4 February 2013: The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) is calling for comments from members on the “Draft Revised ITTO Principles and Guidelines for the Sustainable Management of Natural Tropical Forests.” The draft presents 16 principles for consideration, on: enabling conditions for sustainable forest management (SFM); the extent and condition of forests; forest ecosystem health; climate change mitigation and adaptation; forest multiple functions; economic, social and cultural aspects of forestry; and SFM planning and implementation.

For each principle, guidance is provided along with recommended actions and indicative stakeholder groups. The report further highlights a number of issues for SFM in tropical forests, including the management of closed natural forests, forest degradation and restoration, SFM and biodiversity, the role of civil society in SFM, and extra-sectoral forces such as population growth, market forces and poor governance.

The current iteration of the Principles and Guidelines, prepared in response to a decision of the Committee on Reforestation and Forest Management at the forty-eighth Session of the ITTC, has already been reviewed during three validation workshops in Gabon, Malaysia and Peru. Comments from members are required by 30 June 2013. [Inviting Members Comments on “Draft Revised ITTO Principles and Guidelines for the Sustainable Management of Natural Tropical Forests”] [Publication: Draft Revised ITTO Principles and Guidelines for the Sustainable Management of Natural Tropical Forests]