Call for Interest - FAO Reference Centre for Forestry

Background

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is seeking eligible institutions interested in being designated as FAO Reference Centres for Forestry to support FAO and its Member Nations in the implementation of its mandate and priority areas.

FAO Reference Centres are institutions designated by FAO to provide context-specific, technical and scientific advice and/or services in areas and on issues relevant to FAO’s mandate, thereby supporting the Organization’s efforts to assist its Member Nations. FAO Reference Centres for Forestry will therefore provide technical and scientific advice and/or services to strengthen global, regional and national capacities in areas of FAO’s mandate as related to forestry.

Forests are a vital force in the fight against climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation, hunger and poverty. Covering one-third of the world’s land, they provide food, energy and materials while supporting most terrestrial biodiversity and storing more than half the global carbon.
Despite a slowing global deforestation rate, forest loss and degradation persist. Urgent strategic action is required to conserve and restore forest ecosystems, enhance sustainable production and resilient livelihoods and value chains, and scale up science-based innovations. Forests have immense potential to support global economic, social and environmental goals, and realizing this potential requires collaboration. This call for interest in FAO Reference Centres for Forestry is a step towards creating an institutional structure to collaborate and drive high impact work in forestry.

The Forestry Division leads FAO’s work on forestry, characterized by a balanced approach to the productive and protective functions of forests and forest ecosystems in promoting agrifood systems transformation while addressing other global challenges, including climate change, biodiversity loss and land degradation. It liaises with FAO Member Nations, partners, civil-society organizations and the private sector to promote sustainable forest production, forest protection and innovation across the forest sector. The Forestry Division also collects, analyses and shares information on the world’s forest resources and the production, trade, and consumption of wood and non-wood forest products. The Committee on Forestry and six regional forestry commissions guide FAO in its technical work on forestry.

Thematic topics for application

This call aims to establish and/or strengthen partnerships that contribute to scaling up forest-based solutions. Institutions working on the below thematic topics, among others, are invited to apply and become FAO Reference Centres for Forestry, thus bringing world-class expertise that will support FAO and its Member Nations.

• Forest foods
• Agroforestry
• Productive forests
• Forest pest and disease 
• Urban forestry
• Mangroves
• Forest and water
• Climate resilience
• Innovative use of forest genetic resources
• Forest economics, data and statistics
• Forest mechanization

Benefits of being an FAO Reference Centre

Institutions designated as FAO Reference Centres will obtain the following advantages:

• International and regional recognition for their standing and the high quality of work in their fields of specialization.
• Name recognition and association with a United Nations agency, including the possibility of using FAO’s name, emblem and other logos under set conditions.
• Access to the Organization’s policy and technical information resources and benefit from FAO’s experience and knowledge at the global and country levels in the agreed areas of collaboration.
• Joint activities with FAO aimed at the promotion and support of future research and related training activities.
• Joint resource mobilization with FAO, where applicable.
• Access to FAO’s extensive scientific and technical networks, with the possibility of broadening partnerships through collaboration with other national, regional and global organizations, including other FAO Reference Centres.
• Engagement, where relevant, in multistakeholder collaboration with governments, academia, the private sector and civil-society organizations to enhance impact.

Eligibility Criteria/Criteria for selection

a) A minimum of two years of previous collaboration with FAO.
b) Scientific, technical or policy standing and expertise in fields relevant to FAO’s mandate.
c) Contributions to FAO’s programmatic priorities and a commitment to strengthening capacity development efforts in areas relevant to FAO’s mandate.
d) Ability to perform one or more of the following functions: 

• Provision of knowledge, information and advice of a scientific, technical or policy nature
• Development and/or standardization of technologies, methods, procedures or substances
• Provision of reference substances and services, such as quality control and assurance
• Data management, interpretation and reporting
• Participation in collaborative research of a scientific, technical or policy nature
• Collaboration with institutions, at country and/or regional level, as well as with international organizations and other partners, to translate knowledge into practice
• Contribution to capacity development, including through training
• Provision of networks and/or coordination of activities carried out by other institutions.

e) A willingness to use their own institutional resources in collaborative work with FAO with the understanding that FAO is not a funding organization.

The FAO Reference Centre status would be valid for a period of up to five years. Renewal of the status will be possible, depending on the activities undertaken and the quality of the collaboration.

Application process

Interested institutions should complete the application using this template, along with a Declaration of Interest, and send it to [email protected] by 31 July 2026.

The application should provide the information described in the Guidelines for applicants for designations as FAO Reference Centres for Specific Thematic Areas and sufficient details to demonstrate capabilities in the functions described in the Criteria for selection of FAO Reference Centres.

If the applicant is a national institution, a letter of support from the competent authority of the government should be provided.

Evaluation and designation process
Once the application results in a positive evaluation based on the Criteria for selection of FAO Reference Centres, the designation will be governed by the Terms and Conditions of the Designation signed by FAO and the designated institution. The designation will reflect the mutually agreed terms of reference and the areas for collaboration.

For inquiries or further information, please contact: [email protected]