UN agency calls for tangible results in sustainable management of 'vital' forests

Warning that forests are vital in mitigating climate change and combating land degradation and desertification, the head of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has called for tangible results in sustainable management of this precious resource.

Such management rests on the conservation of biological diversity and on the realization of the economic functions of forests, Director-General Jacques Diouf told the XII World Forestry Congress in Quebec City, Canada, yesterday at the start of a weeklong meeting. It means reasonable options aimed at protecting a global mass of forests that contributes to stabilizing climate, he added.

"Forests, Source of Life" is the theme of the Congress organized jointly by the Canadian Department of Natural Resources Canada and Quebec's Ministry of Natural Resources in collaboration with FAO. More than 3,000 foresters, scientists, members of forest-based communities and others interested in forests from over 120 countries are attending the meeting.

Noting that the greatest challenge is hunger, affecting more than 840 million people in the world, Mr. Diouf said: "Foresters, through the conservation of natural resources and of functions that maintain productive processes, can ensure an environment that fosters effective and sustainable food production."

In addition, forestry can help rural poor people find employment and thus generate revenues that permit them to have access to food, he added.