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Commonwealth
Forests | | |
 THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
The Millennium Development Goals (MDG) were derived from the United Nations Millennium
Declaration, adopted by 189 nations in 2000. They consist of 8 Goals and a number of linked
targets, which were to be achieved by 2015, based on the global situation during the 1990s.
All Commonwealth countries subscribed to the Goals.
Forests are relevant to all of the Goals, although not specifically mentioned in any of them.
Goal 1, Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, clearly relates to several of the functions of
forests, and Goal 7, Ensure environmental sustainability is perhaps the most directly related
to
forests. Target 9, Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies
and
programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources, includes one specifically
forestry indicator which refers to the proportion of land area covered by forests. But
the
indicator does mentions neither the absolute nor relative quantity of forest, nor does it include
the quality of the forest or its ability to provide goods and services.
The website for the Millennium Development Goals, including the 2006 assessment of
progress, is at http://www.un.orh/millenniumgoals
while a recent edition of ETFRN News was
devoted to the topic.
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