The country-led initiative, in support of the UN Forum on Forests (UNFF), focused on the pathway to a green economy in the context of sustainable development, and the role of markets and promotion of sustainable forest management.
According to Jan McAlpine, UNFF Director, addressing trade's effects on forest-dependent communities requires a cross-sectoral approach.
The meeting's outcomes will be used as input for UNFF's 10th session and the UNCSD.
13 January 2012: A recent meeting in support of the UN Forum on Forests (UNFF) addressed the role of markets and promotion of sustainable forest management (SFM) on the pathway to a green economy. The meeting’s outcomes will be used as input for both the 10th session of UNFF as well as the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20).The meeting, a country-led initiative hosted by Viet Nam and co-organized by the Netherlands and Finland, was held in Hanoi, Viet Nam, from 10-13 January 2012. The meeting focused on market mechanisms that would contribute to an enabling environment for legal and sustainable production of timber and SFM, such as promoting international trade in legally produced timber, as well as private and governmental procurement policies in the context of combating deforestation.
Jan McAlpine, UNFF Director, commented on the effects of trade on forest-dependent communities. According to McAlpine, addressing trade’s effects on forest-dependent communities requires a cross-sectoral approach that includes “breaking down the institutional silos and working horizontally across institutions in various sectors, including agriculture, community and rural development and natural resources management,” among others.
The meeting’s outcomes aim to support the development of concrete proposals for improving international forest governance and starting joint action. [Statement of UNFF Director] [Meeting Website]