FAO briefs Council of the EU on preparations for key governing bodies on plant genetic resources and forestry

Kent Nnadozie, Secretary of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) and Ewald Rametsteiner, Deputy Director of the FAO Forestry Division, briefed the Council of the EU during the month of September.

On 7 September, Nnadozie informed the delegates of the Council of the European Union’s Working Party on Genetic Resources and Innovation in Agriculture on the preparations and arrangements for the 9th session of the Governing Body of the ITPGRFA. The Governing Body session took place from 19 until 24 September in New Delhi, India, under the theme “Celebrating the Guardians of Crop Diversity: Towards an Inclusive Post2020 Global Biodiversity Framework”.

A few days later, Ewald Rametsteiner, Deputy Director of the FAO Forestry Division briefed representatives of the Working Party on Forestry on the preparations for the 26th Session of the Committee on Forestry (COFO) taking place from 3-7 October in Rome. The biennial sessions of COFO bring together heads of forest services and other senior government officials to identify emerging policy and technical issues, to seek solutions and to advise on appropriate action. The Committee also provides an important platform for exchanges and dialogue among participants and shapes the strategic direction for the future work of FAO in forestry.