Nineteenth Conference – 2017, India

The XIX CFC “Forests for prosperity and posterity” was held in April 2017 in Dehradun, India. It was hosted by the Forest Research Institute at Dehradun (Uttarakhand), India under the auspices of the Government of India, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change and the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education.

The Conference was attended by nearly 700 participants who presented for 5 days scholarly findings within six sub-themes:

  • Biodiversity conservation and management,
  • Diversification, multiple use and sustainable harvest
  • Forest and climate change
  • Good governance in Forestry
  • Livelihood and economic security from forests
  • Forest and water

The 19th CFC reported that:

  • Forests and forestry are supporting countries to achieve global development and climate change agendas. Sustainable Forest Management underlines such efforts through appropriate balance between economic, environmental, social and cultural values of the forests.
  • Integrating and coordinating national policies for natural resources management – in forestry, agriculture, water, energy and recreation sectors – is the way forward.
  • Recognized that the world’s forest cover continues to decrease as forestland is converted to agriculture and other uses. Concerted efforts by governments, communities and NGOs have slowed down the rate of net goal deforestation by over 50% in the past 25 years. However, the growing world population and ever-increasing societal demands put enormous pressure on scarce forest resources, particularly in the tropics and developing countries who continue to experience decline of forests and depletion of goods and services they used to offer.
  • More active participation of Commonwealth countries within the Standing Committee on Commonwealth Forestry is crucial for its effectiveness. The Standing Committee shall identify mechanisms for the better coordination of education, research and professional forestry amongst Commonwealth countries.
  • All Commonwealth countries are urged to participate in the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy, which is recognized as an important project.

Other conference information:

  • 12 keynote addresses, 4 plenary sessions, 19 technical sessions
  • High level panel: Global Forestry Conclave (9 distinguished speakers from different continents discussed the role of forestry in implementing international agreements in Commonwealth of Nations and beyond
  • 4 special sessions
  • 7 side events, field excursion, exhibition and cultural events
  • 95 oral presentations, 216 poster presentations