UN International Year of Forests 2011 Launches Today

The International Year of Forests kicks-off a year full of activities today at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

The global launch of the International Year of Forests 2011 will be held today in conjunction with the High-Level Segment of the ninth session of the United Nations Forum on Forests. The ceremony will be presided over by Joseph Deiss, President of the 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

The launch of Forests 2011 will feature a program of high level speakers, the premier of the short film “FOREST” directed by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, and 11 film clips of International Forest Film Festival winners. The program will also include high-level panel discussions, media activities, and the issuance of the United Nations commemorative stamp series for the International Year. The stamp series will also be issued at the United Nations Offices at Geneva and Vienna.

The International Year of Forests 2011 was established to raise awareness of how forests play an integral part in the livelihoods of 1.6 billion people worldwide, supply the habitat for millions of species, and play a critical role in mitigating the effects of climate change. Deforestation is the biggest threat to the world’s forests, destroying nearly 50,000 square miles per year.

Replanting tropical forests will prove to be a critical tool in combating global warming, according to a report released December 9, 2010 by the U.S.-based Union of Concerned Scientists during the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico.

Tree planting events in Ethiopia, Georgia, Jamaica, Lebanon, Poland and Korea are among events a number of member states and organizations have indicated their intention to promote to celebrate the International Year of Forests 2011.

International Forest Events

Other international events already planned throughout 2011 include:

• Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plans to convene the Second Forest Ministerial Meeting for ASEAN and China in 2011 as well as a senior forest official meeting for ASEAN and China on regional policy.

• Brazil plans to organize an International Congress on Cities and Forests in Manaus, Amazonas, in 2011.

• Bulgaria plans to celebrate the traditional professional holiday of foresters in April 2011.

• Cyprus is organizing a meeting on “COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) Action FP0701, Post-Fire Forest Management in Southern Europe” in 2011 and a conference on the holistic management of forest ecosystems in Cyprus.

• ENO (Environment Online), a global virtual school and network for sustainable development in Finland, plans to organize a global forest conference for children in September 2011 in Joensuu, Finland.

• The European Union Forest Directors-General meeting is expected to be held in Poland in November 2011.

• Guatemala plans to organize its ninth National Forestry Congress in 2011.

• Japan is organizing a ceremony to bridge the closing of the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity to the 2011 International Year of Forests. The ceremony will be organized as part of the closing event of the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, in December 2010.

• The Sixth Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe will be convened in Oslo from June 14-16, 2011. High on the agenda will be the elaboration of a strengthened policy framework for sustainable forest management throughout Europe.

• The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will be playing a key role in a regional conference on forests in Kinshasa being organized by the Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Tourism of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, expected to be held in late November/early December 2010.

Webcast Today

The United Nations General Assembly event today will include a number of high-powered speakers, including: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon; Božidar Pankretic, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Regional Development, Forests and Water Management, Croatia; Official emissary of President Paul Kagame, Stanislas Kamanzi, Minister of Environment and Lands, Rwanda; Sha Zukang, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs; Juan Manuel Gómez-Robledo Verduzco, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mexico; Tom Rosser, Assistant Deputy Minister, Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service; and, Professor Wangari Maathai, 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.