More than 30% of the world’s land area is covered by forests. FAO’s Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 found that despite a slowing of the rate of deforestation in the last decade, some 10 million hectares are still being lost each year through conversion to agriculture and other land uses. Although large-scale commercial agricultural production is the greatest culprit, local subsistence agriculture also plays a role in forest degradation and deforestation. As such, halting deforestation will require the complete transformation of agri-food systems towards more sustainable practices.

The connections between food production and forestry were explored during the high-level panel, “Forests are too precious to lose: halting deforestation and enhancing biodiversity,” organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in collaboration with the UN-REDD Programme, during this year’s European Development Days (EDD).

Moderated by Mario Boccucci, the Head of the UN-REDD Programme Secretariat, the event offered a dynamic debate around the key challenges and opportunities to turn the tide on deforestation and transform food systems so countries can feed their ever-growing populations without losing precious forest land.

The high-level panel — that included Ms Maria Helena Semedo, Deputy Director-General, FAO, H.E. Rosalie Matondo, Minister of the Forest Economy, Republic of the Congo, Ms Marjeta Jager, Deputy Director-General, International Cooperation and Development (DG INTPA), Mr Richard Wambua, Director, Meforest Initiative & Greenpap Innovations — reflected on working with triggers for such win-win solutions and shared lessons learnt from scaling up on-the-ground actions and modernizing policies and regulations.

In her opening remarks, Ms Maria Helena Semedo, FAO’s Deputy Director General highlighted three crucial steps to protecting and restoring forests, so that they may address the climate, health, food security and inequality crises our planet is facing: 1) understanding the complexity of the deforestation challenge, 2) acting globally and across sectors, for example by transforming agri-food systems, not just agricultural production, and finally 3) recognizing the full potential and value of forests and their role in meeting the needs of the world’s population. Ms Semedo also explored the role nature- and forest-based solution, such as REDD+, can play in preventing zoonosis and contributing to recovery actions on the ground. She explained, “supported by a robust, comprehensive and proven framework for implementing and monitoring policies and on-the-ground measures, REDD+ offers forest solutions that could be deployed in COVID-19 socio-economic recovery efforts, at the pace and scale required in developing forest countries.”

Her Excellency Rosalie Matondo, the Minister of Forest Economies of the Republic of Congo, highlighted the country’s REDD+ journey that “has been long and very rich in lessons” and emphasized the importance of ensuring that innovative technological and financial solutions are sustainable and accessible. She noted that “the ambitions expressed by the Republic of Congo, through its National REDD+ Strategy, can only materialize if the country's REDD + efforts are supported by a financial mechanism capable of generating stable and sufficient financial resources.”

The focus of the intervention by Ms Marjeta Jager, Deputy Director-General for International Cooperation and Development (DG INTPA), was the European Commission’s firm commitment to collaborate with partner countries to step up actions to tackle global deforestation and forest degradation. She explained, “together with the interested partner countries we will propose to address forests in a holistic and integrated way to explore the multifunctionality of forests,” adding “and I can proudly say that in this ongoing programming we will engage with more than 25 countries over the next seven years in the forestry sector.” Ms Jager also touched upon the concrete steps needed to meet global food, fuel and health needs and reduce deforestation worldwide, while continuing to support partner countries’ development objectives and respecting the sovereignty of partner countries.

Representing the Young Leaders Programme, Mr Richards Wambua, Director of the Meforest Initiative & Greenpap Innovations, reflected on how innovative digital solution can help combat deforestation and deforestation-related threats, describing examples from Kenya. “Using and combining local-based knowledge and scientific data is essential to usher a digital transformation in forests and landscapes restoration and conservation,” said Mr Wambua. He strongly encouraged Youth around the world to get engaged in climate action and to trust in the value of individual actions.

The session’s moderator, Mr Boccucci, described deforestation as a “multisectoral challenge” emphasizing the need for countries to work together in scaling up forest solutions and connecting those solutions to development. “We are in front of a system change”, Mr Boccucci noted. “We are moving on from an era of good will and negotiations into a decade of massively scaling up actions on the ground.”  

The high-level panel concluded with a lively Q&A session during which the panelists called for urgent global action to address the deforestation, food security, and climate crises, connecting with the UN Secretary General’s call to “turn the tide on deforestation,” and raising ambitions and expectations for the upcoming UN Food Systems Summit, Biodiversity COP15 and Climate COP26.

About European Development Days

First held in 2006, European Development Days (EDD) provide a space for world leaders, communities, and development experts to gather, discuss and share ideas regarding prominent and persistent challenges facing the global community. The event is hosted yearly by the European Commission. Dedicated to the European Green Deal, EDD’s 2021 edition provided a decisive moment for analysis and reflection on the road to the CBD COP15 in Kunming in October and the Glasgow COP26 in November 2021.

The European Green Deal is EU’s roadmap for a green and inclusive transition to help improve people’s well-being and secure a healthy planet for generations to come. The Green Deal goes beyond EU borders and commits the EU to engage with its partners to support the global transition.  Moving to a green and climate neutral economy and protecting biodiversity concerns everybody across the world- from citizens to governments to the private sector.

About the UN-REDD Programme

The UN-REDD Programme is the United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) in developing countries. The Programme was launched in 2008 and builds on the convening role and technical expertise of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The Programme supports nationally led REDD+ processes and promotes the informed and meaningful involvement of all stakeholders, including indigenous peoples and other forest-dependent communities, in national and international REDD+ implementation.

With their expertise and capability of delivering-as-one body, FAO, UNDP and UNEP have jointly supported 65 partner countries in designing national and sub-national REDD+ policies and on-the-ground interventions, as well as facilitating the identification and establishment of financial arrangements to capture and manage results-based financing.

Access the recording here:

This post was originally featured on FAO Liaison Office in Brussels: http://www.fao.org/brussels/news/detail/es/c/1413749/ 

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