20 April 2013: The tenth session of the UN Forum on Forests (UNFF10), which met from 8-19 April 2013, in Istanbul, Turkey, focused on the theme “Forests and Economic Development.” Nearly 1300 participants took part in the session, which addressed a range of issues including: forests and economic development; means of implementation (MoI) for sustainable forest management (SFM); and emerging issues, including the outcomes of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD or Rio+20), the post-2015 development agenda and the future of the international arrangement on forests (IAF).
From 8-9 April, delegates, including Ministers and Heads of Delegation, took part in a Ministerial Segment that included: a high-level opening session, featuring Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan; statements by Ministers and Heads of Delegation; roundtables on forests and economic development, and on Rio+20 outcomes, the post-2015 development agenda and the future of the IAF; and a high-level interactive dialogue with the heads of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) member organizations.
A Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue took place on 10 April, providing an opportunity for member states to receive input from representatives from the Major Groups, including: Women; Farmers and Small Forest Landowners; Forest Workers and Trade Unions; Scientific and Technological Communities; Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs); Children and Youth; Indigenous Peoples; and Industry. On 11 April, the remaining agenda items were opened in plenary.
The UNFF10 outcome was developed under two Working Groups (WGs), which convened from 12-19 April. Working Group I (WGI) addressed agenda items on: the assessment of progress made in the implementation of the non-legally binding instrument on all types of forests (NLBI or forest instrument), and towards the achievement of the four Global Objectives on Forests (GOFs); regional and sub-regional inputs; forests and economic development; and enhanced cooperation and policy and programme coordination, including the provision of further guidance to the CPF. Working Group II (WGII) addressed the agenda items on MoI for SFM, emerging issues and the Forum Trust Fund.
On Friday, 19 April, contact groups under both WGs met throughout the day to address outstanding issues, including how to reference MoI in the WGI draft resolution and whether to reference the “UN development agenda beyond 2015” or “post-2015 development agenda” in the WGII draft resolution. Following a meeting between delegates and the UNFF Bureau, which was convened to help resolve these issues, plenary reconvened early on Saturday morning to hear reports on the WGs’ outcomes. The “Resolution on Agenda Items 3, 4, 5 and 8” and the “Resolution on Emerging Issues, MoI and the Forum Trust Fund” were adopted by acclamation on Saturday, 20 April.
Delegates welcomed the adoption, after many years of deliberation, of a substantive outcome on MoI and a clear roadmap outlining steps towards a review of the IAF. [IISD RS coverage of UNFF10][UN Press Releases on UNFF10] [UN News Story on UNFF10] [DESA Press Release]