Maputo, Mozambique – The Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) convened policymakers, technical experts and regional stakeholders from 10 Southern African countries in Maputo today to explore ways of strengthening cross-sectoral collaboration for sustainable forest management (SFM).
The policy exchange day, titled “Policy Alignment for Sustainable Forest Management”, took place during the Third Regional Stakeholders Workshop for Southern Africa under the GEF-7 Dryland Sustainable Landscapes Impact Program.
“Forests are indispensable for agriculture, and we cannot afford to treat the forest and agriculture sectors in isolation from each other,” stressed Mr Zhimin Wu, Chair of the CPF and Director of Forestry at FAO.
Delivering on global commitments
This event explored opportunities to strengthen progress towards SFM by enhancing policy coherence and intersectoral collaboration. Through inclusive dialogue among stakeholders from forestry, agriculture, environment, energy, and development sectors, the policy exchange emphasized the value of integrated planning and coordinated action. This approach supports the achievement of global commitments, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Global Forest Goals, and national targets under the Rio Conventions—such as Nationally Determined Contributions, National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs), and Land Degradation Neutrality.
Identifying areas for greater collaboration
Throughout the day, participants exchanged country experiences, identified policy gaps, and formulated recommendations to enhance forest policy integration and accelerate on-the-ground impact. One example discussed was the CPF’s recent analysis of more than 50 NBSAPs, which found that 76 percent of proposed activities relate directly to improving SFM – underscoring the central role of forests in achieving biodiversity targets.
Forests play a crucial role in climate-change mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity conservation, and supporting livelihoods. Yet deforestation contributes nearly 11 percent of global greenhouse-gas emissions, often driven by complex factors outside the forest sector, such as land-use change and commodity production.
Breaking down silos
By promoting knowledge exchange and building operational synergies, the policy exchange encouraged breaking down sectoral silos, driving collective action, and translating political commitments into impact. As emphasized by participants, strengthening policy coherence is crucial both for halting deforestation and for securing the multiple benefits that forests provide for climate resilience, biodiversity, food security, and sustainable livelihoods.
The CPF – an innovative, voluntary, interagency partnership of 16 international organizations with substantial programmes on forests – works collectively to support countries and the UN Forum on Forests in these efforts.
This event was made possible through the financial support of Canada.
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