41st Session of the Joint ECE & FAO Working Party

The Joint Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Working Party will be meeting to discuss activities undertaken by the Joint Section and provide guidance on future activities. The Joint Working Party will be invited to provide guidance on the implementation of all areas of the Warsaw Integrated Programme of Work, supervise the work of Teams of Specialists and facilitate the exchange of information on their work, and identify priorities for action and relevant emerging issues.

A key aspect of The Joint Working Party meeting will be to suggest priorities and specific recommendations to the Committee on Forests and the Forest Industry and the European Forestry Commission for each Work Area. This year’s session of the Joint Working Party is planned to focus discussion on the following main issues: Boreal forests, Green jobs in the forest sector, Forest Sector Outlook and how to use electronic means for sharing forest relevant information.

The Joint Working Party will discuss the establishment of a team of specialists on Boreal Forests and its terms of reference. The objectives of this specialized team will be to;

1. Contribute to science and policy exchange on boreal forests
2. Increase collaboration with the International Boreal Forest Research Association (IBFRA) and other boreal-related research organizations
3. Improve awareness and understanding of the role of boreal forests play in global issues such as climate change and the bioeconomy
4. Advise the ECE/FAO Forestry and Timber Section on any matters related to boreal forests.

Please also see the information document “Discussion on boreal forests ECE/TIM/EFC/WP.2/2019/Inf.1” provided by the ECE/FAO Joint Working Party.

IIASA’s CLR Centre Head and Deputy ESM Program Director Florian Kraxner and IBFRA president will provide an invited lecture on IBFRA and the IBFRA Insight Process. He will also lead the discussions on forming a team of experts on boreal forest research under the FAO-UNECE timber committee framework.

Text adapted from the FAO website

Last edited: 27 March 2019