The 2nd ASFN Conference 2011 Forest for People: The role of the Social Forestry in REDD+ and

Forest Conservation Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei DARUSAALAM, 21-23 June 2011 Declaration by Emmanuel Ze Meka Executive Director of The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) The International Year of the Forests 2011: Forests for People The Honourable Minister of Industry and Primary Resources of Brunei DARUSSALAM, H.E. The Secretary General ASEAN H.E. the Swiss Ambassador for ASEAN, Honourable Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is a great honour and an immense pleasure for me to address this important meeting organized by the ASEAN Social Forestry Network focusing on the role of Social Forestry in REDD+ and Forest Conservation. From the outset, I would like to sincerely thank the organizers for having invited ITTO to participate in this meeting and for offering me the opportunity, on behalf of ITTO, to deliver a few remarks at the opening of the meeting. For some of you, ITTO might not be very well known, as Brunei Darussalam is not, or should I say not yet, a member of this organization. Therefore, I would like to briefly enlighten you on its objectives and mission. ITTO is an intergovernmental organization which was established in 1986 under the auspices of the United Nations Conference
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on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). ITTO was established to administer the provisions of the International Tropical Timber Agreement of 1983 (ITTA, 1983). Discussions regarding the Agreement started in the 1970s amidst international concerns over the destruction of tropical forests and the degradation of tropical forest resources with dramatic consequences on peoples livelihoods, the environment and national economies. It was perceived at that time that the international tropical timber trade was a key driver of, and part of the solution tothis dramatic situation. The ITTA, 1983, was therefore established to reduce the deforestation of tropical forests and at the same time to maintain/expand a sustainable international tropical timber trade that can contribute to national economies and to the improvement of rural communities livelihoods. The successor agreement, the ITTA, 1994, and the most recent one, the ITTA, 2006, which is expected to come into force this year, have not fundamentally departed from these objectives. The 60 member countries of ITTO established the organization because they care about tropical forests and about people living within them. The ITTOs official mission is to facilitate discussion, consultation and international cooperation on issues relating to the international trade and utilization of tropical timber and the sustainable management of its resource base. Members of ITTO represent over 80% of the world's tropical forests and over 90% of the global tropical timber trade. Right from its inception, ITTO had grasped the many benefits that forests can deliver to society, including goods and services, in particular environmental services. As far back as we can remember, the development of human kind has been intimately associated with goods and services delivered by forests. ITTO therefore has taken a comprehensive approach to deal with the tropical forest issue and has
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introduced the concept of sustainable forest management at the beginning of its work in the late 1980s. ITTO was indeed the first organization to develop criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management. These criteria and indicators have been widely disseminated among organisations and forestry institutions and we have now more than 150 countries which use criteria and indicators to assess trends and establish benchmarks of forest management. The concept of sustainable forest management takes into consideration all the benefits, temporal and spiritual, that forests can offer to human society and indeed places people at the centre. The UNFF has correctly defined the concept as evolving over time, based on the aspirations of society. The International Year of Forests (IYF) has come at the right moment to remind us of the many benefits that forests offer to people. The focus of the IYF, which is Celebrating Forests for People is self-explanatory and the logo itself tries to capture the complex relationships that people maintain with forests. Although these relationships concern all humanity, they are particularly important for local communities and other people depending on forests on a day-to-day basis, most of whom are in tropical countries. Therefore, forests, this gift from nature, deserve indeed to be celebrated vibrantly this year. However, in spite of the many benefits that forests deliver to the society, the reality is that forests, including their biodiversity, continue to be lost at an alarming rate. The Forest Resources Assessment of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) indicates that the global rate of deforestation has indeed been reduced from 16 million ha per year in the 1990s.to13 million ha per year in the past decade. The decline is good news, but there are still far too many resources being lost which could contribute to sustain human livelihoods. The concept of sustainable forest
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management has proved to be a robust concept, agreed to by the international community and which offers many examples of success stories in maintaining the productive capacity of forests, and therefore guaranteeing that they will continue to deliver their benefits to people in a sustainable manner. However, the extent of forests managed sustainably is still negligible. For tropical forests, where the major forestry problems occur, including deforestation and biodiversity loss, and where most forest dependent people live, the situation is still extremely worrying. The latest ITTO report on sustainable forest management in the tropics SFM Tropics 2011 which has just been launched two weeks ago in Switzerland, indicates that, although forests managed sustainably have increased by about 50% in the past five years, or by about 3 million ha per year, this still represents only 10% of total permanent forest estate. A lot of efforts are therefore still necessary to make SFM a reality in the tropics. REDD+, which is expected to bring substantial funding to tropical forests, represents a good opportunity to promote sustainable forest management. Although REDD+ is perceived as a climate change mitigation strategy, the bottom line is, as far as forests are concerned, to induce sound forestry practices, working with all stakeholders, including governments, the private sector, and more importantly local communities. The latter group, which depends most on forests, is unfortunately the one which is less equipped and empowered to protect forests and to benefit from the sustainable management of their resources. It is my hope that this meeting will highlight the importance of forest resources to improve the livelihoods of forest dependant communities and how REDD+ strategies could increase and strengthen these benefits. Thank you for your kind attention.
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