2 July 2014: The Chair of the Bureau (Gabon) of the UN Forum on Forests (UNFF) provided a briefing, following a meeting of the Bureau, regarding the 11th session of the UNFF, activities taking place between UNFF 10 and 11, and forests on the post-2015 development agenda. The new Director of UNFF, effective 1 September 2014, was also announced during the briefing.

On UNFF 11, Noel Nelson Messone, UNFF Bureau Chair, said the session will take place on 4-15 May 2015, in New York, US. He said UNFF 11 is of particular importance because: it will review the current International Arrangement on Forests (IAF) on forests and decide on the future of the Arrangement; integrating forests into the post-2015 development agenda will be a key item on the session’s agenda; and it will include a high-level segment, in accordance with the UNFF’s multi-year programme of work. The high-level segment will take place on 13-15 May.

Messone also shared the Bureau’s decision that the session will have two major negotiated outcomes: a ministerial declaration resulting from the high-level segment; and an omnibus resolution, which will address the future of the IAF, among other substantive issues. He said that, in the context of transparency in preparations for UNFF 11, Member States will be invited to submit their views on the building blocks of the ministerial declaration, by 30 January 2015.

On intersessional activities of the UNFF, Messone highlighted the independent assessment on the future of the IAF, on which the assessment team will provide a report in September 2014. He announced a second round of inputs from Member States and stakeholders on the IAF, with a deadline of 5 December 2014, ahead of an IAF meeting on 12-16 January 2015. He also noted two country-led initiatives, a workshop on IAF beyond 2015 hosted by China, to be held 29-31 October 2014, in Beijing, China and ‘Governing Forests Landscapes: Interlaken+10,’ to be hosted by Switzerland, on 3-6 February 2015 in Interlaken, Switzerland.

On the integration of forests in the post-2015 development agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Messone said OWG 13 will be the last opportunity for States to stress the role of forests in sustainable development, and encouraged negotiators to ensure forests are integrated in a meaningful and visible manner. The Bureau is concerned, he said, that the current draft document does not refer to forests in a goal heading.

Finally, the UNFF Secretariat announced that the selection of a new director has been completed. Following the November 2013 retirement of Jan McAlpine, the UN Secretary-General has appointed Manoel Sobral Filho of Brazil. Sobral, who previously served as Executive Director of the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO). He will begin his duties on 1 September 2014. [IISD RS Sources] [UNFF Website] [China-led Workshop on IAF] [ITTO News]