March 2013: The UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) released a study, titled “Forests and Economic Development: A Driver for the Green Economy in the ECE Region,” which highlights the challenges to forestry in the region and outlines a way forward based on the integration of forestry and forest-related goods and services into the green economy.

The report highlights the contribution of forests to wealth and income generation, employment and livelihoods, and the provision of raw material and fuel. The publication also raises and addresses a number of questions including the extent of the contribution of forests to renewable energy, the ability of forests in the ECE to provide a sustainable supply of timber, the creation of a sustainable workforce, a system for payments for ecosystem services, and innovative forest products and services.

Finally, the report relays an action plan for forests and the green economy in the region based on five pillars: sustainable production and consumption of forest products; a low carbon forest sector; decent green jobs in the forest sector; valuation of and payment for forest ecosystem services; and monitoring and governance of the forest sector in the green economy. [Publication: Forests and Economic Development: A Driver for the Green Economy in the ECE Region]