Dryland forests and agrosilvopastoral systems, when well managed, contribute to the food security, livelihoods and resilience of millions of people as well as to sustainable landscapes. To understand and tackle the problems behind the loss and degradation of agrosilvopastoral systems and dryland forests in drylands, and to better support these systems, FAO was asked to set up a Working Group on dryland forests and agrosilvopastoral systems by the Committee on Forestry (COFO)’s 23rd session in July 2016.

That Working Group was then formally established at its Inaugural Session, which was held 16-17 July 2019, at FAO headquarters in Rome. This Session saw the participation of 20 member countries and 5 international organizations.  Further, during this Session, the WG elected its Chair from the United Republic of Tanzania, Mr Ezekiel Mwakalukwa and two Vice-Chairs, Mr Chadi Mohanna from Lebanon and Mr Dominique Louppe from France.

The COFO WG was formally established with a mandate to:

• review and report to COFO on the status, trends, issues and developments in dryland forests and agrosilvopastoral systems, and make recommendations to the Committee on these matters;
• contribute to develop a comprehensive understanding of dryland forest and agrosilvopastoral systems and the people who depend on them;
• promote scaling-up of good practices for the protection, sustainable management and restoration of dryland forests and agrosilvopastoral systems.

The Working Group has been asked to cooperate with relevant partners in assessing and following the status of dryland forests and agrosilvopastoral systems. It is also expected to contribute to decisions and policy developments to address challenges — work that includes identifying tools and approaches appropriate for drylands issues, as well as sharing knowledge and information about sustainable management, restoration and monitoring of dryland forests and agrosilvopastoral systems.