Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

FAO was founded in 1945 with a mandate to raise levels of nutrition and standards of living, to improve agricultural productivity, and to better the condition of rural populations.

Today, FAO is one of the largest specialized agencies in the United Nations system and the lead agency for agriculture, forestry, fisheries and rural development. An intergovernmental organization, FAO has 183 member countries plus one member organization, the European Community.

FAO is the focal agency within CPF for:

  • formulation and implementation of national forest programmes;
  • forest health and productivity;
  • criteria and indicators of sustainable forest management;
  • monitoring, assessment and reporting and concepts, terminology and definitions;
  • rehabilitation and restoration of degraded lands and the promotion of natural and planted forests;
  • international cooperation in capacity-building and access to, and transfer of environmentally sound technologies to support sustainable forest management.

The CPF is chaired by FAO.

http://www.fao.org/forestry