Convening under the theme “Building a Green, Healthy and Resilient Future with Forests,” the Fifteenth meeting of the World Forestry Congress (XV WFC) sought to define the role of forests in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and other major agreements, including the Global Forest Goals, the Paris Agreement on climate change, and the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. During the five-day meeting, participants addressed a wide variety of themes, including: the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration; Forests for a Healthy, Prosperous and Peaceful World; and Sustainable Pathways for Building a Green, Healthy, and Resilient Future.

Key events included: the launch of FAO’s State of the World’s Forests 2022 report; the High-Level Roundtable on the Peace Forest Initiative (PFI); the Ministerial Forum on Financing; the Ministerial Forum on Sustainable Wood; the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) Dialogue; two full-day forums, one on forest fires, and another on private sector investment; the launch of the Assuring the Future of Forests with Integrated Risk Management (AFFIRM) Mechanism for fire management; and the Sustaining an Abundance of Forest Ecosystems (SAFE) initiative. Additionally, participants were invited to special events on investing in young forestry professionals and career development; forests in a post-COVID World: and sustainable forests and green energy.

Over the course of the week, 30 thematic dialogue sessions were held, organized under six sub-themes on the most important current issues concerning forests and the products and services they provide. These sub-themes included: reversing deforestation and forest degradation; nature-based solutions (NbS) for climate change adaptation and biodiversity conservation; green pathways to growth and sustainability; forests and human health; managing and communicating forest information, data and knowledge; and enhancing management and cooperation.

The main outcomes of the Congress include: detailed action proposals following the six sub-themes of the Congress; a Ministerial Call on Sustainable Wood; a youth call for action; and the Seoul Forest Declaration, which outlines shared roles and responsibilities for ensuring a sustainable future for the world’s forests.The Wangari Maathai Forest Champions Award 2022 was presented to Cécile Ndjebet, African Women’s Network for Community Management of Forests.

XV WFC convened in Seoul, Republic of Korea, from 2-6 May, 2022, with over 15,000 participants from 146 countries representing governments and public agencies, international organizations, the private sector, academic and research institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and community and Indigenous organizations. The meeting was held in a hybrid format, with 4,500 participants joining the meeting online.

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