Forests play major roles in climate change. They contribute carbon emissions when destroyed or degraded and they suffer from changing climate, drought and extreme weather. Managed sustainably, they can provide a unique environmental service by removing excess carbon from the atmosphere, storing it in biomass, soils and products. In addition, sustainably produced wood fuels offer an environmentally benign alternative to fossil fuels.

Forests and woody vegetation cover a total surface area of 1.3 million ha in 2015 (FAO 2015) that represents 8% of the country surface area. It includes 1 million ha of forests and 0.3 Million ha of shrubs and other woody area. The forest area has increased from 643,000 ha in 1990 to 1,041,000 ha in 2015 ((FAO 2015) that corresponds to an increase by 62% in the last twenty five years or an annual increase of 1.9%.

Most of the terrestrial biodiversity within the Asia-Pacific region is contained within forests. Protected areas are the mainstay for biodiversity conservation although other forest areas are also important. Habitat destruction and extraction of high-value species are major threats to biodiversity. Ecosystem stability is based on interdependence among constituent species and with biodiversity loss, resilience to change is reduced. Awareness raising, stringent environmental impact assessments, and improved law enforcement are required.

This guide complements the Food Security and Climate Change Challenge Badge activity booklet. The resources and activity ideas are designed to support you and your group and to help you educate children and youth about climate change and food security. The guide contains simple teaching tools to make learning appealing and fun, and provides a selection of activities and exercises to carry out individually or in your group. The guide can be used to achieve the Food Security and Climate Change Challenge Badge or can be used separately.

This report takes place within the framework of the regional project “Maximize the production of goods and services of Mediterranean forest ecosystems in the context of global changes” (2012-2016) financed by the French Global Environment Facility together with the German Cooperation (GIZ), the French Ministry of Agriculture, Agrifood, and Forestry, and the European Union in 5 countries in North Africa (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia) and the Near East (Lebanon, Turkey).

FAO and the Global Mechanism of the UNCCD have joined efforts to prepare this discussion paper on sustainable financing for FLR. It provides an overview of existing funding sources and financial instruments that could be used and adapted specifically for the implementation of FLR efforts at the national, regional and global levels. It identifies innovative financing mechanisms to support the achievement of these global targets and discusses the main challenges for enhanced FLR financing.

This study is intended to contribute to the effective implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines by exploring ways of monitoring the governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests and providing a civil society perspective on monitoring in the context of the Guidelines. It provides an overview of existing and commonly used monitoring systems and practices in relation with tenure of land, fisheries and forests by civil society organisations and institutions. In order to do so, it will propose a schematic categorization of monitoring in the context of land, fisheries and forests.

Ce numéro du journal Nature & Faune aborde le thème central suivant : « Les Forêts et les populations : Investir dans un avenir durable pour l’Afrique ». Il s’agit d’un numéro spécial pour célébrer la toute première édition du Congrès forestier mondial (CFM) en Afrique. Cet évènement offre aux pays, scientifiques, forestiers, décideurs et professionnels africains du secteur forestier et des domaines afférents, une opportunité de présenter leurs activités en cours dans le cadre du développement de la foresterie en Afrique.

The Bikin Carbon Tiger project aims at preserving the valuable ecosystem of this region as well as ensuring the continuity of indigenous traditions through the creation of new income opportunities that are not in conflict with the objectives of environmental conservation.

Does forest tenure matter? In what way does it matter? What are the links among tenure, sustainable forest management (SFM) and poverty alleviation (PA)? This paper presents the main findings of research that was conducted by FAO and partners from the Asia Forest Partnership with the aim of analysing and understanding the role of tenure arrangements, their enabling impacts and their limitations. The paper presents a summary of different tenure instruments’ performance in supporting SFM and PA, and provides recommendations for more effective forest tenure systems.

Insect pests, diseases and other biotic agents have considerable impacts on forests and the forest sector. They can adversely affect tree growth and the yield of wood and non-wood products. Damage caused by forest pests can significantly reduce wildlife habitat thereby reducing local biodiversity and species richness.

Forest governance assessment is an expanding practice. People are using Assessments to watch for developing problems, diagnose needs for reform, Monitor progress of programs, and evaluate impacts. Governments, civil society Organizations, development partners, academics and coalitions of stakeholders Have all performed assessments in recent years. In 2012, an expert meeting at fao headquarters in rome recommended the creation of a guide to good practices in forest governance assessment and data collection.