The thirty-second session of the International Tropical Timber Council (ITTC-32) met from 13-18 May 2002, in Bali, Indonesia.

Nearly 300 participants attended the session, representing 40 ITTC member countries, two potential members, five intergovernmental organizations and specialized agencies, and 29 non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
The Council adopted eleven decisions on: projects, pre-projects and activities; a Civil Society Advisory Group; International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) Guidelines for the Restoration, Management and Rehabilitation of Degraded and Secondary Tropical Forests; preparation for renegotiation of the 1994 International Tropical Timber Agreement (ITTA, 1994); ITTO’s contribution to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD); management of the Administrative Budget for 2002; sustainable management and conservation of mangrove forest ecosystems – ITTO Mangrove Workplan; organization of work under the ITTA, 1994; forest law enforcement in Africa; promotion of sustainable forest management (SFM) in the Congo Basin; and the potential role of phased approaches to certification in tropical timber producer countries as a tool to promote SFM.
The 30th sessions of the ITTC’s Committees on Economic Information and Market Intelligence, Reforestation and Forest Management, and Forest Industry also met to, inter alia, review projects, pre-projects and activities in progress, conduct ex-post evaluations, and select projects and pre-projects for approval by the Council. The ITTC’s Committee on Finance and Administration convened in its eleventh session to discuss financial and budgetary matters.
By the end of the meeting, most delegates seemed proud of the achievements of the session. However, undercurrents in the certification discussion and mounting pressure regarding the organization of work of the Council revealed the complexity of issues and challenges still facing the ITTO. The Earth Negotiations Bulletin report outlining these discussions in detail can be found at: http://enb.iisd.org/linkages/forestry/itto/ittc32/