{"id":26751,"key":"UN_International_Year_of_Forests","title":"UN International Year of Forests","latest":{"id":1211395,"timestamp":"2025-11-28T13:43:04Z"},"content_model":"wikitext","license":{"url":"https://www.appropedia.org/Appropedia:Copyrights","title":"CC-BY-SA-4.0"},"source":"2011 was the United Nations Year of the Forest\n\nMore can be seen about the idea behind it below.\n\nWhat did it achieve and critiques.\n \n* It was a top down run project. There was poor responses from the UN to public inquiries and participation was not possible for most of civil society. It achieved low prominence and was largely ineffective. There are no tangible outcomes from the year, that would not have been achieved anyway despite the designation of an International Year status.\n* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Year_of_Forests\n* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Forum_on_Forests\n* http://www.fao.org/forestry/cpf/en/\n* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_Principles\n\nThe Forest Principles is the informal name given to the \"Non-Legally Binding Authoritative Statement of Principles for a Global Consensus on the Management, Conservation and Sustainable Development of All Types of Forests,\" a document produced at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), informally known as the Earth Summit.[1] It is a non-legally binding document that makes several recommendations for forestry.\n\nhttp://web.archive.org/web/20190815221955/https://www.un.org/documents/ga/conf151/aconf15126-3annex3.htm\n\n \t\t(e) These principles should apply to all types of forests, both\nnatural and planted, in all geographical regions and climatic zones, including\naustral, boreal, subtemperate, temperate, subtropical and tropical.\n\nPRINCIPLES/ELEMENTS\n\n# \t(a) States have, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations\n\nand the principles of international law, the sovereign right to exploit their\nown resources pursuant to their own environmental policies and have the\nresponsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control\ndo not cause damage to the environment of other States or of areas beyond the\nlimits of national jurisdiction.\n\n \t\t(b) The agreed full incremental cost of achieving benefits associated\nwith forest conservation and sustainable development requires increased\ninternational cooperation and should be equitably shared by the international\ncommunity.\n\n# \t(a) States have the sovereign and inalienable right to utilize, manage\n\nand develop their forests in accordance with their development needs and level\nof socio-economic development and on the basis of national policies consistent\nwith sustainable development and legislation, including the conversion of such\nareas for other uses within the overall socio-economic development plan and\nbased on rational land-use policies.\n\n \t\t(b) Forest resources and forest lands should be sustainably managed\nto meet the social, economic, ecological, cultural and spiritual needs of\npresent and future generations. These needs are for forest products and\nservices, such as wood and wood products, water, food, fodder, medicine, fuel,\nshelter, employment, recreation, habitats for wildlife, landscape diversity,\ncarbon sinks and reservoirs, and for other forest products. Appropriate\nmeasures should be taken to protect forests against harmful effects of\npollution, including air-borne pollution, fires, pests and diseases, in order\nto maintain their full multiple value.\n\n \t\t(c) The provision of timely, reliable and accurate information on\nforests and forest ecosystems is essential for public understanding and\ninformed decision-making and should be ensured.\n\n \t\t(d) Governments should promote and provide opportunities for the\nparticipation of interested parties, including local communities and\nindigenous people, industries, labour, non-governmental organizations and\nindividuals, forest dwellers and women, in the development, implementation and\nplanning of national forest policies.\n\n# \t(a) National policies and strategies should provide a framework for\n\nincreased efforts, including the development and strengthening of institutions\nand programmes for the management, conservation and sustainable development\nof forests and forest lands.\n\n \t\t(b) International institutional arrangements, building on those\norganizations and mechanisms already in existence, as appropriate, should\nfacilitate international cooperation in the field of forests.\n\n \t\t(c) All aspects of environmental protection and social and economic\ndevelopment as they relate to forests and forest lands should be integrated\nand comprehensive.\n\n# \tThe vital role of all types of forests in maintaining the ecological\n\nprocesses and balance at the local, national, regional and global levels\nthrough, inter alia, their role in protecting fragile ecosystems, watersheds\nand freshwater resources and as rich storehouses of biodiversity and\nbiological resources and sources of genetic material for biotechnology\nproducts, as well as photosynthesis, should be recognized.\n\n# \t(a) National forest policies should recognize and duly support the\n\nidentity, culture and the rights of indigenous people, their communities and\nother communities and forest dwellers. Appropriate conditions should be\npromoted for these groups to enable them to have an economic stake in forest\nuse, perform economic activities, and achieve and maintain cultural identity\nand social organization, as well as adequate levels of livelihood and\nwell-being, through, inter alia, those land tenure arrangements which serve\nas incentives for the sustainable management of forests.