Towards improved reporting on primary forests
This document summarizes the online consultation Towards improved reporting on primary forests, held on the FAO Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum) from 11 to 25 February 2020. The consultation was facilitated by Brendan Mackey and Patrick Norman from Griffith University, Australia.
The goal of this online consultation was to solicit comments on a draft background paper on past, current and emerging methods for assessment of primary forest areas, which is currently being prepared by FAO in collaboration with countries and other stakeholders. This background document serves to facilitate discussion during the workshops that will bring FAO’s Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) national correspondents and other experts together to discuss how reporting on primary forests can be improved. The workshops are to take place in different regions in the course of 2020 and 2021.During this online consultation, participants discussed definitions related to primary forests and their adequacy for assessment and reporting purposes, identifying what they perceived as gaps in the draft background document. In addition, participants shared information on the methodologies and data they use in assessing primary forest areas and discussed which methodological changes would be needed to improve reporting, paying specific attention to promoting consistency among countries. Last, ideas were shared on how FAO could help countries improve reporting.