FRA 2010 NEWS 01

Welcome

Welcome to the first issue of the FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010 E-Newsletter, the FRA 2010 News. With this newsletter we aim at connecting all FRA national and international partners and other resource assessment professionals and bringing you the latest FRA 2010 - related information. All issues of the FRA 2010 News are posted online at: www.fao.org/forestry/site/48835/en

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In this issue you will find a general overview of FRA 2010 and some important points for National Correspondents to consider for the implementation of the work in their country:

Contents

1. Overview of FRA 2010

2. Milestones for the FRA country reporting process

3. Global technical meeting of the National Correspondents to FRA 2010

4. Meeting of the Remote Sensing Task Force

5. NC Network and database and link to the NC page

6. Names and contact details of the FRA regional focal points

7. Names and contact details of the FRA team and of the regional and sub regional FAO forestry officers

8. Link to the FAQ online (in E)

1. Overview of FRA 2010

A short presentation of the FRA 2010 process and its main components.

FRA 2010 Brochure

Press release: FAO launches the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010

The Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010 - FRA 2010 - will be the most comprehensive and reliable assessment yet.

Most comprehensive because it will cover 235 countries and territories and will provide the basis for reporting on progress towards: The Millennium Development Goals; The Convention of Biological Diversity’s target of achieving a “significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national level” by 2010; The Global Objectives on Forests of the Non-legally Binding Instrument on forests recently adopted by members of the United Nations Forum on Forests; and The International Tropical Timber Organizations’ Objective 2000.

It will also help countries report on land use and land use change for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol.

It will be the most reliable assessment ever, thanks to advances in technology and expanding global communications and to stronger support from countries and a large number of forest-related organizations. Within FAO, FRA 2010 will indeed be a cross-divisional and cross-departmental effort.

One of the innovative components of FRA 2010 is a new and ambitious global remote sensing survey which takes advantage of the latest technologies to provide better information on global forest change and the land uses that are replacing forests. For more information click here.

2. Milestones for the FRA country reporting process

What is the role of the National correspondents in the FRA 2010 process?

• Coordinate the elaboration of the country report and being responsible for ensuring a timely delivery of the report
• Focal point for communications with FAO on FRA related matters
• Participate in workshops related to FRA 2010
• Disseminate FRA 2010 related information within his/her country.

When the regional workshop takes place, the NC should be somewhere in the process of completing the draft report, in order to take advantage of the opportunity to discuss any outstanding issues with colleagues from neighbouring countries and the FRA focal point.

3. Global technical meeting of the National Correspondents to FRA 2010

FRA 2010 was officially launched at the Technical Meeting of the National Correspondents to FRA 2010 held from 3 to 7 March 2008 at FAO Headquarters, Rome. More than 260 people (of which more than 150 national correspondents to the FRA process) participated in the meeting. During the meeting, the FRA 2010 process, its linkages with other international reporting processes, and the details of the 17 national reporting tables were discussed. Information related to the meeting including all presentations and the proceedings is available online at: www.fao.org/forestry/site/45736/en

4. Meeting of the Remote Sensing Task Force

The first meeting of the FRA 2010 Remote Sensing Task Force was held in Rome on 4-5 March 2008.

It was a parallel event to the main technical meeting of the National Correspondents to the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010. It was attended by 42 people including country representatives and partner organisations providing technical support.

The draft report of the meeting is available, in English, at www.fao.org/forestry/site/48035/en

5. National Correspondents Network

As of June 2008, we have 175 officially nominated national correspondents and 107 officially nominated alternates. We urge NCs in those countries without an alternate to help us obtain a nomination. Please also let us know of any changes in NCs or alternate NCs in order to keep our database updated.

Please visit the National Correspondents webpage at: http://www.fao.org/forestry/25010/en/to check that your details are correct and to find out who the National Correspondents are in your region.

6. Names and contacts of the FRA regional focal points

7. Names and contacts of the FRA team and of the regional and sub regional FAO forestry officers

Click here

8. Link to the FAQ online (in E)

As promised during the technical meeting of March 2008, all questions raised by national correspondents related to the reporting methodology for FRA 2010 and the national reporting tables have been compiled and some answers are provided in the document at the following link www.fao.org/forestry/site/48836/en.