We are pleased to invite you to participate into a moderated electronic stakeholders' consultation on “Sustainability Assessment of the Food Chain” from 21 February to 25 March 2011. The aim is to seek views and share knowledge on a sustainability framework that includes core sustainability issues and a common set of performance indicators, based on the food chain sector practices. The outcome of this exercise will consist of voluntary international guidelines for food producers and retailers. To participate, just visit our website, log-on and join us in the discussions.

Preparations are underway for 2012’s event marking twenty years since the Rio de Janeiro-hosted United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, commonly known as the Earth Summit. The newly launched FAO@Rio+20 web site will be updated throughout 2011 as preparations are underway with FAO’s detailed programme of work, studies and various initiatives related to the event.

Welcome to the third issue of the Natural Resources and Environment Newsletter. In this issue, we will be introducing the new Land tenure e-journal, which has just launched its first issue. This e-journal is dedicated to land-related issues, including land tenure. We will also learn about the recently issued report, the State of the World’s plant genetic resources for food and agriculture and we will introduce you to the new web site gearing up for the 2012 event marking the twentieth anniversary of the Earth Summit - FAO@Rio+20.

This report provides a comprehensive picture of the global situation and trends regarding the conservation and use of plant genetic resources. It was prepared with the active participation of member countries as well as the public and private sectors. It describes the most significant changes that have occurred since the publication of the first report in 1998 and focuses on the major gaps and needs which will serve countries and the world community to set future priorities for the conservation and sustainable utilization of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture.