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Silva2015 - joint session of the ECE Committee on Forests and the Forest Industry and the FAO European Forestry Commission

Silva2015 - joint session of the ECE Committee on Forests and the Forest Industry and the FAO European Forestry Commission

02 - 06 November 2015
Engelberg Switzerland

Values of Forests at the Heart of Silva2015

Thirty-nine countries from Europe, the Russian Federation, Central Asia, the Caucasus and North America agreed to continue their efforts to build climate change into national forest programmes, strategies and plans, and encouraged each other to play an active part in the work of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF). They also asked UNECE and FAO to work on developing global forest-related indicators related to Sustainable Development Goals, building on existing indicators. Countries were strongly interested in developing markets and investments for forest ecosystem services, and appraised the Market Discussions as a unique platform for information and experience exchange on forest products markets at regional level.

These were the main outcomes of Silva 2015, the joint session of the UNECE Committee on Forests and the Forest Industry (COFFI) and the FAO European Forestry Commission (EFC), which took place from 2 - 6 November 2015 in Engelberg, Switzerland, during the 3rd European Forest Week.

Mr Christian Friis Bach, Executive Secretary, UNECE; Mr Tony Alonzi, Deputy Regional Representative for Europe and Central Asia, FAO; Ms Doris Leuthard, Minister of Environment, Switzerland, addressed more than two hundred international participants at the opening ceremony. Mr Thomas Gass, Assistant Secretary-General of the UN, underlined the importance of forests in meeting the Sustainable Developments Goals and stressed the importance of taking a cross-sectoral approach.

Participants of Silva 2015 discussed the values of forests. The meeting brought together people from forestry and other interests, including government representatives and delegations, forest owners, industry, businesses, environmental NGOs, academics and students. 

The 3rd European Forest Week opened with the announcements of the winners of the FAO photo contest “Value of Forests” and the International Russian Junior Forestry Contest organized by the Russian Federation. More than 25 forest related side events took place during the week. There were almost 40 poster displays from Swiss and international research institutes and others. Side events covered a huge range of forest-related topics, including most recent innovative applications of wood, Canadian and Central African indigenous community forest management, green jobs in the forest sector, forest biodiversity and wildlife management.

Silva2015 and European Forest Week ended with a day of excursions in the magnificent Oberwald and NeidWald regions, organized by the host country Switzerland, covering disaster risk management, forest biodiversity, protective forests in mountainous regions and use of wood for building and energy

Pictures from Silva2015 and European Forest Week are available at UNECE-FAO Forests Flickr account.

 

Documents

Official Document ENG FR RU S CORR.

Annotated provisional agenda for the seventy-third session of COFFI and thirty-eighth session of the EFC - ECE/TIM/2015/1 - FO:EFC/15/1

PDF PDF PDF PDF E F
           
Report of the meeting - ECE/TIM/2015/2 - FO:EFC/15/2 PDF PDF PDF    

Global and regional context - ECE/TIM/2015/3-FO:EFC/15/3

PDF PDF PDF PDF  

Wood and wood products/Market discussions - ECE/TIM/2015/4-FO:EFC/15/4

2015 Country Market Statements

PDF PDF PDF PDF  

Forest Ecosystem Services and financing Sustainable Forest Management - ECE/TIM/2015/5-FO:EFC/15/5

PDF PDF PDF PDF  

Forest ecosystem services - ECE/TIM/2015/6 - FO:EFC/15/6

PDF PDF PDF PDF  

Integrated Programme of Work 2014-2017 - ECE/TIM/2015/7 - FO:EFC/15/7

PDF PDF PDF    

COFFI Programme of Work 2016-2017 - ECE/TIM/2015/8 - FO:EFC/15/8

PDF PDF PDF    
Strategic Framework 2018-2019 - ECE/TIM/2015/9/Rev.1 - FO:EFC/15/9/Rev.1 PDF PDF PDF    

COFFI Rules of Procedure - ECE/TIM/2015/10 - FO:EFC/15/10

PDF PDF PDF    

Follow-up to the decisions of the thirty-seventh session of the European Forestry Commission - ECE/TIM/2015/11-FO:EFC/15/11

PDF PDF PDF PDF  

Gender, youth and education - ECE/TIM/2015/12-FO:EFC/15/12

PDF PDF PDF PDF  
Contributions to FAO Governance - ECE/TIM/2015/13-FO:EFC/15/13 PDF PDF PDF PDF  

Progress in Silva Mediterranea and the Working Party on the Management of Mountain Watersheds - ECE/TIM/2015/14-FO:EFC/15/14

PDF PDF PDF PDF  

 

 

