Thirty-nine Commonwealth member countries deliberates on some of the grave issues affecting climate and green cover at the nineteenth Commonwealth Forestry Conference to be held at Forest Research Institute (FRI) here from April 3 onwards.
The conference was last held in India almost 50 years ago, in 1968, in New Delhi.
Some 700 participants, including experts, scientists, forest officials and NGOs from India and member countries, made 470 presentations on climate change, forest fire, community participation and ways to improve forest productivity and green cover during the course of the five-day long event.
The theme of the conference was
“Forests for Prosperity and Posterity”. This is in consonance with Aichi targets of the UN Convention on Conservation of Biological Diversity (UNC-CBD) and Sustainable Development Goals.
Increasing global temperature, depleting forest cover and climate change are crucial factors. Efforts were made to improve forest cover and productivity, modern technologies and possibilities of collaboration for information exchange.
The event is being held in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, along with Commonwealth Forestry Association (CFA), the United Kingdom.
There will be 21 technical sessions focusing on socio-economic perspective of forests; resource assessment and monitoring; economic valuation; and forest conservation and development.
The impact of climate change, adaptation and mitigation; biodiversity conservation and management; bio-prospecting and value addition of forest produce will also be studied.
Part of the conference are deliberations on forest products diversification; tree outside forests, urban forestry and landscape management, and policy interventions.
A global forestry conclave at the conference deliberated on the role of forestry in implementing international agreements among Commonwealth members.
CFA: Know More- The CFA is a partner in a new initiative, The Queen's Commonwealth Canopy.
- In this initiative, Commonwealth citizens are leading the world in efforts to protect the forest – forest that their communities and the planet as a whole depend on.
- The Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy shows that, irrespective of geography, economy, culture or tenure, solutions exist to the threats facing these critical ecosystems.
- Chairperson: John Innes
