Forests provide a wide range of goods and ecosystem services, such as food, wood, water catchment protection, climate regulation, biological diversity and aesthetic enjoyment. Everyone depends on these goods and services, yet over the past 50 years humans have changed forest ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than in any other historical period. Rates of deforestation remain stubbornly high and the extent of forest degradation is only now becoming clear.
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The GEF-6 Sustainable Forest Management Strategy (SFM), presented by the GEF at an event at the UNFF 11, builds on the successes and lessons learned from over two decades of GEF support for forests. It seeks to achieve multiple environmental, social and economic benefits from the improved management of all types of forests.
Central to the Strategy is an integrated approach at the landscape to strengthen the role of forests in the achievement of the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The sustainable management and conservation of forests will be central to achieving the SDGs beyond biodiversity and climate stability as they are vital in food security, health, fresh water, disaster risk reduction and resilience.
“The GEF SFM financial window provides developing countries with a $750 million envelope through 2018 to support a diverse set of options to manage their forest resources, attending to local contexts and development needs,” said Gustavo Fonseca, GEF Director of Programs.
Speaking at the event, Adriana Dinu, GEF Executive Coordinator at UNDP, stressed the links between countries sustainable development plans and the role of forests. “Investments in sustainable forests management at the landscape level can provide food security, energy, clean water, jobs and livelihood, increasing resilience of 1.6 billion forest dependent communities, while conserving biodiversity, arresting land degradation and harnessing carbon benefits,” she said.
From L to R: Ulrich Apel (GEF), Ian Gray (GEF) and Adriana Dinu (UNDP)
The GEF is a key supporter of UNFF member’s implementation of SFM, and has over the past 24 years progressively strengthened its support for SFM building on its unique position as financial mechanism to the three Rio Conventions (UN Convention on Biological Diversity, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and UN Convention to Combat Desertification).
The GEF has been at the forefront of implementing innovative SFM solutions that deliver multiple benefits, and has financed over 380 projects and programs focusing on forest conservation and management in nearly 100 developing countries. The total GEF allocation to forest initiatives amounts to more than $2.1 billion, and has leveraged $9.5 billion in co-financing from other sources. Through the years GEF support has encompassed a mix of traditional forest management approaches such as protected areas and integrated watershed management, while also piloting a wide spectrum of sustainable forest management tools (SFM) for all types of forests, including protected area management, certification of timber and non-timber forest products, community-based forest management, and payments for ecosystem services (PES).
