Many countries of the Near East Region, including North Africa, have been confronted over the past few years, with severe diseases affecting some forest species. As a result, field projects have been implemented by FAO in most of these countries in order to understand the origin and causes of these diseases, their scope and to monitor their evolution. 

Given the presence of these diseases in many countries and similarities of the situation in some cases, the Regional Office for the Near East of the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO/RNE) will organize a regional expert meeting on forest health and invasive species in the Near East, in Hammamet, Tunisia from 11 – 13 December. 

The Meeting will gather experts from: Iran, Lebanon, Morocco, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Each country will prepare a short presentation of its specific forest health or invasive species situation, institutional and technical measures to address the problem, progress made in solving it, major constraints and recommendations. 

This expert meeting aims at allowing member countries of the region to exchange information and experiences on diseases affecting their forests, to discuss the evolution of such diseases and the different solutions adopted respectively by the countries as well as the efficiency of such solutions, and most of all, to initiate the establishment of a regional network on forest health and invasive species which would work as an active regional cooperation instrument like the ones that have been already created in Sub-Saharan Africa and in Asia.