Forest finance

©FAO/Péter Bakacsi

Finance for forests is urgently needed, but the extent of funds currently allocated for forest-related activities is poorly understood. In response, CPF and the global forest community is taking steps to improve information about the extent and need for forest finance.

Ad-Hoc Expert Group 

Financing sustainable forest management has been a standing item at relevant global fora, in particular, the UNFF sessions. At the special session of its ninth session, held on 30 October 2009, the Forum adopted a resolution on means of implementation for sustainable forest management, by which the Forum established an open-ended intergovernmental ad hoc expert group (AHEG) and a facilitative process (FP).

This Resolution specifically mandates the Open-Ended Intergovernmental Ad Hoc Expert Group to make proposals on strategies to mobilize resources from all sources to support the implementation of sustainable forest management (SFM), the achievement of the global objectives on forests (GOFs) and the implementation of the non-legally binding instrument on all types of forests (NLBI). The Forum also adopted a number of functions for the FP to catalyze implementation of the SFM, NLBI and achievement of the GOFs. The results of the work of AHEG, as well as the FP have to be provided to the UNFF10 in 2013, in order to enable the Forum to make a meaningful decision on forest financing. 

Based on the report of the first meeting of AHEG (AHEG1), held on September 2010 in Nairobi, UNFF9 adopted a resolution in which the Forum agreed to undertake a series of intersessional activities on forest financing in preparation for the AHEG2 and UNFF10 in 2013. Accordingly, governments, major groups and regional processes are invited to provide their substantive submissions on forest financing strategies/options and the advantage and disadvantage of these options to UNFFS by 1 March 2012. (More information on submitting information to UNFF can be found here)

The members of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests are also invited to provide their collective and individual contributions on this issue to UNFF10 in 2013. In addition, the CPF Advisory Group on Finance (AGF) is requested to undertake a major role and expand its 2008 study on forest financing flows. The UNFFS is coordinating the work of the CPF/AGF on this matter and the Group has already agreed on its work plan and the steps that have to be taken to respond to the invitation of the Forum.