Regional and Sub-Regional Inputs to UNFF10

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1 Date of submission: Regional and Sub-Regional Inputs to UNFF10 Regional/ Sub-regional Organization [name of the regional/sub-regional organization]: Name: [Paola Deda] Title: Chief UNECE/FAO Forestry and Timber Section Address: United Nations, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland Phone/Fax: Person to contact concerning the submission, if different from the focal point: Name: Eve Charles Title: Communications and Intergovernmental Affairs Address: same as above Phone/Fax: General Information Response on section I: Progress towards the implementation of the forest instrument in the context of the overall theme of UNFF10 on Forests and Economic Development A. Progress towards implementation of the forest instrument 1. Briefly describe actions (e.g. regulatory, financial/economic and informational/educational) taken by your organization to foster political commitment for sustainable forest management (SFM). The FOREST EUROPE/UNECE/FAO State of Europe s Forests 2011 (SoEF2011) was published in June The State of Europe s Forests 2011 report aims at providing decision makers and the broad public with up-to-date, comprehensive and fact-based information on the status and trends in forests and sustainable forest management in Europe in the period In 2012, the UNECE/FAO Forestry and Timber Section developed an on-line educational tool for students aged based on the main results and key findings of the publication. The platform will be launched in November and will be made available on our website at: An Action Plan on the role of forests in a green economy in the UNECE region is also being developed. (Please see next question) 2. Briefly describe efforts taken at the regional level to foster economically, socially and environmentally sound measures that act as incentives for the sustainable management of forests. 1

2 The Action Plan on the role of forests in a green economy was initiated in May 2011 under the auspices of the UNECE and FAO. The plan reiterates the fact that the forest sector in the UNECE region has the potential to make the greatest possible contribution to the emerging green economy by improving human well-being and social equity while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities. The Action Plan which stresses the leading role of the forest sector in the emerging green economy at the global level was developed as part of an open consultation with member States and stakeholders and addresses the forest sector in the entire UNECE region Europe, including Russia, and North America. The Plan will be reviewed further on two coming occasions before being presented for endorsement at the next Joint ECE/FAO Committee and Commission session (Metsä2013) in Rovaniemi, Finland on 9-13 December Briefly describe actions taken to enhance regional cooperation to promote international trade in forest products from sustainably managed forests harvested. The UNECE/FAO Forest Products Annual Market Review is a keystone publication that provides general and statistical information on forest products markets in the UN Economic Commission for Europe region (Europe, North America and Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia). Based on the Review, Market Discussions have been held in Geneva on October 2012 to: Produce forecasts and market developments in the UNECE region; Discuss policy developments influencing forest products markets; Produce a Market Statement. A paper on Forest and economic development in the UNECE region is currently being finalized. The draft is available at: st_and_economic_development.pdf The UNECE/FAO Forestry and Timber Section is also very active in the work of wood energy. Together with the International Energy Agency (IEA) the European Commission (EC) the Section developed a "Joint Wood Energy Enquiry which collects data of both sources and uses of wood and promotes cooperation between the energy and forest sectors, providing a comprehensive framework on the role of wood energy in Member States. In addition, the Section has organized various events in the last 3 years to provide policymakers in the ECE region with a set of views from a wide group of involved sectors to address the economic, social and environmental aspects of the growing demand for and use of wood for energy. For additional information, visit: 4. Briefly describe actions taken to enhance regional cooperation to address illicit international trafficking in forest products through the promotion of forest law enforcement and good governance. The Action Plan mentioned above consists of 5 pillars including one on sustainable production and consumption of forest products. One of the objectives for this pillar is to promote certification and labeling systems as indicators of wood sustainability. 2

3 5. List and briefly describe activities aimed at mobilizing new and additional resources from all sources for SFM. A workshop on The green life of wood: assessing wood s environmental impact from cradle to cradle was held on Monday, 15 October The workshop was organized to learn more about the life cycle of wood products and gather scientific evidence on the sustainability of wood. The meeting concluded that LCA is a comprehensive environmental accounting tool for evaluating the overall environmental impact of a material or product throughout its life. When it comes to building choices, other materials are often preferred over wood, despite their negative environmental impact. LCA can help actors to choose wood over other materials as forest products can be carbon neutral, sustainably harvested and used in an environmentally friendly manner. Increased use of wood and forest products will result in more investment in SFM. The Section will continue working on the topic in the future. 6. Please provide additional information specific to your region/subregion on the implementation of the forest instrument and the impact made by the forest instrument on enhancing forest-based economic development. B. Progress towards GOFs 1. Please describe actions taken by your organization and/or by other public and private organizations (e.g., government, NGOs, private sector, etc.) in your region/subregion to help achieve the following : GOF1, Reverse the loss of forest cover worldwide through sustainable forest management, including protection, restoration, afforestation and reforestation, and increase efforts to prevent forest degradation Results from ECE/FAO statistics compiled for the SoEF 2011, showed that since the 1990s, the forest area in Europe, North America, Caucasus and Central Asia has been increasing steadily. Forest area in the region has grown by 25 million hectares over the last 20 years (a size equivalent to the surface of the United Kingdom), or an average of 1.25 million ha per year (equivalent to an area slightly smaller than Montenegro). In the pan-european region alone, the forest area increased by 17 million hectares in the last two decades. To provide guidance for sustainable mobilisation of wood in Europe and to assist policymakers and practitioners alike in taking and supporting similar measures, the UNECE/FAO Forestry and Timber Section, together with FOREST EUROPE and the European Commission developed a guide that presents good practice examples of successful and sustainable mobilisation of wood. The guide aims to give clear, concise and operational guidance, and to add value to existing and other ongoing work on the subject, including work conducted by FOREST EUROPE, the European Commission and UNECE/FAO, i.e. related to the implementation of the EU Forest Action Plan, the EU Renewable Energy Policy objectives and action plans, and MCPFE Warsaw Resolution 1 Forests, Wood and Energy. The guide is available at: 3