Information Document                        ENG    

List of documents - ECE/TIM/2015/INF.1-FO:EFC/15/INF.1                                                                                                                            

PDF    
Global and regional context - ECE/TIM/2015/INF.2-FO:EFC/15/INF.2 PDF    

Rovaniemi Action Plan Implementation - ECE/TIM/2015/INF.3-FO:EFC/15/INF.3

PDF    

Matters arising from the sixty-sixth session of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe - ECE/TIM/2015/INF.4-FO:EFC/15/INF.4

PDF    
Frequency of sessions of the Committee on Forests and the Forest Industry - ECE/TIM/2015/INF.5-FO:EFC/15/INF.5 PDF    

Declaration of Competence and Voting Rights submitted by the European Union and its Member States - CE/TIM/2015/INF.6-FO:EFC/15/INF.6

PDF    
       
Referred Document                        ENG FR RU

Report of the thirty-seventh session of the Joint ECE/FAO Working Party on Forest Statistics, Economics and Management  

ECE/TIM/EFC/WP.2/2015/2                                                                                                                                                                           

PDF PDF PDF
Report of the seventy-second session of the ECE Committee on Forests and the Forest Industry - ECE/TIM/2014/2 PDF PDF PDF

Report of the joint seventy-first session of the Committee on Forests and the Forest Industry and thirty-seventh session of the European Forestry Commission -  ECE/TIM/2013/2-FO:EFC/13/2

PDF    

Presentations

Agenda item

Presentations

Presenter

File

 

Official opening

   
  Opening Speech, Welcome by the host country and the federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) Doris Leuthard (Swiss Federal Councillor and Minister of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communication) PDF
  Welcome by UNECE Christian Friis Bach, Executive Director, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)  
  Welcome by FAO Tony Alonzi, Deputy Regional Representative for Europe and Central Asia, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)  
  Welcome by the Conference of the Cantonal Councillors (in French) Mme Jacqueline de Quattro, President of the conference of the 26 Cantonal Councillors responsible for Forests PDF
  Welcome by the cantonal Councillor Paul Federer, Cantonal Councillor of Obwalden PDF and speech

2

Global and regional context

   
2a The United Nations summit on the post-2015 development agenda (including the Sustainable Development Goals and the Role of forests in post-2015 agenda Thomas Gass, Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs in UN DESA Video
2b Outcomes of the 11th Session of the UN Forum on Forests Heikki Granholm, Vice-Chair of UNFF11 PDF
2c Outcome of XIV World Forestry Congress Eva Müller, Director, Forest Economic Policy and Products Division, FAO  
2d

FOREST EUROPE Ministerial Conferences Madrid 2015

Elena Estrada Wilke, Policy Advisor, FOREST EUROPE, Liaison Unit Madrid PDF
2e Regional implementation of global challenges Bruno Oberle, State Secretary and Director of the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment PDF and speech
2e Global and regional forest-related developments: Relevance to the ECE region Helga Puelzl, Senior policy scientist, European Forest Institute PDF
2f How have forests changed? Results from FRA 2015 Kenneth MacDicken
Senior Forestry Officer/Team Leader
Global Forest Resources Assessment, FAO
PDF
  Presentation of infographics on forests in UNECE region   Video
2g

Forests in the ECE Region: Trends and challenges in achieving the Global Objectives on Forests

Kit Prins, Independent Forest Expert PDF
2g

Regional reporting on forests and Sustainable Forest Management

Stein Tomter, Senior Scientific Adviser, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research PDF

3

Forest products and services

   
 

European Market Overview

Sten Nilsson PDF
  Russian Federation Market Overview Nikolay Ivanov PDF
  North American Market Overview Gordon Culbertson PDF
  International best practices for the use of hardwood in construction Hermann Blumer PDF
  Glued wood products for structural use Gerhard Schickhofer PDF

4

Markets and investments in Forest Ecosystem Services

  Markets for Forest Ecosystem Services. Concepts and Examples Guy Robertson, National Sustainability Program Leader, USDA Forest Service, United States PDF
  Institutional Forestland Ownership and its Effects on Forest Products Markets Tapani Pahkasalo, Vice-President, Timberland Investment, Quantum Global, Switzerland PDF
  Barriers to Overcome in Financing Payments for Ecosystem Services: Experiences from Switzerland Josef Hess, Vice Director, Swiss Federal Office for the Environment PDF and speech
  Values and Financing of Forest Ecosystem Services- the Example of Germany Matthias Dieter, Head of Institute, Thünen-Institute of International Forestry and Forest Economics PDF

5

Forest ecosystem services

   
Panel 1. Disaster risk reduction and watershed management      
  Forests – a crucial component in watershed management for disaster risk reduction Catrin Promper, Expert on Disaster Risk Management, FAO PDF
  The function of forests in natural hazard mitigation in Austria Siegfried Sauermoser, County Director of Tyrol, Austrian Service for Torrent and Avalanche Control PDF
  ProtectBio – effect of protection forests on natural hazards due to gravity Artur Sandri, Head, Landslides, Avalanches and Forest Protection Section, FOEN, Switzerland PDF
  Restoration of degraded land through afforestation of the dried seabed of the Aral Sea area Normukhamad Sheraliyev, Representative from Uzbekistan in Executive Committee of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea PDF