\n\n \t\t(b) The full participation of women in all aspects of the management,\nconservation and sustainable development of forests should be actively\npromoted.\n\n# \t(a) All types of forests play an important role in meeting energy\n\nrequirements through the provision of a renewable source of bio-energy,\nparticularly in developing countries, and the demands for fuelwood for\nhousehold and industrial needs should be met through sustainable forest\nmanagement, afforestation and reforestation. To this end, the potential\ncontribution of plantations of both indigenous and introduced species for the\nprovision of both fuel and industrial wood should be recognized.\n\n \t\t(b) National policies and programmes should take into account the\nrelationship, where it exists, between the conservation, management and\nsustainable development of forests and all aspects related to the production,\nconsumption, recycling and/or final disposal of forest products.\n\n \t\t(c) Decisions taken on the management, conservation and sustainable\ndevelopment of forest resources should benefit, to the extent practicable,\nfrom a comprehensive assessment of economic and non-economic values of forest\ngoods and services and of the environmental costs and benefits. The\ndevelopment and improvement of methodologies for such evaluations should be\npromoted.\n\n \t\t(d) The role of planted forests and permanent agricultural crops as\nsustainable and environmentally sound sources of renewable energy and\nindustrial raw material should be recognized, enhanced and promoted. Their\ncontribution to the maintenance of ecological processes, to offsetting\npressure on primary/old-growth forest and to providing regional employment and\ndevelopment with the adequate involvement of local inhabitants should be\nrecognized and enhanced.\n\n \t\t(e) Natural forests also constitute a source of goods and services,\nand their conservation, sustainable management and use should be promoted.\n\n# \t(a) Efforts should be made to promote a supportive international\n\neconomic climate conducive to sustained and environmentally sound development\nof forests in all countries, which include, inter alia, the promotion of\nsustainable patterns of production and consumption, the eradication of poverty\nand the promotion of food security.\n\n \t\t(b) Specific financial resources should be provided to developing\ncountries with significant forest areas which establish programmes for the\nconservation of forests including protected natural forest areas. These\nresources should be directed notably to economic sectors which would stimulate\neconomic and social substitution activities.\n\n# \t(a) Efforts should be undertaken towards the greening of the world.\n\nAll countries, notably developed countries, should take positive and\ntransparent action towards reforestation, afforestation and forest\nconservation, as appropriate.\n\n \t\t(b) Efforts to maintain and increase forest cover and forest\nproductivity should be undertaken in ecologically, economically and socially\nsound ways through the rehabilitation, reforestation and re-establishment of\ntrees and forests on unproductive, degraded and deforested lands, as well as\nthrough the management of existing forest resources.\n\n \t\t(c) The implementation of national policies and programmes aimed at\nforest management, conservation and sustainable development, particularly in\ndeveloping countries, should be supported by international financial and\ntechnical cooperation, including through the private sector, where\nappropriate.\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t(d) Sustainable forest management and use should be carried out in\naccordance with national development policies and priorities and on the basis\nof environmentally sound national guidelines. In the formulation of such\nguidelines, account should be taken, as appropriate and if applicable, of\nrelevant internationally agreed methodologies and criteria.\n\n \t\t(e) Forest management should be integrated with management of adjacent\nareas so as to maintain ecological balance and sustainable productivity.\n\n \t\t(f) National policies and/or legislation aimed at management,\nconservation and sustainable development of forests should include the\nprotection of ecologically viable representative or unique examples of\nforests, including primary/old-growth forests, cultural, spiritual,\nhistorical, religious and other unique and valued forests of national\nimportance.\n\n \t\t(g) Access to biological resources, including genetic material, shall\nbe with due regard to the sovereign rights of the countries where the forests\nare located and to the sharing on mutually agreed terms of technology and\nprofits from biotechnology products that are derived from these resources.\n\n \t\t(h) National policies should ensure that environmental impact\nassessments should be carried out where actions are likely to have significant\nadverse impacts on important forest resources, and where such actions are\nsubject to a decision of a competent national authority.