Nearly 150 senior executives of forest product companies, private and public sector financial institutions and non-governmental organizations gathered from 22-23 October for the Forest Investment Forum, which convened at the World Bank in Washington, DC.

Hosted by Forest Investment Forum partners – World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD), World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Forest Trends, Program on Forests (PROFOR), the World Bank, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) – the forum agreed that prerequisites to achieving sustainability include containing illegal logging operations and forest corruption, establishing effectively managed protected area networks, and environmentally and socially responsible management and development of both natural forests and plantation resources. There was strong support for a multi-stakeholder process involving major groups as the most effective way to continue building consensus. The World Bank news release and Outcome Statement from Host Partners can be accessed at: http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:20134117
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