The 23rd session of the Latin American and Caribbean Forestry Commission (LACFC) convened in San Jose, Costa Rica from 18-22 October 2004.

Agenda items included reviews of FAO regular and field programmes and forestry activities of other international, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations in the region. Participants also discussed regional issues identified by the Commission for the attention of the FAO Committee on Forestry (COFO), which will meet in March 2005, and convened in seminars on the “Forestry Sector Outlook Study for Latin American and the Caribbean” and “National Forest Programmes and the International Dialogue on Forests – Strengthening Regional Action.” Side meetings convened for informal discussions on issues including land tenure and integrated rural development, forest law compliance and sustainable forest management (SFM), trade agreements and the role of the forestry sector, strengthening the LACFC as a venue for dialogue on international forest policy issues, and criteria and indicators for SFM. The FAO also presented forecasts that will be included in an outlook study to be published at the end of the year. These forecasts project that the region will see less natural forest cover, but more protected areas and forest plantations, and an increased share of international trade in forest products by 2020. In presenting this report, Merilio Morell, a FAO forestry expert, noted that the “expected changes call for greater participation of communities and local government in forest management, better property rights regulations, improved intra-regional trade, and development of systems for a better flow of information.”
Links to further information
23rd meeting of the Latin American and Caribbean Forestry Commission website (in Spanish only)
FAO Latin American and Caribbean Forestry Commission website
More protected areas and planted forests in Latin America and the Caribbean, FAO news release, 20 October 2004