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UN's deputy chief advocates sustainable management of forests

Xinhua, May 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Jan Eliasson on Monday called for the sustainable management of forests at the opening session of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF11).

Describing the event as the only universal, intergovernmental policy forum on all areas and issues related to forests, Eliasson urged concerted efforts for realizing the full potential of the future arrangement.

"Over the next two weeks, you have the formidable task of creating a strengthened International Arrangement on Forests. You are to balance ambitious vision with practical structure, design and function. And you are to catalyse action on the ground, so sorely needed in today's world," said Eliasson at the forum which lasts till May 15.

At least 1.6 billion people depend to some degree on forests for their food, fuel, shelter and income needs. Three-fourths of freshwater comes from forested catchments, according to Eliasson.

The year 2015 is set to chart a new course as the international community is working towards the adoption in September of a universal and transformative post-2015 agenda and of a set of Sustainable Development Goals.

Also in the same year, in Paris, France, world leaders will be committed to adopting a universal and meaningful climate change agreement.

"The post-2015 agenda calls on us to leave no-one behind. Some of the world's poorest and most vulnerable, including some 60 million indigenous people, rely on forests for their subsistence and survival. The sustainable management of forests will be critical for meeting our ambition to eradicate poverty in all its forms," said Eliasson. "To deliver on our shared commitment to forests, we will need to be equally ambitious on financing and means of implementation. We also need to mainstream the forest sector into sustainable development at the global, regional, national and local levels."

In October 2000, the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations established the UNFF with the main objective to promote " the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests and to strengthen long-term political commitment to this end."

The Forum has universal membership and is composed of all Member States of the United Nations and specialized agencies. Endite