It was stressed that the main role of this Committee is to provide guidance to FAO’s work in the field of forestry and particularly on issues relevant to the paper and wood products industry. At the last Session of this Committee, held in Canada, a number of recommendations to FAO were elaborated. The actions taken by FAO can be summarized as follows:
The first recommendation was to assist developing countries in implementing forest certification. FAO has not been directly involved in forest certification but has directed its attention to the role of the governments regarding forest certification. Forest certification is a civil society tool in which governments are increasing their involvement. Last year, FAO and UNECE jointly organised a policy forum in Geneva to discuss the issue of the role of governments in forest certification..
An issue that is probably more relevant to the ACPWP is public procurement forest policies and trade. Some countries, not only in Europe, but also in North America and Japan, are developing public procurement polices. UNECE and FAO are planning a policy forum on “Public procurement policies for wood and paper products and their impacts on sustainable forest management and timber markets.” The expert presentations and discussions will take place on 5 October 2006 as a one-day, in-session policy forum during the 64th Timber Committee session. Key questions on which the workshop will focus include:
a) Are public procurement policies effective in achieving their goals?
b) What are the impacts of public procurement, including their implications for markets for wood and paper products?
c) How can public procurement policies avoid creating market barriers?
d) How can implementation procedures be improved (including instruments for verification of legality and sustainability as well as alternative options for evidence)?
e) Are harmonized approaches in public procurement policies necessary and possible? (See Annex 4)
FAO continues to involve the private sector in major events, such as the above mentioned Forum and the six Regional Forestry Commissions.
FAO and ITTO developed the “Guidelines on best practices for forest law compliance”. FAO continue to help clarify the role that the private sector can play in combating illegal logging and to assist in finding an appropriate definition for it. At the 21st session of the Asia Pacific Forestry Commission, held from 17-24 April 2006 in Dehradun, India, FAO invited a private sector representative from Malaysia to introduce the item on illegal logging and particularly to highlight the roles of governments and private sector in combating it.
At the 45th Session of the Advisory Committee, held in Australia, it was recommended to develop a code for planted forests. An intensive process was initiated in early 2005 to implement this recommendation. Three meetings were held and a draft code was developed, with strong inputs from the private industry sector (CELPA, FNPA, BRACELPA, CEPI, JPA, and others). The second draft is available on the web and has been presented at different events for discussion and comments. Responses will be sought until 30 September 2006 and a final draft will be released by 31 December 2006 to be presented to the March 2007 session of the Committee on Forests (COFO).
ACPW recommended FAO to co-host with ICFPA a global meeting on energy dynamics and their impact on forest industries. The draft concept note and the agenda have been prepared and circulated for comments. The meeting has been scheduled for 30 and 31 October 2006 and will be held in Rome.
It was also recommended that FAO, jointly with ICFPA, seek opportunities to document the social and economic contributions made by forest industry. FAO is presently updating a study from the year 2000 as a global study.
The FAO Forestry Department has also been active in the following areas:
• Forest Resources Assessment 2005;
• Forest Products Yearbook & Trends, including graphs;
• Non-Wood Forest Products as source of food has started a process in Congo region (in Sub-Saharan Africa, 80 percent of the protein that people use comes from forest);
• Clean Development Mechanism in forestry particularly in Latin-American and Africa;
• Development of a Fire Management Code;
• Forest Sector Outlook studies for Latin America and West and Central Asia;
• Country information on the web;
• Guidelines on illegal logging (together with ITTO);
• Training on climate change related to forestry;
• Support to IPCC and UNFCCC.
FAO also continued to host the following secretariats:
• Collaborative Partnership on Forests;
• National Forest Programme Facility;
• Mountain Secretariat;
• International Poplar Commission.
The Committee commended the progress made by FAO in the different areas. It also mentioned the importance of improved dissemination of the proceedings of the various Regional Forestry Commissions, considering that governments rarely inform industry representatives about the outcomes of the Commissions.
The Committed noted that FAO advises developing countries on climate change issues, assisting national negotiators in the development of common positions on current issues for negotiation at regional and international levels. FAO, ITTO and some other partners are planning a meeting in Accra for the end of October 2006. The objective of the meeting is to help get the forestry CDM off the ground in Africa. This will involve preparation of one or several methodologies and pilot projects that can be easily be implemented nationally or regionally. To achieve this, current bottlenecks for implementation should be removed.
The Committee stressed the importance of the work carried out on planted forests. It recognized that there will be more and more wood supplied from these sources, providing rural employment and the increasing the supply of other products, such as non wood forest products. If properly managed, environmental services such as soil and water protection, rehabilitation of degraded of land, restoration of landscapes and carbon sequestration can also be provided. Planted forests can also be a source of renewable energy and other environmentally-friendly activities.
