The Forestry and Timber Section of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in cooperation with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), is organizing a meeting with stakeholders across the UNECE region (Western and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia and North America) to discuss the development of an action plan on forests and the green economy. Discussion will focus on: Sustainable Wood Consumption and Production; Low-carbon Forest Sector; Valuation of and Payments for Ecosystem Services; Monitoring and Governance; and Green Jobs. The action plan, once finalized, will be reviewed by the UNECE Timber Committee and FAO European Forestry Commission at their joint session, scheduled from 10-14 October 2011 in Antalya, Turkey. It will then be presented as a regional sectoral example at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) in June 2012.  

dates: 10-11 May 2011   venue: Palais des Nations   location: Geneva, Switzerland   contact: Franziska Hirsch   phone: +41 (0) 22 917-2480   e-mail: franziska.hirsch@unece.org