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13 May 2022.
Introduction:
On the 13th of May 2022, the 15th World Forestry Congress concluded in Seoul and the Seoul Forest Declaration was adopted. The 15th edition of this event was hosted by the South Korean government in Seoul.
About World Forestry Congress:
- The World Forestry Congress is held for five days and is hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
- This event is held every six years with the aim of sharing environmental and forest-related problems from across the globe like biodiversity loss, climate change, and desertification.
- Also, various solutions are devised and discussed in this event.
- In the year 1926, the first Congress was held in Italy. Since 1954, FAO has helped the host countries to organize this event.
About the Seoul Forest Declaration :
- The recently adopted Seoul Forest Declaration highlights that the investment in landscape and forest restoration must be tripled across the globe by the year 2030 to meet the internationally agreed-upon targets.
Highlights of the Seoul Forest Declaration:
- The responsibilities regarding forests must be integrated and shared across various stakeholders, sectors, and institutions so as to achieve a sustainable future.
- The vast areas of degraded forest lands must be restored.
- The declaration highlights that on an unhealthy planet there will be no healthy economy.
- The consumption and production have to be sustainable. Policies must be implemented that will help foster mechanisms related to innovative green financing.
- Investment in forest restoration, conservation, and sustainable use must be upscaled.
- Forest-based solutions must include the outlook of the smallholders, family farmers, indigenous peoples, forest communities, youth, and women. They must also be empowered to put forward their decisions regarding making forests into sustainable value chains.
- The declaration also showcased that the health of humans and forests are closely tied together and the degradation of forests will have serious negative impacts on the health and well-being of humans.
New partnerships have been inked:
- “Sustaining an Abundance of Forest Ecosystems initiative”
- “Assuring the Future of Forests with Integrated Risk Management Mechanism”
- “Platform for REDD+ Capacity Building”
These partnerships were inked at the Congress with the aim of boosting international cooperation and participation.
Who were the participants of the 15th World Forestry Congress?
- This event was attended by forest officials from across the globe, leaders of various international organizations, civic society organizations, and academia.
- In this event, special events, plenary sessions, side events, sub-theme sessions, exhibitions, networking events, and poster sessions were held.
