SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS AND REQUESTS
In-Session Seminar: Forestry Sector Outlook Study for Latin America and the Caribbean
1. The Secretariat drew attention to the progress that had been made in the study, which provided an indication of the possible development of the forestry sector until the year 2020, and requested guidance from the Commission on the completion of the study and on its utilization for planning, development of national forest programmes, preparation of strategies and coordination of regional actions. (para. 17).
2. The Commission recommended that FAO should continue to provide support to countries’ efforts to improve their forestry information systems, including national forest inventories and contributions of the forestry sector (wood and non-wood products) to national economies, to support policy decisions in countries. (para. 18).
3. The Commission recommended that FAO should broaden the focus of outlook studies to include: non-wood forest products; the multi-functions of forests; payment for forest-generated environmental services; small- and medium-sized enterprises; forest health; and markets for wood products. (para.19).
4. The 23rd Session of the LACFC witnessed the unprecedented participation of civil society representatives, which was an example of the consultative processes undertaken by the national forest programmes and of the increasing importance given by the countries to community forest management. In view of this, the Commission recommended that the issue be subject to further discussion at the next meeting of COFLAC and at COFO, with the objective of identifying mechanisms to strengthen such participation. (para. 21).
Forestry Activities of other International/ Intergovernmental/Non-Governmental Organizations in the Region
5. The Commission noted that there was a shortage of information on technical cooperation activities carried out both by FAO and by other agencies or institutions in the Region. It therefore recommended that FAO establish a working group at Headquarters, with the objective of improving information sharing among countries and international, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations on forestry activities in the Region. (para. 24).
In-session Seminar: National Forest Programmes and International Dialogue on Forests – Strengthening Regional Action
6. The Commission observed that national forestry authorities received insufficient information on the progress and results of the intergovernmental dialogue on forests. It therefore requested more effort from all parties and that FAO undertake the compilation and dissemination of the results of the dialogue to improve this situation. (para. 29).
7. The Commission noted that many countries lacked the experience or capacity to effectively develop a national consensus, involving representatives of all forest stakeholders, for the intergovernmental dialogue on forests. It therefore sought support from the National Forest Programme Facility to deal with these matters within the framework of such programmes (para. 30).
Activities of the Subregional Groups of the Commission: Reports on Accomplishments in 2002-2004 and Preparation and Presentation of Workplans for 2004-2006
8. The Commission requested COFO to seek new and additional resources to finance the implementation of the activities prepared by the Subregional Groups. (para. 33).
Presentation by the North American Forest Commission on Working Group Modalities
9. The Commission therefore recommended that greater efforts be made to forge a closer and more permanent relationship of coordination and exchange of information between the two Commissions. (para. 53).
Other Business
10. The Commission, aware of FAO´s initiative to develop a regional code of practice for reduced impact forest harvesting in tropical moist forest in Latin America and the Caribbean, recommended that the norms be extended to all the forests of the Region, given that some countries have large areas of forests which are not tropical. Moreover, the Commission underlined the need to take into account existing codes and those that are being formulated by other bodies and initiatives. (para. 55).
11. Various delegates of the Central American and Mexican Subregional group requested that the designation of their group be changed to “Meso-America Subregional group”. (para. 58).
12. The Commission requested FAO to organize a meeting of the heads of forestry services of the countries in the Region to be held before the UNFF in May 2005 in order to build consensus concerning the agenda. (para. 59).