New York – The Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) published a four-year work plan for supporting countries in their efforts to accelerate progress towards global forest goals.
The 2025-2028 work plan details how the CPF, which is chaired by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), will strengthen action to support the achievement of the Global Forest Goals (GFGs) set out in the United Nations Strategic Plan for Forests 2017-2030.
“The actions outlined in this plan are designed to enable tangible progress on the ground and to support the global community in achieving the transformative change required,” said Zhimin Wu, Director of FAO’s Forestry Division and Chair of the CPF.
Wu announced the new work plan today at the 20th session of the UN Forum on Forests in New York.
Six goals on forests
Forests harbour up to 80 percent of terrestrial biodiversity, help regulate the climate, water and carbon cycles, and provide energy, food, medicines and income for billions of people. With the world facing multiple interlinked global challenges that especially affect developing countries, forests offer solutions.
Six GFGs in the UNSPF are designed to secure the future of forests – and realize their potential to tackle global challenges – by 2030. Three of the goals address the need to reverse deforestation through sustainable forest management; enhance the economic, social and environmental benefits of forests; and significantly increase the area of protected forest and the proportion of forest products that come from sustainably managed forests.
The other three goals relate to global action needed to achieve the first three aims: mobilize financial resources and strengthen scientific and technical cooperation; promote governance frameworks; and enhance cooperation, coordination and coherence among organizations, sectors and stakeholders working towards the same goals.
Despite the efforts and progress made to date, forest loss continues and the impacts of climate change are increasing. The first comprehensive report on progress towards the GFGs, The Global Forest Goals Report 2021, showed that, in most cases, progress was uneven and stronger efforts and more resources were needed.
Enhanced action
The CPF’s work plan sets out detailed action designed to scale up work to strengthen global policy processes related to forests and address specific challenges.
It includes a suite of 13 targeted joint initiatives that harness the diverse comparative advantages and technical expertise of CPF Members to support countries in a range of thematic areas related to forests.
For instance, a joint initiative on biodiversity mainstreaming is assisting countries to enhance the role of conservation and sustainable use of forests in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the Global Forest Goals by promoting greater coherence between related goals and targets.
A joint initiative on forests for food security and nutrition aims to support countries to develop cross-sectoral policies and scale up actions to strengthen the contributions of forests to agriculture, food security and nutrition. As part of its work, the joint initiative will produce the Global report on the contribution of forests for food security, with case studies and recommendations on action needed based on data and best practices.
Another joint initiative aims to strengthen the protection of tropical primary forests through increased awareness and advocacy, strengthening financing mechanisms, and fostering innovative approaches to conservation.
Additional thematic areas of focus of the joint initiatives include promoting the use of sustainable wood, increasing uptake of integrated fire management in tropical forests, facilitating forest finance, and other vital actions. New joint initiatives may be added over the period spanned by the work plan.
The CPF was established in 2001 to support the work of the UNFF and strengthen cooperation on forests.
