News
Press release: More coherent global forest governance needed to reduce forest loss
On 19 October 2021 four scientists related to the IUFRO network spoke to the press about deforestation, imported deforestation, drivers and possible solutions.
After decades of innovation and failures in forest governance, political and environmental scientists point to solutions for policy makers, industry leaders, knowledge brokers and other stakeholders. And there is a lot to learn from mistakes and success stories of international forest policy, they say also with a view to the upcoming climate summit.
“Most deforestation takes place in the global South, and it is driven not only by domestic, but also by international markets and demand for agricultural commodities, bioenergy, and other bioeconomy needs in the global North. We refer to this as ‘imported deforestation’”, explains Metodi Sotirov from the University of Freiburg in Germany, one of the four panelists in the press briefing.
“While unsustainable or illegal timber use is still an important driver of deforestation, agricultural expansion for cattle breeding and cultivating soy, palm oil etc. is much bigger However, international policy and governance are still not addressing the issues at stake: there is still a need for an effective and coordinated global policy response covering all deforestation-related commodities - timber, forest risk agricultural commodities, bioenergy, mining, etc. - and policy, market, societal, ecological challenges that need to be addressed to reduce the further disappearance of the world’s forests.”, Dr. Sotirov continues.
Panelists in the media briefing:
Dr. Metodi Sotirov, University of Freiburg in Germany
IUFRO Deputy Coordinator of Working Party Cross-sectoral policy impacts on forests and environment
Dr. Sarah Lilian Burns, Universidad Nacional de La Plata in Argentina/Technical University Dresden, Germany
IUFRO Coordinator of Working Party Forest and natural resources policy and governance in Latin America and the Caribbean, and Deputy Coordinator of a Research Group Forest policy and governance
Dr. Connie McDermott, University of Oxford, UK; author of IUFRO-GFEP reports
Dr. Pablo Pacheco, Forests Lead at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF); author of IUFRO-WFSE reports
The media briefing was jointly organized by IUFRO and the communications agency Revolve.
Find the press release here: https://www.iufro.org/media/latest-releases/
Find background information here: On imported deforestation | REVOLVE