Forests are essential to life on our planet, to mitigating and adapting to climate change, ensuring adequate supply of fresh water, enhancing biodiversity and providing sustainable incomes and livelihoods, including food security. But they face unprecedented and unrelenting pressures.
Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre
7-11 September 2015, Durban, South Africa
The XIV World Forestry Congress, hosted by the Republic of South Africa, brought together the global forestry community to review and analyse the key issues and to share ways of addressing them.
The Congress – the first to be held in Africa - was inclusive of people from all countries, regions and sectors, whether they belong to a government organization, NGO, private company, scientific or professional body, a forestry society, or simply have a personal interest in attending. The broad participation and inclusive discussion on forestry issues facilitated their mainstreaming in global agendas on sustainable development as well as built new partnerships.
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Objectives
WFC XIV aims to:
- help position forestry as an integral part of sustainable development at all levels – national, regional and global;
- identify and review major issues facing forests and forestry, and propose technical, scientific and policy interventions to promote forest sustainability;
- provide an open forum in which the world’s forestry community and partners from other, related sectors can share and debate their knowledge, views and latest findings and establish and consolidate partnerships and networks;
- showcase the latest developments and innovations in global forestry, using multimedia platforms to illustrate practical applications and linkages; and
- ensure that critical issues are tackled and that all key stakeholders, particularly youth, students, professionals, women and local communities, have a platform on which to voice the ideas and concerns of their constituencies.