\n\n# \t(a) The efforts of developing countries to strengthen the management,\n\nconservation and sustainable development of their forest resources should be\nsupported by the international community, taking into account the importance\nof redressing external indebtedness, particularly where aggravated by the net\ntransfer of resources to developed countries, as well as the problem of\nachieving at least the replacement value of forests through improved market\naccess for forest products, especially processed products. In this respect,\nspecial attention should also be given to the countries undergoing the process\nof transition to market economies.\n\n \t\t(b) The problems that hinder efforts to attain the conservation and\nsustainable use of forest resources and that stem from the lack of alternative\noptions available to local communities, in particular the urban poor and poor\nrural populations who are economically and socially dependent on forests and\nforest resources, should be addressed by Governments and the international\ncommunity.\n\n \t\t(c) National policy formulation with respect to all types of forests\nshould take account of the pressures and demands imposed on forest ecosystems\nand resources from influencing factors outside the forest sector, and\nintersectoral means of dealing with these pressures and demands should be\nsought.\n\n10. New and additional financial resources should be provided to developing\ncountries to enable them to sustainably manage, conserve and develop their\nforest resources, including through afforestation, reforestation and combating\ndeforestation and forest and land degradation.\n\n11. In order to enable, in particular, developing countries to enhance their\nendogenous capacity and to better manage, conserve and develop their forest\nresources, the access to and transfer of environmentally sound technologies\nand corresponding know-how on favourable terms, including on concessional and\npreferential terms, as mutually agreed, in accordance with the relevant\nprovisions of Agenda 21, should be promoted, facilitated and financed, as\nappropriate.\n\n12. (a) Scientific research, forest inventories and assessments carried\nout by national institutions which take into account, where relevant,\nbiological, physical, social and economic variables, as well as technological\ndevelopment and its application in the field of sustainable forest management,\nconservation and development, should be strengthened through effective\nmodalities, including international cooperation. In this context, attention\nshould also be given to research and development of sustainably harvested\nnon-wood products.\n\n \t\t(b) National and, where appropriate, regional and international\ninstitutional capabilities in education, training, science, technology,\neconomics, anthropology and social aspects of forests and forest management\nare essential to the conservation and sustainable development of forests and\nshould be strengthened.\n\n \t\t(c) International exchange of information on the results of forest and\nforest management research and development should be enhanced and broadened,\nas appropriate, making full use of education and training institutions,\nincluding those in the private sector.\n\n \t\t(d) Appropriate indigenous capacity and local knowledge regarding the\nconservation and sustainable development of forests should, through\ninstitutional and financial support and in collaboration with the people in\nthe local communities concerned, be recognized, respected, recorded, developed\nand, as appropriate, introduced in the implementation of programmes. Benefits\narising from the utilization of indigenous knowledge should therefore be\nequitably shared with such people.\n\n13. (a) Trade in forest products should be based on non-discriminatory and\nmultilaterally agreed rules and procedures consistent with international trade\nlaw and practices. In this context, open and free international trade in\nforest products should be facilitated.\n\n \t\t(b) Reduction or removal of tariff barriers and impediments to the\nprovision of better market access and better prices for higher value-added\nforest products and their local processing should be encouraged to enable\nproducer countries to better conserve and manage their renewable forest\nresources.\n\n \t\t(c) Incorporation of environmental costs and benefits into market\nforces and mechanisms, in order to achieve forest conservation and sustainable\ndevelopment, should be encouraged both domestically and internationally.\n\n \t\t(d) Forest conservation and sustainable development policies should\nbe integrated with economic, trade and other relevant policies.\n\n \t\t(e) Fiscal, trade, industrial, transportation and other policies and\npractices that may lead to forest degradation should be avoided. Adequate\npolicies, aimed at management, conservation and sustainable development of\nforests, including, where appropriate, incentives, should be encouraged.\n\n14. Unilateral measures, incompatible with international obligations or\nagreements, to restrict and/or ban international trade in timber or other\nforest products should be removed or avoided, in order to attain long-term\nsustainable forest management.\n\n15. Pollutants, particularly air-borne pollutants, including those\nresponsible for acidic deposition, that are harmful to the health of forest\necosystems at the local, national, regional and global levels should be\ncontrolled.\n\n{{Page data\n| license = CC-BY-SA-3.0\n}}\n\n[[Category:Forestry]]\n[[Category:Agriculture]]"}