The Government of Azerbaijan intends to increase the importance of conserving and improving the country’s forest resources and strengthening the functions of forests around the country.
In this regard, restructuring forestry institutions and setting-up a new management system are now on top of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources (MENR)’s agenda. This includes updating the National Forestry Program (NFP) and developing a roadmap for implementation, taking into account recent developments in the forestry sector at international and national level
On 21 February 2019, MENR with the support of the Joint UNECE/FAO Forestry and Timber Section and FAO Partnership and Liaison Office in Azerbaijan organized a National Forest Policy Dialogue on the National Forestry Program revision and modernization of forest management system in Baku, Azerbaijan.
60 participants representing the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Economy, the State Committee on Property Issues, the State Statistics Committee, Azerbaijan Amelioration and Water Farm OJS, IDEA, institutions and international organizations attended the workshop.
In his welcoming speech, Mr Mukhtar Babayev, Minister of Ecology said:
“Azerbaijan has a total of 1213.7 thousand hectares of forest, which represent 12% of the country's territory. This is rather small. Our main priorities are to increase forest cover and develop the sustainable use of forests. For this, an inventory of forests should be carried out. We need to shift from a “passive mode approach” on planning and programming to an “active mode approach”. The current revision of the National Forestry Program will be key in this regard”.
Ms Melek Cakmak, FAO Representative in Azerbaijan emphasized that FAO is already supporting and will continuously support the reforms of the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and particularly the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources in the fields of forestry and fisheries and share FAO experience and world best practices in this sector.
The agenda included remarks by Mr Ekrem Yazici, Deputy Chief of UNECE/FAO Forestry and Timber Section, followed by presentations on Turkey’s experience in NFP and Proposals for Azerbaijan made by Mr Tamer Otrakcier, International Consultant on Forestry.
The initiative was undertaken in the framework of the ongoing UNECE/FAO Project “Technical Support for Revision of National Forestry Plan and modernization of forest management system”, which was endorsed in November 2018.
For more information, please visit: https://www.unece.org/index.php?id=51242