The second session of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF-2) took place from 4-15 March 2002, at UN Headquarters in New York.
Delegates addressed progress in implementation of the proposals for action of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests/Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IPF/IFF), and the UNFF Plan of Action, related to the following substantive items, or elements: combating deforestation and forest degradation; forest conservation and protection of unique types of forests and fragile ecosystems; rehabilitation and conservation strategies for low forest cover countries; rehabilitation and restoration of degraded lands and promotion of natural and planted forests; and concepts, terminology and definitions. UNFF-2 also considered means of implementation, including finance, transfer of environmentally-sound technologies (ESTs), and capacity building for sustainable forest management, in the context of these elements. The following “common items” were also addressed: enhanced cooperation and policy and programme coordination; emerging issues relevant to country implementation; monitoring, assessment and reporting; promoting public participation; national forest programmes; trade; enabling environments; and intersessional work.
A multi-stakeholder dialogue was held to address multi-stakeholder contributions to, and engage in genuine dialogue on, the implementation of the IPF/IFF proposals for action and related key issues.
A High-Level Segment also took place, with ministers engaging in a policy dialogue with heads of member organizations of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests. On the second day of the Segment, ministers engaged in a dialogue focusing on the UNFF’s input to the WSSD, and on national commitments to country goals and strategies for implementing the IPF/IFF proposals for action.
The outcomes of UNFF-2 included a Ministerial Declaration and Message to the WSSD, and eight decisions on: combating deforestation and forest degradation; forest conservation and protection of unique types of forests and fragile ecosystems; rehabilitation and conservation strategies for countries with low forest cover; rehabilitation and restoration of degraded lands and the promotion of natural and planted forests; concepts, terminology and definitions; specific criteria for the review of the effectiveness of the international arrangement on forests; proposed revisions to the medium-term plan for 2002-2005; and other matters.
UNFF-2 was also mandated with establishing terms of reference for three ad hoc expert groups on: approaches and mechanisms for monitoring, assessment and reporting; finance and transfer of environmentally sound technologies; and consideration with a view to recommending the parameters of a mandate for developing a legal framework on all types of forests. However, delegates were not able to reach agreement and instead took a procedural decision to forward to UNFF-3 an entirely bracketed paper containing the draft terms of reference, which was appended to the report of UNFF-2. The Earth Negotiations Bulletin report outlining these discussions in detail can be found at: http://enb.iisd.org/forestry/unff/unff2/