FAO urges transformation to a holistic inclusive approach and calls for policy change to better manage and preserve forests and rangeland

Cairo, 19 October 2021

Forests and trees have multiple linkages and relationships with agri-food systems. However, evidence shows that, in the Near East and North Africa region (NENA), agriculture remains the main driver of deforestation. This calls for an urgent need to transform agri-food systems to provide growing population with healthy, affordable diets in a way that is economically profitable and environmentally friendly. 

In the NENA region, increasing productivity to meet the growing demand for food has often been associated with unsustainable agriculture practices that result in widespread land and water degradation, biodiversity loss, deforestation and degradation of vegetation cover and depletion of aquifers. 

During the 25th Session of the Near East Forestry and Range Commission (NEFRC-25) hosted by the Arab Republic of Egypt, and held virtually from 19 to 21 October 2021, the participants stressed that forest and rangeland ecosystems are vital in the production of a number of commodities essential to rural livelihoods, and that they provide ecosystem services, including soil and water protection, biodiversity conservation, halting desertification, combating sand and dust storms, and mitigating and adapting to climate change. 

“Forests and rangelands are suffering from increasing pressures caused by human and natural factors such as land use change, fires, drought and climate change, leading to rapid deterioration,” said Abdel Hakim El Waer, Assistant Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Regional Representative for the Near East and North Africa. “Recent data indicate that the region lost 2.8 million hectares of forest between 1990 and 2020, an average decrease of 95,000 hectares per year with an additional loss of 2 million hectares in other woodlands”. 

He added: “Rangelands are also declining very rapidly. Regional reports estimate the extent of the degradation of rangelands in the Near East and North Africa region at 3.3% of the region's land area during the period 2000-2015." 

The 35^th Session of the Regional Conference for the Near East identified four priorities for transforming agri-food systems, responding to COVID-19 and achieving the SDGs in the region. The third priority on Greening Agriculture focuses on the sustainability of natural resources in its broad sense, including in land, water, forestry, marine and aquatic resources and biodiversity and calls for a transformative shift that brings the issues of sustainability, climate adaptation and resource efficiency to the forefront.  

FAO’s Strategic Framework 2022-2031 was developed to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Its strategic narrative is aimed at transformation to more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agri-food systems for better production, better nutrition, better environment and better life, leaving no one behind. 

The Near East and North Africa region has a limited forest cover of 41.5 million hectares of forest and an additional 33 million hectares of other wooded land, which together constitutes 5.3 percent of the region's land area. On the other hand, the pastures in this region occupy large areas, amounting to 30 percent. 

Al-Waer emphasized the need to move away from the separate sectoral approach through which these two resources are managed in our countries, and to shift to a more integrated and holistic approach to better manage and conserve forest and range resources. A policy shift in this direction is also needed. He said that it is of utmost importance to review the forest and rangeland curricula to establish this integration into the minds and hearts of our professionals who will drive this change on the ground. 

There are also many global opportunities that countries in the region can take advantage of to pursue a more sustainable path to conserve, restore and sustainably manage forest and rangeland ecosystems to achieve multiple environmental, economic and social benefits. Among these opportunities are the newly launched UN decades on family farming and ecosystem restoration and financing provided by the Global Environment Facility, the Green Climate Fund, the Adaptation Fund under Climate Change Finance as well as those provided by other international development organizations or through bilateral cooperation. 

Youssef Sarnul, President of the 24th Session of the Near East Forestry and Range Commission, said in his speech: “This region experiences emissions of low greenhouse gases, which makes the need for adaptation huge. There is a need to adapt to new climate conditions, build resilience to disasters, develop effective management approaches, and enhance cooperation, capacity building and financing. To strengthen the peoples of the region, we also have to strengthen our ecosystems, and to do that we need strong ecosystem management, especially forest management”. 

The Near East Forestry and Range Commission is a regional forum that brings together the heads of the forestry, rangelands, protected areas and related institutions to deliberate on policy and technical matters to ensure the conservation and sustainable management of these resources to sustain the provision of the multiple goods and environmental services that they provide at local, national and global levels in the path towards achieving the 2030 Agenda and the SDG’s.  

The 25^th session aims to raise awareness about the need to move away from the current unsustainable agricultural practices to sustainable agri-food systems and protect, restore and sustainably manage forests, rangelands and related natural resources and share country experiences and good practices in pursuing synergies, managing trade-offs between agriculture and forests to achieve food security, and agreeing on clear practical recommendations to member countries and submitting them to the 36^th Session of the FAO Regional Conference for the Near East (NERC) for formal endorsement by the Member countries.