FORESTRY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

FORESTRY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT By ISMAIL HARUN & ABDUL LATIF MOHMOD Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) Kepong, 52109 Selangor, Malaysia Dialoque on Forestry in the Context of Eco-Civilization Guiyang, China 19 July 2013

Content • Introduction • Definition of Sustainable Development • Status of forest resources • What happened at Rio+20 • Issues on forestry • Way forward • Conclusion

Introduction What is Sustainable Development? Forestry is “the science and practice of caring the forest”…. Miriam-Webber Dictionary

Relation between Forestryand Sustainable Development Millennium Declaration (2000, 189 nations made a promise to free people from extreme poverty and multiple deprivations. Millennium Development Goals: 1 Eradicate extreme poverty & hunger 2 Achieve universal primary education 3 Promote gender equality and empower women 4 Reduce child mortality 5 Improve maternal health 6 Combat HIV / AIDS, malaria and other diseases 7 Ensure environmental sustainability 8 Develop a global partnership for development

MDG 1 Eradicate extreme poverty & hunger Where do we stand? • Poverty rates have been halved between 1990 and 2010, but 1.2 billion people still live in extreme poverty • About 700 million fewer people lived in conditions of extreme poverty in 2010 than in 1990. • The economic and financial crisis has widened the global jobs gap by 67 million people. • One in eight people still go to bed hungry, despite major progress. • Globally, nearly one in six children under age five are underweight; one in four are stunted. • An estimated 7% of children under age of five worldwide are now overweight, another aspect of malnutrition; one quarter of these children live in sub-Saharan Africa. Source: UNDP MDG Report 2013

MDG 7-Ensure environmental sustainability Where do we stand? • Global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) have increased by more than 46% since 1990 • Nearly one third of marine fish stocks have been overexploited. • Many species are at risk of extinction, despite an increase in protected areas. • More than 2.1 billion people and almost 1.9 billon people, respectively, have gained access to improved water sources and sanitation facilities since 1990 • An estimated 863 million people reside in slums in the developing world. Source: UNDP MDG Report 2013

What do we have?

Highlights of FRA 2010 • The world's total forest area 4 billion ha, or 31% of the total land area • The net loss of forests - 5.2 million ha/year (area about the size of Costa Rica). • Around 13 million ha of forests were converted to other uses or lost through natural causes (2000-2010), compared to 16 million ha/year in 1990s. • 12% (more than 460 million ha) designated primarily to conserve biological diversity. • 1% reported to be significantly affected each year by forest fires. • Outbreaks of insect pests damage nearly 35 million ha of forest annually (temperate & boreal).

Rio+20

Forest at Rio+20 • Recommendations : • Restore 150 million hectares of deforested and degraded lands by 2020. • Promote science, technology, innovation and traditional knowledge in order to face forests main challenge: how to turn them productive without destroying them. • Zero Net Deforestation by 2020, respecting the rights and knowledge of peoples living in and from the forests and responding to their sustainable development needs.

Rio outcome document: Section on Forests 193. We highlight the social, economic and environmental benefits of forests to people and the contributions of sustainable forest management to the themes and objectives of the Conference. We support cross-sectoral and cross-institutional policies promoting sustainable forest management. We reaffirm that the wide range of products and services that forests provide creates opportunities to address many of the most pressing sustainable development challenges. We call for enhanced efforts to achieve the sustainable management of forests, reforestation, restoration and afforestation, and we support all efforts that effectively slow, halt and reverse deforestation and forest degradation including inter alia promoting trade in legally-harvested forest products. To this end, we commit to improving the livelihoods of people and communities by creating the conditions needed for them to sustainably manage forests including through strengthening cooperation arrangements in the areas of finance, trade, transfer of environmentally sound technologies, capacity-building and governance, as well as by promoting secure land tenure, particularly decision-making and benefit sharing, in accordance with national legislation and priorities.

194. We call for urgent implementation of the Non-legally Binding Instrument on all Types of Forests and the Ministerial Declaration of the high-level segment of the ninth session of the United Nations Forum on Forests on the occasion of the launch of the International Year of Forests. 195. We recognize that the United Nations Forum on Forests, with its universal membership and comprehensive mandate, plays a vital role in addressing forest-related issues in a holistic and integrated manner, and promoting international policy coordination and cooperation to achieve sustainable forest management. We invite the Collaborative Partnership on Forests to continue its support to the Forum and encourage stakeholders to remain actively engaged in the work of the Forum.

