6 February 2015: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) released the twenty-sixth edition of InFO News, which highlights expectations for international decisions supporting forests and forestry including through the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the negotiation of a new climate agreement under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The newsletter also reports on progress in planning for the World Forestry Congress including the organization of a pre-Congress for representatives from producer organizations by the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF) in collaboration with partners.

Other developments highlighted in the newsletter include agreement on a regional programme for Latin America and the Caribbean in support of community-based forest enterprises. In particular, during a meeting held from 26-28 November 2014, in Santiago, Chile, experts agreed on a roadmap to improve livelihoods of local communities and contribute to poverty alleviation by addressing the major obstacles to the sustainable development of community-based forest enterprises.

The newsletter also highlights the outcomes of the workshop on criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management (SFM), which called for the improved monitoring of the contribution of SFM to development objectives, the development of integrated sustainability assessments, and the dissemination of practical tools for enhancing SFM.

Finally, the newsletter announces the donation, by the EU, of equipment to support food security and improved incomes in rural communities within four provinces in Zimbabwe. The donations are part of the ‘Forest Forces’ project funded by the EU and implemented by FAO with a view to supporting participatory SFM, value-added forest products, and livelihood diversification. [Publication: InFO News No. 26]