORESTRY QUESTIONS SILVA MEDITERRANEA

1. The Committee of Mediterranean Forestry Questions Silva Mediterranea is a statutory body of FAO where the Mediterranean countries from the European Forestry Commission, the Near East Forestry Commission and the African Forestry and Wildlife Commission can meet, share their experiences and set cooperative programmes. Twenty six countries and European Union are full fledge members of the Committee, but non-member countries are frequently invited as observers to the Session.

2. The Committee on Mediterranean Forestry Questions Silva Mediterranea holds every two years its Session in which common problems are studied. Extraordinary sessions can be organised for examination of important and/or urgent items. It acts as a forum for regional cooperation, aiming at sustainable development of the forestry sector and protection of the environment. Silva Mediterranea is the only FAO statutory body and forum concerned with the forestry issues of the region and for sharing experiences on the specific problems of the Mediterranean forests.

3. An external review of Silva Mediterranea and of its research networks has been implemented, following the recommendation made by the Committee at its last session (Antalya, Turkey, October 1997). The reviewers' observations and conclusions were presented to the last Near East Forestry Commission Session (Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, July 2000). "The Commission, while recognizing some of the shortcomings of the Committee, strongly supported the continuation, in some form or another, of Silva Mediterranea as a unique forum on forest matters for the whole Mediterranean area" (para. 40 of the report) and "recognized the need for adequate time for preparation for the next meeting scheduled to be hosted by Egypt in November 2000 and recommended the meeting to be postponed to 2001 at a time to be determined" (para. 41 of the report).

4. The Secretariat, in close co-operation with the host country, Egypt, made all the preparations for the 18^th Session of Silva Mediterranea in 2001 as recommended. Unfortunately, due to technical reasons, another postponement had to be made and the session is now planned for early 2002. The importance of this session for the future of Silva Mediterranea is evident. Its conclusions and recommendations will be provided to all members countries at the end of the session.

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1 AFWC: African Forestry and Wildlife Commission

        EFC: European Forestry Commission

        NEFC: Near East Forestry Commission