State of forestry in the region
1. The Commission urged member countries to share knowledge and experiences related to developing and implementing criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management, with support from FAO and other international organisations (para. 11).
2. The Commission recommended that member countries, FAO and other international organisations continue their efforts to address the pressing issues related to forest fire management (para. 12).
3. The Commission requested FAO to support member countries’ efforts in addressing the challenges of reforming forestry institutions, strengthening capacities to cope with new roles and expectations, balancing timber supply and demand, promoting forest law enforcement and good governance, supporting sustainable use of non-wood forest products, developing viable livelihoods for forest-dependent people and improving market access (para. 19).
Report on the progress and implementation of APFC and FAO-supported activities and initiatives, including follow-up to recommendations of the eighteenth session of the commission
4. The Commission requested FAO to assist in building capacities for monitoring forest degradation and desertification trends, and to help countries in their afforestation and reforestation efforts (para. 24).
5. The Commission urged FAO to work with member countries to develop appropriate techniques for assessing, monitoring and managing tree resources outside forests (para. 25).
6. The Commission requested FAO to continue active support for the development and implementation of national codes of practice, including capacity building for effective implementation, and to continue providing timely and appropriate information on sustainable forest management, particularly on reduced impact logging and improved forest management practices (para. 26).
7. The Commission recommended that FAO strengthen international co-operation in implementing criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management under diverse conditions (para. 27).
8. The Commission requested FAO to raise awareness and increase understanding related to forest certification, identify commonalities among the various approaches, and encourage the development of minimum standards for certification systems. It urged FAO to organise an expert meeting to discuss these issues (para. 28).
9. The Commission urged FAO to promote greater understanding and awareness of the linkages between forests and water, and to provide continuing support for effective watershed management. It also encouraged member countries to improve intra-regional co-operation in managing watersheds and water resources (para. 30).
10. The Commission recommended that member countries share information on different approaches toward decentralisation and devolution of forest management and their impacts. FAO was requested to give increased attention to these issues (para. 31).
11. The Commission urged FAO and other international organisations to continue efforts to develop and strengthen the political will needed to achieve sustainable forest management (para. 32).
In-session seminar: invasive species: regional co-operation in combating threats
12. The Commission recommended that FAO support activities, including technical meetings, to increase awareness and understanding of the issues and threats associated with invasive species, develop appropriate measures for dealing with these threats, and identify additional information and research needs (para. 36).
13. The Commission encouraged countries to develop sound strategies for addressing threats from invasive species, including guidelines and regimes for deliberate introductions (para. 37).
14. The Commission encouraged the development of regional invasive species strategies. It also urged member countries, FAO and other international organisations to collaborate in developing a regional invasive species information network with possible internet linkages and a website for information dissemination and sharing (para. 38).
15. The Commission urged member countries to identify and share information on potentially invasive species and experiences in dealing with such species. It urged member countries to use maximum caution in introducing species, and to rely on native species whenever such species are capable of achieving management objectives (para. 39).
16. The Commission requested FAO and other international partners to strengthen capacities for risk assessment, diagnostics, monitoring and surveillance, interdiction, incursion planning, eradication and pest management (para. 40).
17. The Commission recommended that member countries and FAO enhance collaboration with other organisations to take advantage of existing programmes and avoid duplication of efforts (para. 41).
Illegal logging and trade: what can be done?
18. The Commission requested that FAO support information sharing related to the complex issues surrounding illegal logging and illegal trade in forest products, and to consider assistance to member countries in the following areas:
encouraging regional co-operation in combating illegal logging and trade, recognising that action on illegal logging must be focused at the national level;
raising awareness of the economic, social and environmental costs of illegal logging and illegal trade in forest products;
reviewing and disseminating information on successful approaches and cases of curtailing illegal logging and trade;
simplifying and rationalising forest laws and increasing the transparency of forest regulations, where necessary;
reviewing log pricing policies and strengthening capacities in assessing illegal domestic and international timber trade;
applying criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management, forest certification and audit and monitoring systems;
formulating and implementing codes of practice for effective forest harvesting; and
promoting increased participation of local people in forest management and enhancing the activities of local organisations, including building their capacity to monitor forest management (para. 46).
19. The Commission encouraged member countries and international organisations to establish without delay a regional task force on forest law enforcement and governance as called for in the Ministerial Declaration of the Forest Law Enforcement and Governance East Asia Ministerial Conference (para. 47).
In-session seminar: impact of incentives on the development of forest plantation resources in the Asia-Pacific Region
20. The Commission recommended that the full report of the regional study of the impacts of incentives on forest plantation development be published as an APFC document as soon as possible and be complemented by a short, easy-to-read executive summary, widely disseminated to planners and policy makers in the region. The Commission also requested FAO to consider developing basic guidelines for designing effective incentive systems (para. 53).
“The splintering of forestry”: coping with conflicting international forestry agendas
21. The Commission urged FAO to strengthen the role of the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission in co-ordinating regional inputs to international fora and efforts to effectively implement actions agreed upon by those fora. The Commission also urged FAO to support member countries in building understanding of various international agreements and capacities for effective participation (para. 58).
22. The Commission urged FAO to continue providing strong support for the co-ordinating functions of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) (para. 59).
23. FAO was requested to increase its support for the effective implementation of national forest programmes in member countries (para. 60).
24. To ease the reporting burdens placed on member countries, the Commission requested FAO to work with other international organisations, countries and processes to streamline, simplify and co-ordinate reporting requirements (para. 61).
Information items
25. The Commission urged FAO to continue support for sustainable mountain development beyond the immediate year of observance of the International Year of Mountains (para. 63).
Regional issues identified by the Commission for the attention of the Committee on Forestry
26. The Commission wished to alert COFO to several of its recommendations that may have implications for other regions and for FAO’s work globally. Among these were recommendations that FAO initiate, continue or expand its support in the following areas, in collaboration with member countries and other organisations, as appropriate:
forest protection, and management of fire, insect, disease and invasive species risks;
development and implementation of national codes of practice for forest harvesting, and sharing of information on reduced impact logging and improved forest management practices;
rehabilitation of degraded land, combating desertification, and development of plantations;
promotion of greater understanding of the linkages between forests and water, and support for effective watershed management;
development and implementation of national forest programmes;
decentralisation and devolution of forest management, and related institutional reform required for successful devolution;
restructuring of forest industries;
criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management and forest certification;
combating illegal activities in the forestry sector and raising awareness of the economic, social and environmental costs of illegal logging and illegal trade of forest products;
improved collection and analysis of information and data for decision making; and
enhancement of capacity in the forestry sector (para. 66).
27. Recognising that the results of the “Study on the Impact of Incentives on the Development of Forest Plantation Resources in the Asia-Pacific Region” may be valuable to countries outside the region, the Commission wished to inform COFO that it had requested FAO to widely disseminate the results of the study (para. 68).
28. The Commission wanted to recommend to COFO that FAO work to build capacity within countries to improve understanding about international and regional instruments and agreements related to forests and enhance co-ordination within countries for more effective participation (para. 70).
29. The Commission wished to draw to the attention of COFO the need for increased financial support to developing countries to advance sustainable forest management and suggested that FAO work with donor organisations to increase such support (para. 75).
