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FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva addresses the opening of the Committee on Forestry. Photo: FAO/Giulio Napolitano
24 September 2012 – From soil and water preservation to conserving
biodiversity, forests play a crucial role in helping countries achieve
sustainable development, a senior United Nations official stressed today
at the opening of a key gathering on forestry.
“The success of FAO’s work in improving lives will depend very much on
how we balance the use and preservation of natural resources. This
includes forests, which play an important role in environmental factors
like carbon sequestration, soil and water quality preservation and
conserving biodiversity,” said the Director-General of the Food and
Agriculture Organization (
FAO), José Graziano da Silva, at the
opening of the agency’s
Committee on Forestry in Rome, Italy.
The Committee is the highest FAO statutory body on forestry, bringing
together heads of forest services and other senior government officials
to identify emerging policy and technical issues, to seek solutions and
to advise FAO and others on appropriate action.
During the five-day meeting, the Committee will discuss how to build on
the commitments made at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (
Rio+20)
regarding the protection and sustainable use of forests. Among the
issues to be addressed are rural development, the integration of forests
with environmental and land use policies, and improving the management
of forestry resources, including wood and non-wood products.
Some 100 Heads of State and government, along with thousands of
representatives from non-governmental organizations, the private sector
and civil society attended Rio+20, all seeking to help shape new
policies to promote global prosperity, reduce poverty and advance social
equity and environmental protection.
In his remarks, Mr. Graziano da Silva noted how some 350 million of the
world’s poorest people, including 60 million indigenous people, depend
on forests for their daily subsistence and long-term survival. However,
deforestation and forest degradation are contributing to significant
losses of soil each year, putting the lives of many in peril.
“Preserving our soil is necessary to sustain life on the planet and yet
the slow process of desertification has not captured as much attention
as it merits,” the FAO chief said, adding that sustainable agriculture
and forestry can reverse soil degradation and help combat
desertification, noting that, “we need to make sure that soil protection
and the fight against desertification are placed high on the
international agenda.”
“We will need to work together with governments, civil society and the
private sector to maximize the role that forests and wooded land will
play in food security in the future,” Mr. Graziano da Silva said. “It
will take a collective effort, including of all our partners within and
beyond the UN system, to manage the world’s forests in a sustainable
way.”
The
2012 State of the World’s Forests
report – which focuses on how sustainable use of forestry resources can
help reduce poverty, hunger and climate change – will also be released
during the Committee on Forestry meeting.
