28 September 2010: The UN Forum on Forests (UNFF) and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) have launched a project to further identify gaps, obstacles and opportunities in forest financing in small island developing States (SIDS) and low forest cover countries (LFCCs).

The project is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). It follows up on the SIDS/LFCC project launched in 2009 as part of the facilitative process to assist countries to mobilize funding from all sources. Drafts of studies from the initial project are now available online.

The GEF-funded project will be taking the initial studies further by discussing the data obtained in a series of inter-regional workshops in SIDS and LFCCs. The project will have a cross-sectoral perspective that will involve stakeholders in all the sectors that impact forest financing, including finance, agriculture, energy and transport, as well as donors, experts, academia, NGOs and the private sector. It will produce a range of papers and information products on forest financing targeted at different audiences. [IISD RS Sources]