• The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is organising a Country-Led Initiative (CLI) event as part of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) from 26-28 October, 2023 at the Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dehradun, Uttarakhand.

UNFF

• The United Nations Forum on Forests promotes the management, conservation, and sustainable development of all types of forests.
• India holds the distinction of being a founding member of UNFF.
• The UN General Assembly adopted the first-ever UN Strategic Plan for Forests for the period of 2017-2030.
• This Strategic Plan serves as a global framework for actions at all levels to achieve the sustainable management of all types of forests, including trees outside forests, and to combat deforestation and forest degradation.
• The CLI's primary goal is to contribute to the discussions of UNFF regarding the implementation of Sustainable Forest Management and the UN Strategic Plan for Forests.
• It also aims to facilitate the sharing of best practices among UNFF member States for the implementation of SFM and the UNSPF.
• The CLI will discuss on thematic areas involving forest fires and forest certification.
• During this event, experts from UNFF member countries, the UN organizations, regional and sub-regional partners, as well as major groups, will deliberate on the thematic issues.

 Significance

• The UN Forest Instrument has adopted several policy measures to encourage sustainable forest management through promoting and implementing voluntary instruments such as voluntary certification systems or other appropriate mechanisms in a transparent manner.
• However, some countries consider the measures and requirements for certification as creating trade challenges or market barriers for their forest products.
• On the other hand, some other countries consider forest certification as an effective means to ensure SFM and a tool for preventing forest degradation or deforestation.
• Another major concern is that most consumer markets recognize certification from a select few certifying bodies at the expense of other certification schemes.

Country Led Initiative

• The CLI's primary goal is to contribute to the discussions of UNFF regarding the implementation of Sustainable Forest Management and the UN Strategic Plan for Forests.
• It also aims to facilitate the sharing of best practices among UNFF member States for the implementation of SFM and the UNSPF.
• The CLI will discuss on thematic areas involving forest fires and forest certification.
• During this event, experts from UNFF member countries, the UN organizations, regional and sub-regional partners, as well as major groups, will deliberate on the thematic issues.
• In recent years, the world has witnessed an alarming increase in the scale and duration of wildfires, leading to profound impacts on biodiversity, ecosystem services, human well-being, livelihoods, and national economies.
• Forested areas have been particularly affected, with approximately 100 million hectares, equivalent to 3% of the world's forest area, affected by fires every year.
• The severity of these fires has been exemplified by numerous high-profile incidents, resulting in unhealthy air quality and significant loss of human lives, wildlife, ecosystem services and property, including wildfire disasters in the northern hemisphere this summer.
• The situation is no different in India, with changing climate forest fires are becoming a regular phenomenon.

 Source- PIB