1. The Sixteenth Session of the Committee on Forestry (COFO) was held at FAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy, from 10 to 14 March 2003.
2. The session was attended by delegates from 113 Members of the Committee, observers from five other Member Nations of FAO, from one United Nations Member State, the Holy See, representatives of eight United Nations Agencies and Programmes and observers from 19 intergovernmental and international non-governmental organizations. The list of participants is given in Appendix B.
3. Mr José María Solano López, outgoing First Vice-Chair, opened the session.
4. Mr David A. Harcharik, Deputy Director-General, welcomed delegates and addressed the session on behalf of the Director-General.