…including inter alia promoting trade in legally-harvested forest products. We note the importance of ongoing initiatives such as reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries; and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries. We call for increased efforts to strengthen forest governance frameworks and means of implementation, in accordance with Non-Legally Binding Instrument on All Types of Forests (NLBI) to achieve sustainable forest management. To this end, we commit to improving the livelihoods of people and communities by creating the conditions needed for them to sustainably manage forests including through strengthening cooperation arrangements in the areas of finance, trade, transfer of environmentally sound technologies, capacity-building and governance, as well as by promoting secure land tenure, particularly decision-making and benefit sharing, in accordance with national legislation and priorities. 194. We call for urgent implementation of the Non-legally Binding Instrument on all Types of Forests and the Ministerial Declaration of the high-level segment of the ninth session of the United Nations Forum on Forests on the occasion of the launch of the International Year of Forests. 195. We recognize that the United Nations Forum on Forests, with its universal membership and comprehensive mandate, plays a vital role in addressing forest-related issues in a holistic and integrated manner, and promoting international policy coordination and cooperation to achieve sustainable forest management. We invite the Collaborative Partnership on Forests to continue its support to the Forum and encourage stakeholders to remain actively engaged in the work of the Forum. Verchot: The CPF supports the UNFF, and this statement simply asks for continuation of the status quo. There is no sense of urgency and the need to do things differently is not communicated. 196. We stress the importance of integrating sustainable forest management objectives and practices into the mainstream of economic policy and decision-making, and to that end we commit to working through the governing bodies of member organizations of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests to integrate, as appropriate, the sustainable management of all types of forests into their strategies and programmes. 196. We stress the importance of integrating sustainable forest management objectives and practices into the mainstream of economic policy and decision-making, and to that end we commit to working through the governing bodies of member organizations of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests to integrate, as appropriate, the sustainable management of all types of forests into their strategies and programmes.

Summary of Rio+20 on Forest (The Future We Want) • Only 4 out 283 paragraphs • Action on an 20 year old agreement without any goals, timelines or commitment of resource • Originally the plan at Rio 1992 was to come up with an international treaty on forests. Never materialized but what did come out of Agenda 21 was the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) • None of the multilateral environmental agreements have actually delivered—the climate change agreement gets a lot of international attention but there has been no concrete action • The CPF supports the UNFF, and this statement simply asks for continuation of the status quo, no sense of urgency and the need to do things differently is not communicated. • Statement on support for SFM is nothing new • Overall, poor fare was given to forest

Issues on Forestry • Population growth – increase demand, social and poverty • Climate change • Loss of biodiversity • Desertification • Deforestation & forest degradation • Unsustainable management of forest resources

Tropical Rainforest? The most diverse ecosystems on earth with >60% of global biodiversity. Regulate climates and controls floods & droughts. Store 25% of terrestrial Carbon & are a key source of valuable products, including timber & medicines.

“Trade Barriers” • Health concerns Nutella Tax (French) • Eco Friendly Certification • US Lacey Act Palm oil free Nutella! • EU FLEGT • European Union Forest • Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade • Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) • US Farm Bill 2012 • Australia Illegal Timber Ban

Loss of Biodiversity • World -1.75 million known species • Biodiversity has declined by more than a quarter in the last 35 years • The Living Planet Index (LPI), which tracks nearly 4,000 populations of wildlife, shows an overall fall in population trends of 27% between 1970 and 2005.

Forest Climate ChangeWell Managed & Conserved > Store Carbon, Sequester CO2, Protect BioD, Soil, Water & etc.Poorly Managed & Conserved > CO2 Emissions, Climate Change Impacts, Loss in BioD, Water Stress, & etc .

Forest & Climate Change • Forest & climate change is a contentious issue. (20% emission) • View as cost-effective options to reduce global green house gas emission. • As a party to UNFCCC Malaysia is obligated to provide periodic reports on green house gas inventory, adaptation & mitigation activities • A national accounting procedures developed. • Methodologies to address Reducing Emission from Deforestation & Forest Degradation (REDD) and carbon offset studies are currently being undertaken

Forest and Climate Change • Recognise the role played by forest in mitigating climate Change Impacts • Promotes good practice in forest management • Support R&D to enhance knowledge and capacity on understanding role and vulnerability of forest to climate change • Support Mechanism such as REDD+ that promote good stewardship of forests to mitigate climate change impacts

REDD+ REDD+ Mechanism is important to Malaysia as it support sustainable forest management practices REDD+ enhances the value of forest by recognising its important role in storing and sequestring carbon Forestry is an important economic sector in manu countries thus managing forest for continuous supply of wood materials is a priority • REDD+ ensure that forest are protected and managed to enhance its sequestration potential and C storage • CDM only provides incentives for new and additional forests (A&R) • REDD + allow developing countries to receive some payments for the value their existing forests provide

The Way Forward • SFM • Innovative financial mechanism for SFM • Reduce deforestation rate • Improve R&D including social research • Increase of professionals – creates more green jobs • Forestry – Global problems but require local solutions

Challenges Climate: - rainfall & Carbon cycling Timber & non timber products Forest area Nutrient cycling/soil productivity Biodiversity (flora & fauna) Social & cultural heritage Water/marine ecosystem

ECONOMY SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT SOCIAL & CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT Pillars of SFM

Conclusion “There is sufficiency in the world for man’s need but not for man’s greed”

Thank you

FORESTRY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT