Biodiversity framework tops agenda as experts on Europe’s forests and forest industry meet

San Marino - A joint session of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) European Forestry Commission and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Committee on Forests and the Forest Industry will meet in San Marino this week to review and coordinate strategy on forests and the forest industry in Europe.
The joint session brings together government officials, representatives of international organizations, civil society, and the private sector.

Meeting for the first time since the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework was adopted in December 2022, the session will discuss the implications for Europe’s forests of the landmark agreement which sets out a clear pathway to achieving the global vision of a world living in harmony with nature by 2050.

“This is an important gathering to discuss how forest biodiversity can be maintained, enhanced and mainstreamed into the sustainable forest management of the region’s forests, in addition to addressing other issues such as global and regional level cooperation on integrated fire management,” said Ekrem Yazici, Deputy Chief of the UNECE/FAO Joint Forestry and Timber Section.

The Committee and the Commission will each review progress in their ongoing work and discuss key issues and evolving topics, including addressing wildfires, restoring degraded areas, management of mountain watersheds, contributions of forests to a circular bioeconomy and urban forestry in the region.

Much of this work is led by associated subsidiary bodies of the Commission, including the Working Party on the Management of Mountain Watersheds; the UNECE/FAO Working Party on Forest Statistics, Economics and Management; and seven UNECE/FAO teams of specialists. About the EFC and COFFI

This will be the forty-second session of the European Forestry Commission, whose delegates from 40 countries and the European Union meet every two years. The Commission was created in 1947 and is one of six regional forestry commissions established by FAO to provide a policy and technical forum for countries to discuss and address forest issues in their region. 
This will be the eighty-first session of the Committee on Forests and the Forest Industry, a principal UNECE subsidiary body that constitutes a forum for cooperation and consultation between member countries on forestry, the forest industry and forest product matters.