Commonwealth Forests

Chapter 7 The Commonwealth and the international forestry dialogue
INTERNATIONAL FORESTRY-RELATED EVENTS

(b) The IUFRO World Congress

The International Union of Forestry Research Organisations (IUFRO) is one of the world’s oldest professional bodies.  The IUFRO World Congress, the first of which was held in 1892, is a general assembly of its members. It brings together, normally at 5-year intervals, scientists from all parts of the world to discuss technical and scientific issues related to forestry research and development.  (c) International Forestry-related Years There have been a number of international years, each formally declared by the UN General Assembly, which have been related to forests.

TABLE 7.3  Post-WWII venues and themes of IUFRO World Congresses

Source: IUFRO World Congress Proceedings.  No themes were found before 1971 The next Congress will be held in 2010 in Seoul, South Korea.

The International Year of Mountains, 2002, drew attention to the importance of mountains and other watersheds in maintaining the fl ow of rivers and water quality for millions of people in the lowlands. Approximately 28% of the world’s closed forests were mountain forests at the time of the Global Forests Resources Assessment 2000;  they are complex ecosystems with high biological diversity but are highly sensitive to fluctuations in climate.  Mountain forests are also very important to the livelihoods of mountain people.  One of the main outcomes of the YoM was the Mountain Partnership, which is a voluntary alliance of partners dedicated to improving the lives of mountain people and protecting mountain environments around the world.  Presently it includes 47 countries, 15 intergovernmental organizations and 77 major groups (e.g. NGOs).  See http://www.mountainpartnership.org/ 

International Year of Desertification, 2006, aimed to raise global public awareness of the advancing deserts, and of ways to safeguard the biological diversity of arid lands covering one-third of the planet and protecting the knowledge and traditions of the 2 billion people affected by the phenomenon. Desertification affects one third of the earth’s surface and over one billion people.  It is caused by human-induced factors and by climate change and causes land degradation with potentially devastating consequences in terms of social and economic costs. See http://www.iydd.org/ 

The International Year of the Forest was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly for 2011, from a motion sponsored by the Government of the Republic of Croatia. It will be co-ordinated by the UN Forum on Forests (UNFF).