International expert workshop on strengthening collaboration on criteria and indicators (C&I) to promote and demonstrate sustainable forest management

Ottawa, Canada, 1-3 May 2016

This international expert workshop had to seek to strengthen collaboration on criteria and indicators (C&I), with the goal of mobilizing the full potential for this valuable tool to promote, implement and demonstrate improved sustainable forest management in policy and practice. The event was built on recent milestones in the global effort toward sustainable forest management, each of which offers scope for using C&I in fulfilling and reporting on commitments.

 These were:

• the ECOSOC resolution on the International Arrangement on Forests beyond 2015;
• the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the Sustainable Development Goals;
• the UNFCCC Paris Agreement;
• the World Forestry Congress vision for the future of forests.

Participants included 35 experts from 16 countries drawn from international C&I processes, intergovernmental organizations and other bodies interested in using C&I to promote sustainable forest management and to track environmental change. As its starting point, the workshop took the roadmap on Mobilizing the full potential of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management in policy and practice: the way forward, which was developed through broad global consultation with stakeholders and experts using C&I and presented at the World Forestry Congress 2015.  

Workshop goals

Specific workshops objectives were to:

1. Strengthen relationships between C&I processes and other forest-related organizations and fora that promote implementation of sustainable forest management and that track environmental change and report on sustainable developments related to forests
2. Explore possibilities to use C&I to address sustainable forest management issues within the context of the different forest-related fora and organizations
3. Propose concrete actions to advance common interests and lead to continuous improvement and enhance collaboration

Expected outputs

Three main outputs were expected to emerge from the meeting:

1. A joint statement of intent to collaborate;
2. A set of practical action proposals for relevant organizations for improved collaboration;
3. Communication notes to UNFF, FAO Committee on Forestry/World Forest Week (July 2016) and possible other fora as appropriate.

Workshop organization

The workshop was organized by Natural Resources Canada, in cooperation with FAO.

A Steering Committee composed of representatives from the Montreal Process Working Group, FOREST EUROPE, International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), FAO and the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) secretariat guided the development of the workshop agenda.

Interviews

Andrew Wilson, Director of National Forest Policy, Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources		Olivier Ahimin, Coordonnateur Régional de projet, Organisation internationale des bois tropicaux
Chris Henschel, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) International		Jenny Wong, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Valerie Fumey Nassah, Resource Management Support Centre, Forestry Commission, Ghana		Andrés Meza, Corporación Nacional Forestal (CONAF), Chile
Simon Bridge, Natural Resources Canada		Kit Prins, Independent Consultant
Samsudin Musa, Forest Research Institute Malaysia