Silva Mediterranea

Over 90 years of Mediterranean forest management

Sixth Mediterranean Forest Week (VI MFW) - Lebanon 2019

The role Mediterranean forests can play in helping mitigate climate change and implement the Paris agreement.

Once every two years, the Mediterranean Forest Week (MFW) aims to bring together decision-makers, specialists, technical and scientific organizations, NGOs, young professionals and other relevant stakeholders, and open a dialogue regarding regional forestry cooperation.

The Sixth MFW occurred on 1-5 April 2019 in Lebanon. The five sessions of the MFW concerned how Mediterranean forests can assist countries in the region to implement their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and implement the goals under the Paris Agreement. Embodying countries’ efforts to reduce their national emissions, NDCs are critical to both the success of the agreement and global efforts to address climate change. By collaborating with other relevant land-based sectors at the landscape level, the Mediterranean forest sector can play an important role in helping countries in the region to meet their NDC targets.

Objectives

• Although threatened by drivers of degradation, forests are a natural capital for the Mediterranean region and play an important role in the context of global commitments.
• Forest monitoring systems can be used as a tool to define national priorities, to influence management decisions and are vital to prioritize forest based solutions;
• Climate finance can stimulate a change in the financial systems that will result in benefits to local economic opportunities;
• Climate finance should be more consistent with the Paris agreement and provide support to low carbon and resilient development pathways;
• Maximization of the climate impact and its leverage can be enhanced by international finance institutions who are more committed on fighting climate change;

Outcomes

The Sixth MFW also showcased the use of forest-based solutions to address broader regional challenges such as sustainable development, energy transition, demographic change and migration. It considered how to create an enabling environment to broaden the use of these solutions, while emphasizing the importance of recognizing and protecting the social, environmental, economic and cultural value of the goods and services already provided by Mediterranean forests. 

Target Audience

250 people attended this conference who originated from 31 different countries. Among these, decision-makers, national, and local governments, technical and scientific organizations, forestry experts and managers, forest owners, environmental organizations, NGOs, investors and key donors, young professionals, media, scientists, stakeholders from non-forestry sectors, climate negotiators and authorities responsible for the NDCs.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P8n6dCQ1vw

Booklet: https://vi-med.forestweek.org/en/content/6-mfw-toolkit

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See more at: https://vi-med.forestweek.org/