26 September 2023, Port Louis, Mauritius – In a concerted effort to strengthen technical competencies and finalize national reports for the forthcoming Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) 2025, a regional exchange has kicked off in Port Louis, Mauritius. Organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Madagascar, Comoros, Mauritius and Seychelles, this four-day gathering was made possible through funding by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Norway's International Climate and Forest Initiative, and the European Union.
Global collaboration and data excellence
This gathering is a pivotal step towards ensuring the compilation, quality and consistency of data submitted for FRA 2025 as a part of a global initiative aimed at enhancing our understanding of the world's forest resources as well as their condition, management and use. Thirty-two forest experts are gathering in Port Louis, officially nominated by their respective countries including Eswatini, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Yemen.
Stakeholders are being engaged in activities such as understanding FRA 2025 guidelines, terms and definitions, as well as effectively using the dedicated online platform for compiling and finalizing their country reports. The participants will be exposed to innovative tools – including geospatial technologies – and will have the opportunity to address specific regional challenges while learning from the experiences of their international counterparts. Furthermore, this event will provide an important opportunity for National Correspondents to review and update previous reports in pursuit of completeness, consistency and transparency in the data.
Data and knowledge for a greener and more sustainable future
FAO, in collaboration with multiple partners, is committed to streamlining data collection and reporting processes to reduce redundancy and improve the quality and consistency of data. The FRA process is instrumental in providing official data for Sustainable Development Goal 15, as well as for monitoring forest cover changes and other parameters relevant to climate targets and the United Nations Strategic Plan for Forests.
The latest assessment, FRA 2020, analysed over 60 forest-related variables in 236 countries and territories over the period of 1990 to 2020, providing a foundation for well-informed policies, effective practices and strategic investments in forestry. In March 2023, FAO launched a comprehensive strategy for FRA 2025, featuring a series of regional workshops designed to provide technical assistance and guidance to National Correspondents. It results not only in enhancing technical abilities, but also in facilitating information exchanges and best practices among participants. The FRA 2025 reporting and data collection process is set to conclude by the end of 2023, followed by data analyses and the preparation of official FRA 2025 publications and related products.