United Nations Forum on Forests

The United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) is a high-level intergovernmental policy forum, composed of all United Nations Member States.

History

In 1992, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, (“Earth Summit”) held in Rio de Janeiro, adopted the Non-legally Binding Authoritative Statement of Principles for a Global Consensus on the Management, Conservation and Sustainable Development of All Types of Forests (Forest Principles) together with Agenda 21, which included a chapter (Chapter 11) on “Combating Deforestation”.

Following the Earth Summit, the UN established the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF) and its successor, the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF), to implement the Forest Principles and Chapter 11 of Agenda 21. From 1995 to 2000, the IPF/IFF processes dealt with such issues as underlying causes of deforestation; traditional forest-related knowledge; international cooperation in financial assistance and technology transfer; development of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management; and trade and environment. The IPF/IFF processes resulted in a set of 270 proposals for action for the promotion of the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests.

In 2000, the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) established the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) with the main objective to promote “… the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of...
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