Delegates Gather in NY for Talks to Safeguard the Planet's Forests
New York - Delegates from around the world gathered for UN-backed
talks Monday aimed at safeguarding the planet's forests as well
as the livelihoods of the hundreds of millions of people whom
depend upon such green zones.
The United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) is meeting for two
weeks to explore international arrangements that can control
deforestation, promote sustainable forest management and
acknowledge the ways that forests play a key part in economic
development.
Jose Antonio Ocampo, Under-Secretary General for Economic and
Social Affairs, today told the opening of the forum's Sixth
Session that the alarming rate of deforestation is a major
threat to sustainable development and affects some of the
world's poorest people.
"Given the impact on forests of population expansion, economic
growth and environmental instability, it is not surprising
[forest issues] have been at the centre of several international
negotiations," said Mr. Ocampo, noting that forests cover
a third of the planet's land surface.
He added that global trade in primary and secondary forest
products total $200 billion annually. "Sustainable forest
management has become a major policy objective for many
countries," he said.
Judith Mbula Bahemuka, Kenya's Representative to the UN,
who is chairing the session, said global leaders gathered
at the 2005 World Summit in September emphasized that
forest issues cut across many developmental sectors, and
international that cooperation can help sustainable
forest management benefit current and future generations.
The proposals for action at the UNFF session have evolved
from meetings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests
(IPF) from 1995 to 1997 and the Intergovernmental Forum
on Forests (IFF) from 1997 to 2000, both under the
auspices of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development.
Over the past 15 years, forest issues have played a prominent
role in international policy and political agendas and were
a controversial topic at the 1992 UN Conference on Environment
and Development (UNCED) in Rio. The conference developed the
Forest Principals after intensive negotiations and included
material on combating deforestation in the summit's end
document, Agenda 21.
|