The UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) have reaffirmed their commitment to forests through the adoption of the UNECE-FAO Integrated Programme of Work on forests.
6 February 2014: The UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) have reaffirmed their commitment to forests through the adoption of the UNECE-FAO Integrated Programme of Work on forests.
The Programme of Work builds on past cooperation and coordination and will cover the period 2014-2017. Primary areas of focus include: wood energy, sustainable forest products, forest policy, statistics, monitoring of forests, outlook on the forest sector, communication on forests, and green jobs, all of which will be supported by expert teams.
The venture aims to support sustainable forest management (SFM) and the sound and legal use of forest products in the Caucasus, Central Asia, Europe and North America. This includes new elements with regard to SFM and a green economy, forest products and uses, wood energy, payments for ecosystem services (PES), the cross-sector impacts of forest policies, climate change adaptation, forest health and mainstreaming biodiversity.
The work will be guided by the Committee on Forests and the Forest Industry in FAO, the European Forestry Commission and the joint Working Party on Forest Statistics, Economics and Management. [UNECE Press Release] [Publication: Draft Integrated Programme of Work 2014-17 for the Committee on Forests and the Forest Industry and the European Forestry Commission]