Fifteenth session of the Near East Forestry Commission
Dialogue at the international level is an essential complement to the efforts of individual countries to develop appropriate forest policies, institutions and practices. FAO, through its decentralized forestry structure, supports six regional forestry commissions which meet every second year and provide a forum for FAO member countries to discuss both technical and policy issues at the regional level. Drawing on regional experiences, these commissions advise FAO on policy formulation and on priorities for its forestry programme.
The fifteenth session of the Near East Forestry Commission (NEFC) was held in Khartoum, the Sudan from 28 to 31 January 2002. Twenty-five representatives from 18 member countries attended the session along with one UN agency and 12 observers from international intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. Topics discussed included:
The Commission agreed that FAO and member countries in the region should work to strengthen, inter alia, field-level capacity to implement criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management; the capacity of the secretariat to the Tehran Process for low forest cover countries (LFCCs); efforts towards sustainable management of non-wood forest products; and institutional capacity to respond to the changing environment of forestry.
Other areas of importance to the countries of the region for FAO attention include forestry education, intercountry cooperation in firefighting and conservation of forest genetic resources.
A presentation was made on the use of treated waste water in forest plantations in the Near East. It was recommended that member countries design an integrated, intersectoral strategy to optimize the benefits from reuse of treated wastewater. The strategy should provide a supporting legal, policy, regulatory and planning framework and identify responsibilities. The participants requested FAO assistance in capacity building in member countries for the use of treated wastewater in irrigating forest plantations.
Background documentation and the full report of the session are available on the Internet at www.fao.org/forestry/Forestry.asp or can be obtained through the Meetings Officer, Forestry Department, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy (e-mail: [email protected]).
Harmonizing forest-related definitions
Consistency in forest-related definitions is of vital importance to international forestry discussion and debate. More universally accepted forest-related definitions would facilitate the functional coordination among international processes and conventions and help to reduce the reporting burden.
A Sudanese villager ready to plant acacia seedlings
- FAO/12675/F. MCDOUGAL
To initiate a process of harmonization, an Expert Meeting on Harmonizing Forest-Related Definitions for Use by Various Stakeholders was held at FAO headquarters from 23 to 25 January 2002. The meeting was jointly organized by FAO and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in collaboration with the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the International Union of Forestry Research Organizations (IUFRO). The participants included 51 experts, advisers and resource persons including representatives from IPCC, IUFRO, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the private sector and non-governmental organizations. The aim of the meeting was to begin reviewing, improving and harmonizing forest-related definitions and terms, in particular biome-specific forest definitions - and especially the terms "forest degradation" and "devegetation".
Detailed recommendations were made regarding state and change processes, forest as a land-use class, forest functions and the different definitions for afforestation, reforestation, deforestation and degradation. It was noted that current definitions used by the Kyoto Protocol and FAO's Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000 (FRA 2000) were largely compatible, with the exception of differing interpretations of the term "reforestation". Recommendations were made to improve the compatibility between the two sets of definitions.
The participants recommended that the process of harmonizing forest-related definitions be continued under the umbrella of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF), with FAO acting as secretariat in cooperation with IPCC, IUFRO, CIFOR and the secretariats of the CBD and UNFCCC; other stakeholders should be co-opted, including those who have not yet been part of the process (e.g. the International Labour Organization).
In order to facilitate the follow-up process, a small task force of knowledgeable experts will be formed to plan and implement preparatory work. FAO, in cooperation with the task force, will prepare a comprehensive analytical framework, including compilation and analysis of similarities and differences between various definitions and their relationships.
The results of the meeting will be presented to interested parties, including the international and regional criteria and indicators processes and relevant upcoming meetings. The report will be made available on the FAO Forestry Web site.
Forestry and livelihood support
FAO and other agencies have been exploring sustainable livelihood approaches as a means of enhancing the quality and impact of their programmes on the reduction of poverty and food insecurity. Sustainable livelihood approaches are of importance not only at the village or community level, but also as an important component in institutional change and policy reform.
The Livelihood Support Programme, with support from the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID), seeks to improve the impact of FAO interventions at country level through the effective application of sustainable livelihood approaches. This programme is composed of nine complementary subprogrammes, each with its own theme, interdepartmental team, budget and evolving workplan developed in collaboration with the other subprogrammes. The methods and lessons arising through the Livelihood Support Programme are aimed at helping FAO promote field programmes, policies and institutions that better support the livelihoods of the rural poor.
The Livelihood Support Programme held a launch workshop at FAO headquarters in Rome on 24 January 2002 to familiarize FAO staff and donor representatives with the objectives and methods of the programme. Approximately 150 participants representing all FAO technical divisions, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) as well as several FAO Permanent Representatives attended the workshop.
The sustainable livelihood related work of the FAO Forestry Department was presented, along with that of other technical units. The workshop noted that considerable synergies among the different sustainable livelihood programmes already exist, and that there is significant opportunity for continued expansion of programmatic linkages among the different subprogrammes.
The contribution of forests and trees to sustainable livelihoods is one of the three goals of the Strategy of the FAO Forestry Department. While the department does not have a sustainable livelihood project per se, much of its work relates to the different components of sustainable livelihood approaches - addressing particularly the components of capital assets, vulnerability and policies and institutions. Examples include:
