SPC raises awareness of Pacific deforestation issues [1]
Monday, September 19, 2011 - 10:11. Updated on Monday, September 9, 2013 - 18:40.
The Secretariat of the Pacific Community's Land Resource Division (LRD) is organising a three-day technical meeting for senior forestry officials and partners in the region to raise the profile of forestry in the Pacific, and discuss emerging issues, opportunities and possible ways forward.
The Pacific Regional Forestry Technical Meeting, which will be held 21-23 September at the Tanoa International Hotel in Nadi, will also be the highlight of the Pacific celebration of the International Year of Forests.
In 2006 the UN General Assembly declared 2011 the International Year of Forests as a way of celebrating the important contribution forests make to our well-being and to support efforts towards the promotion of sustainable management, conservation and development of forests worldwide.
During the 2009 Heads of Forestry Meeting and the 2010 Heads of Agriculture and Forestry Services, it was recommended that SPC, through its Land Resources Division, organise regional activities to celebrate the International Year of Forests.
The regional meeting in September is expected to cover the Pacific International Year of Forests celebration and lessons learnt from organising the competition and other events, the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD)+ Pacific regional framework, international phytosanitary standards for forestry, sharing and exchange of tree germplasm in the region, and other emerging regional issues, challenges and opportunities.
Two preliminary meetings will be held in the same venue on 19 and 20 September: the inception meeting of the AusAID Project on Strengthening Capacities in Tree Seed Technologies in Pacific Island Countries and a SPC/GIZ, JICA and UN REDD collaborative workshop on REDD+ readiness in the Pacific.
The main objective of the inception meeting is to discuss and plan the project training, research directions, identify key species, develop a work plan and discuss progress on the preparation of the material transfer agreement to improve capabilities in the regional tree seed centre.
The main objectives of the REDD+ workshop are to raise awareness about REDD+, provide updates on REDD+ readiness initiatives in the Pacific, and discuss findings and recommendations of a UN-REDD mission in the Pacific earlier this year.
The outcomes of these preliminary meetings will be taken up in the Pacific Regional Forestry Technical meeting that follows.
These meetings are being organised with funding and technical support from the regional SPC\GIZ Climate Protection through Forest Conservation Project, the United Nations REDD Programme, Japan International Cooperation Agency and AusAID. - Press Release,
Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) Suva, Fiji16 September 2011.