Joint Statement of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests
UNCCD COP17

With three Rio Convention COPs taking place in 2026, the CPF emphasizes the opportunity to consider forests not through a single agenda, but through the full range of sustainable development and nature-based solutions outcomes they support.

Forests connect climate ambition, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem integrity, land restoration, sustainable production systems, sustainable trade and supply chains, food and water security, and rural livelihoods in ways that are direct, practical and visible. This matters because implementation is now crucial to succeed.

Conserving remaining primary and other high-integrity forests, effectively restoring degraded forest landscapes and sustainably managing forests, including production forests, and ensuring that international trade in valuable tree species is sustainable, legal and traceable can safeguard irreplaceable and critical ecosystems, rebuild ecological resilience, reduce negative impacts from fire, drought and floods to sustain livelihoods and support resilient and nature-positive economies.

Coordinated forest-based actions are aimed at reducing duplication, strengthening coherence and generating benefits for members’/countries’ economies, including for Indigenous Peoples, local communities, women, youth and related stakeholders, while being a visible example of strengthened cooperation and implementation across the Rio Conventions.

With regard to the 17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, forests, trees and agroforestry - where ecologically appropriate, and alongside healthy rangelands and other dryland ecosystems - can support progress towards achieving land degradation neutrality targets by: avoiding, reducing and reversing land degradation, strengthening drought preparedness and resilience, improving sustainable land management and use, supporting water security and soil health, contributing to resilient agrifood and production systems, and enriching livelihoods and strengthening growth.

Dryland forests - often overlooked in policy and investment - are gaining momentum as critical assets for helping achieve land degradation neutrality and strengthening resilience to drought. Action can be scaled through existing platforms, larger sustainably financed programmes and established good practices in the conservation and sustainable management of dryland forests and integrated dryland landscapes.

Through implementation of its Work Plan 2025–2028 and joint initiatives, the CPF can add value: by bringing together organizations and Conventions with complementary mandates, scientific and technical expertise, tools and country-level support to help advance an integrated approach. Going forward, the CPF sees three practical priorities.

First, we need country-led policy coherence, so that forest commitments are better reflected across national climate, biodiversity, land, agriculture, energy and development plans, as well as at the transboundary and regional level. More specifically, actions at all levels must be promoted to advance achievement of the global forest related goals, targets and international obligations, including the Global Forest Goals and targets of the UN Strategic Plan for Forests, and the objectives of the three Rio Conventions and other relevant multilateral environmental agreements in a coherent and synergetic manner.

Second, we need stronger and more interoperable forest data, monitoring and reporting systems, including digital tools, to reduce reporting burdens on countries while improving evidence-based data and information for decision-making.

Third, we need more direct, predictable, accessible and sustainable public/private, domestic/international finance and partnerships to accelerate implementation, so that forest related investments and joint activities better support forests, climate, biodiversity and land objectives together, rather than through separate and competing channels.

The CPF stands ready to support Parties and partners in advancing these priorities, and help to ensure that forests can become one of the best examples where global commitments meet practical action, across conventions, sectors, and landscapes.