20 August 2013: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and the Government of South Africa have announced the Associate Secretary General for the fourteenth World Forestry Congress (WFC).

Ms. Tiina Vähänen from Finland will support the Congress, to be held from 7-11 September 2015, in Durban, South Africa. Vähänen has worked on REDD+, forestry and climate change with the Government of Finland and the UN.

The WFC aims to provide guidance on the development and implementation of forest policy, discuss further needs with regard to future research and areas of work, and support the elaboration and adoption of international technical standards on forest-related standards, terminology and research. [FAO Press Release] [WFC Website]