Rio+20 ideal opportunity to better integrate forests into a green economy

International partnership calls for increased attention to forest ecosystem-based solutions ahead of Rio+20 Summit

In a submission to the Preparatory Process for Rio+20, Members of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests, of which the World Agroforestry Centre is a member, called upon countries and major groups and stakeholders to explore the opportunities and lessons learned from forest ecosystems, their management and utilization. Furthermore, the Partnership called for actions at Rio+20 to take a holistic approach to capture the multiple benefits of forests and merge the traditional three pillars of sustainable development to better integrate forest ecosystems in a green and low carbon economy.

“Forests are the pantry for 1.6 billion people of the world, their home, their culture, their water and their breath,” says Jan McAlpine, Director of the United Nations Forum on Forests Secretariat. “The global community will gather at Rio+20 to draw up a ‘greenprint’ for action for a sustainable future for this world. At Rio, we must make sure that world leaders see that forests hold the essence of the economic, environmental, and social values that provide for the future of the world. Without forests, life on earth is not possible,” she said.

The successes and failures of forest ecosystem management across the world have provided critical lessons and practical examples for approaching 21st century challenges. Forest ecosystems provide solutions for climate change, poverty reduction, food and energy security, gender equality, biodiversity loss and the transition towards a green economy and sustainable development.

The opportunities offered by forests ecosystems were highlighted by the members of the international mechanism of 14 forest organizations, institutions, and secretariats, in their official document submitted to the UN Department of Environmental and Social Affairs. The paper will be vetted at the Rio+20 Conference in an effort to stimulate debate and enhance future actions on sustainable development at international and national levels.

“The submission is important to explain how forest ecosystem goods and services could inform the international community’s efforts to take the aspiration of the green economy and sustainable development from rhetoric to reality,” said Eduardo Rojas-Briales of the FAO Forestry Department and Chair of the Collaborative Partnership. “We hope to see these inputs reflected in the policies and actions decided at the Rio+20 Conference.”

The submission of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests to the Preparatory process for Rio+20 can be found at www.fao.org/forestry/cpf/en