4 GOF2, Enhance forest-based economic, social and environmental benefits, including by improving the livelihoods of forest dependent people Last year, a paper on Payments for Forest related Ecosystem Services: What role for a Green Economy? was prepared by the UNECE/FAO Forestry and Timber Section, in cooperation with the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE); UNECE Water Convention; FAO; United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH); UNEP and IUCN. The final version, which includes the results of a workshop organized in Geneva in 2011 during the Forest and Water week will be published in Also of relevance is the Action Plan on the Forest Sector in a green economy. (see section I A.4) GOF3, Increase significantly the area of protected forests worldwide and other areas of sustainably managed forests, as well as the proportion of forest products from sustainably managed forests See GOF1 GOF4, Reverse the decline in ODA for SFM and mobilize significantly increased, new and additional financial resources from all sources for the implementation of SFM UNECE/FAO has been successful in obtaining funding from UNDA 8th tranche for the project Sustainable forest management for greener economies in the Caucasus and Central Asia. The project will help countries to respond to key capacity gaps and overcome these development challenges, by providing knowledge, capacity building, training materials and advisory services on: Strengthening forest sector policies and institutions, to address sustainable forest management s contribution to a green economy and mitigating climate change; Developing action plans and implementing sustainable forest management in three pilot countries; Promoting sustainable forest products, including for bioenergy production. 2. Please provide additional information specific to your region/subregion on progress towards the achievement of the GOFs. C. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 1. Please describe studies or initiatives in your region that capture the contribution of forests to the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the MDGs? 2. What indicators have been, or could be, used to assess the contribution of forests to the MDGs? 3. Please provide additional information specific to your regional/subregional on MDG forestrelated work. 4

5 Responses in Section II: Characteristics of regional and sub-regional cooperation and partnerships 1. Please provide examples of how your region or sub-region is engaged in facilitating cooperation in sustainable forest management? These may include North-South, South-South and Triangular Cooperation. Work by the UNECE/FAO Forestry and Timber Section, the Montréal Process, FOREST EUROPE, the Observatory for the Forests of Central Africa (OFAC), the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) on opportunities for international and interorganisational cooperation to streamline the international reporting on forests and forest management is underway. The ECE/FAO Team of Specialist on Monitoring Sustainable Forest Management provided advice from a regional perspective on several matters related to FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment and Collaborative Forest Resources Questionnaire the new initiative developed jointly by the FAO, FOREST EUROPE, ITTO, the Montréal Process, OFAC and UNECE/FAO. 2. What advances has your organization made in such areas of cooperation? At the ECE/FAO Team of Specialist on Monitoring Sustainable Forest Management which took place in May 2012 in Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation, experts supported the proposal for developing a periodic, jointly owned bulletin based on existing initiatives among organizations and among countries to improve cooperation among different actors in the pan-european region. The advanced versions of documents for the collaborative reporting on forests prepared by all actors involved were discussed and agreed at a meeting on Streamlining forest based reporting a collaboration workshop in Jacksonville, Florida, United States, on August 2012, including the overall structure of reporting, basic terms and definitions as well as the general schedule. 3. In which areas would your organization like to see stronger international cooperation? More attention should be paid to demonstrate the relevance of the work done on criteria and indicators at the international level. Interaction among forest related processes and organisations whose work focuses on forest-related issues should be fostered through flexible initiatives, tailored to the needs and situations of countries. 4. Please describe any joint activity relevant to the Forum s work undertaken with member organizations of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) 1 and/or involving major stakeholders? On September 2012, a Country-Led Initiative in Support of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) was organized by Ukraine and Switzerland, with the support of the 1 List the names of CPF member organizations 5

6 UNECE/FAO Forestry and Timber Section and other stakeholders. The Lviv Forum on Forests in a Green Economy for countries in Eastern Europe, Northern and Central Asia contributed to raising awareness and promoting the concept of the green economy in the forest sector in the region. As a result of the participatory nature of the meeting, forestrelated issues and challenges of the region could be addressed in an effective way within and outside the region. 5. Please provide additional information specific to your region/subregion on successful cooperation and partnerships, including those with the private sector and other civil society organizations (also known as major groups). Because of its joint nature (joint programme of work, joint secretariat and Joint Bureaux, joint profile or trademark and joint publications), the ECE/FAO Forestry and Timber Section is a good example of successful cooperationof two leading UN agencies in the UNECE region. More recent examples of successful cooperation include partnership with the private sector. To mark the International Year of Forests, in early 2011 the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) launched a PhD Thesis Award on Sustainable Forest Management in the UNECE region, sponsored by Pictet, one of Switzerland s largest private banks. 6. Please list (or, if available, provide link to the relevant webpage) the member countries and organizations with whom you work on sustainable forest management issues. FAO, UNECE, UNEP, UNFF, EFI, METLA, IUCN, European Commission, IEA, Montreal Process, Greenpeace and Forest Europe. The UNECE region covers Europe, including Russia, and North America. The list of UNECE countries is available at ttp:// 6