Panel 2. Biodiversity maintenance

     
  Swiss experience and approach to biodiversity maintenance Reinhard Schnidrig, Head of Section, Wildlife and Forest Biodiversity, FOEN, Switzerland PDF
  EEA's contribution to biodiversity maintenance Annemarie Bastrup-Birk, Forests and Environment, European Environment Agency (EEA), Denmark PDF
  FSC’s contribution to biodiversity protection John Hontelez, Chief Advocacy Officer, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Belgium PDF
  Integration of biodiversity considerations in the forest sector in selected non OECD countries in the pan European region Ivonne Higuero, Chief of Operational Activities and Review Section, Environment Division, UNECE PDF
  FAO approach to biodiversity maintenance Susan Braatz, Senior Forestry Officer (Forests and Climate Change), Forestry Department, Forest Management Division, Forest Conservation Service, FAO PDF
Panel 3. Climate change mitigation, substitution and adaptation, and forest and landscape restoration      
  Kyrgyzstan experiences with climate change Venera Surappaeva, Chief of Forest Monitoring Division, Sector of Forest Monitoring, Department of Forest and Hunting Inventory, State Agency of Environment Protection and Forestry of the Kyrgyz Republic PDF
  The role of forest ecosystem services in tackling the issues related to climate change Alexander Panfilov, Deputy Head, Federal Forestry Agency of the Russian Federation PDFE / PDFR 
  Keynote of Switzerland: No mitigation without adaptation of forests to climate change Rolf Manser, Head of Forest Division, FOEN, Switzerland PDF
  Climate change mitigation and adaptation – problems and possible solutions for Ukrainian forests Liubov Poliakova, Senior Officer, International Cooperation Department, State Forest Resources Agency of Ukraine PDF
  FAO climate change approach and forest and landscape restoration Susan Braatz, Senior Forestry Officer (Forests and Climate Change), Forestry Department, Forest Management Division, Forest Conservation Service, FAO

CCPDF

FLRPDF

6

Joint ECE Committee on Forests and the Forest Industry and the FAO European Forestry Commission matters

   
6a Review of 2015 activities and planned activities for 2016 Ekrem Yazici  
6b Revision of the terms of references for the UNECE/FAO Team of Specialists Elina Warsta PDF
6c Towards the review of the implementation of the Integrated Programme of Work 2014-2017 Florian Steierer PDF
6d Report of the Joint UNECE/FAO Working Party on Forest Statistics, Economics and Management Johannes Hangler PDF
6f Rovaniemi Action Plan Implementation Yana Trofimova PDF

7

ECE Committee on Forests and the Forest Industry matters

   
7a Matters arising from the sixty-sixth session of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Marco Keiner PDF
7b Matters arising from the seventy-second session of the Committee on Forests and the Forest Industry Roman Michalak PDF
7c COFFI Programme of Work 2016-17 and publications Elina Warsta PDF
7d Strategic Framework Marco Keiner PDF
7e COFFI Rules of Procedure Roman Michalak PDF

Photos

 

Programme

Please find the programme here for the COFFI and EFC meeting.

Here you can find the programme for EFW Side Events and Parallel Meetings.

Excursions

Please find a description of excursions here.

Excursion 1- Protective Forests, Management and Regeneration - 8 a.m. -12 noon

Excursion 2 - Use of Wood for Buildings and Energy - 8 a.m. -12 noon

Excursion 3 - Mountain, Water, Forest and Landscape - 8:15 a.m. -12 noon

Excursion 4 - Risk Management and Forest - 8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Excursion 5 - Forest Biodiversity - 8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Please find a description of excursions here.

Excursion 1- Protective Forests, Management and Regeneration - 8 a.m. -12 noon

Excursion 2 - Use of Wood for Buildings and Energy - 8 a.m. -12 noon

Excursion 3 - Mountain, Water, Forest and Landscape - 8:15 a.m. -12 noon

Excursion 4 - Risk Management and Forest - 8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Excursion 5 - Forest Biodiversity - 8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.

 

European Forest Week

Side Events and Parallel Meetings

Here is the programme for the side events and parallel meetings.

Here are the guidelines for Side Events and Parallel Meetings and a form to request one.

Posters

Please find here the guidelines for the poster exhibition.

Partners

Here you will find a list of partners.

Silva2015 messages

Here you can find Silva2015 key messages.

Contests

European Forest Week Photo Contest (held by the FAO)

XII International junior forest contest (held by the Russian Federal Forestry Agency)