The Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture adopted the funding strategy for the implementation of the Global Plan of Action at its Seventeenth Regular Session held in February 2019 see Appendix D of the CGRFA-17 Report. The funding strategy builds on the recent developments in the global framework on forests that are summarized in a separate document.

The purpose of the funding strategy is to mobilize financial resources and to strengthen international cooperation to support developing countries and countries with economies in transition in their efforts to implement the Global Plan of Action, to contribute to the United Nations Strategic Plan for Forests 2017–2030, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and other relevant international commitments on forests. The funding strategy has the following objectives:

• to mobilize financial resources from the existing multilateral financing mechanisms to the implementation of the Global Plan of Action by mainstreaming actions on the conservation, use and development of forest genetic resources into large and holistic country-led actions that are designed to enhance the implementation of sustainable forest management, including conservation and use of forest biodiversity, and forest-based adaptation and mitigation measures for climate change;

• to further seek and mobilize financial resources from all possible sources for strategic and specific actions on forest genetic resources at national, regional and international levels; and
• to cooperate with relevant ongoing forest financing initiatives, in particular the Global Forest Financing Facilitation Network (GFFFN) established by the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), to make available information on, and facilitate access to, existing and emerging funding sources.

The mainstreaming and strategic actions on forest genetic resources for which financial resources are mobilized under the funding strategy should address the priority areas of the Global Plan of Action, and be in line with relevant international agreements. Furthermore, these actions should be tailored to meet specific needs and conditions of different countries and regions, and be fully aligned with existing forest, biodiversity, climate change, food security and other relevant policies. Additionally, the cooperation with ongoing forest financing initiatives should also promote the integration of forest genetic resources into national forest financing strategies and create awareness on the fundamental role of these resources in sustainable forest management.

The Commission shall oversee, based on the recommendations of its Intergovernmental Technical Working Group on Forest Genetic Resources, the implementation of the funding strategy. FAO plays, in collaboration with its partners and subject to the availability of resources, a facilitating role in mobilizing financial resources for this purpose, building on its existing partnerships with the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF), as well its ongoing contributions to the international arrangement on forests.

The Commission encourages its Members to identify strategic actions on forest genetic resources that are necessary to enhance the conservation, sustainable use and development of these resources in the country, and to communicate the identified actions to relevant national agencies leading resource mobilization with different donors and the development of large country-led projects to the implementation of sustainable forest management, including forest restoration, forest-based adaptation measures and REDD+ activities.

The identification of the proposed strategic actions should be supported by relevant information, such as the country progress reports on the implementation of the Global Plan of Action and/or the country reports to The State of the World’s Forest Genetic Resources. The Commission also encourages its Members to communicate the identified strategic actions on forest genetic resources to relevant ministries and FAO country offices for consideration in the formulation of Country Programming Frameworks.

The Commission shall monitor the implementation of the funding strategy based on different sources of information. These sources include FAO progress reports to the Commission, global assessment reports on the implementation of the Global Plan of Action and reports released by the GEF and the GCF on their funding to forest-related actions, as well as information gathered by the GFFFN on the status and trends on global forest financing. The Commission also invites its Members to inform the Secretariat on country-led actions that are supported by various multilateral and regional financing mechanisms, as well as bilateral donors, to implement the Global Plan of Action.

The Commission is scheduled to review the Global Plan of Action at its Twentieth Regular Session in 2025. It shall then also review the funding strategy, as necessary.