Economic and Social Council

 Distr. GENERAL
21 February 1996
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH

COMMISSION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Panel on Forests
Second session
11-22 March 1996


           INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND MULTILATERAL INSTITUTIONS
            AND INSTRUMENTS, INCLUDING APPROPRIATE LEGAL MECHANISMS

                             Programme element V.1

                        Report of the Secretary-General


                                   CONTENTS

                                                              Paragraphs Page

INTRODUCTION ...............................................    1 - 4       2

 I.   GENERAL OVERVIEW .....................................    5 - 13      2

II.   CURRENT STATUS .......................................   14 - 18      4

III.  APPROACHES ...........................................   19 - 20      7

IV.   PREPARATIONS FOR SUBSTANTIVE DISCUSSION ..............      21        9

 V.   PROPOSALS FOR ACTION .................................      22        9


                                 INTRODUCTION


1.   This document reports on the progress of the preparatory work on the
first programme element of Category V, "International organizations and
multilateral institutions and instruments, including appropriate legal
mechanisms" (V.1), of the work programme of the Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Panel
on Forests.  It includes a general overview of the issue, a short update of
the current status, followed by a description of the range of considerations
involved in preparing for the substantive discussion of this programme element
at the third session of the Panel. 

2.   The work under programme element V.1 is guided by the decisions taken at
the third session of the Commission on Sustainable Development and further
elaborated at the first session of the Panel.

3.   The Commission defined programme element V.1 as a need to develop a
clearer view of the work being carried out by international organizations and
multilateral institutions and under existing instruments as appropriate,
including the conventions on biodiversity, desertification, climate change,
the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora (CITES) and the International Tropical Timber Agreement (ITTA), in
forest-related issues, including United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development (UNCED) decisions related to forests and the institutional
linkages emanating therefrom, in order to identify any gaps, areas requiring
enhancement, as well as any areas of duplication. 1/

4.   Subsequently, the Panel, at its first session, emphasized the need for
preparation of a report "presenting an overview and description of existing
institutions and instruments, including their role and mandates vis-a`-vis
programme elements I-IV ..., and identifying institutional linkages, gaps,
areas requiring enhancement, and any areas of duplication". 2/  It was also
decided to schedule programme element V.1 for substantive discussion at the
third session, to be held, provisionally, in Geneva from 2 to 13 September
1996.


                             I.  GENERAL OVERVIEW

                                 A.  Objective

5.   The objective of this programme element is to develop a clearer
appreciation and assessment of how the mandates, roles, and work carried out
under the following two principal categories, contribute to meeting forest-
related commitments made at UNCED, as well as how they relate to the concerns
and issues included in programme elements I-IV of the work programme of the
Panel:

     (a)  International organizations and multilateral institutions; 

     (b)  Existing international instruments, relevant to forests. 

6.   The assessments of activities under these two categories would provide
the basis for:

     (a)  Evaluation of their role, mandates and activities;

     (b)  Identification of effective institutional linkages, as well as gaps,
areas requiring enhancement, and any areas of duplication; 

     (c)  On the basis of (a) and (b) above, proposals for options and
opportunities to mobilize comparative strengths, expertise and resources of
institutions and instruments to address priority issues related to all types
of forests at local, national, regional and global levels.

7.   This analytical process will also be influenced by the deliberations of
the Panel on each of the programme elements I-IV, in particular, when
addressing institutional linkages and other appropriate institutional
arrangements necessary to address the programme elements.


                                  B.  Context

8.   Forest-related issues have received an increasing amount of attention by
decision makers and the general public during the past 10 years.  The
emergence of the notion of sustainable development as well as a more
widespread public awareness and understanding of this concept have placed
natural resources conservation and utilization high on the agenda.  Divergent
views on this topic precipitated intense and, at times, very polarized debates
during the preparatory process towards UNCED, and during and following the
Conference itself.  Deliberations on the conservation and utilization of all
types of forests intensified and their scope was broadened remarkably during
the UNCED process:  international debate on forests now includes all types of
forests and is not focused only on the tropical rain forest, which initially
caught the attention of the world community.  It also encompasses the multiple
benefits and values provided by forests.  Two significant forest-related
decisions were made at UNCED; the so-called Forest Principles and chapter 11
of Agenda 21, "Combating Deforestation".  These agreements have since provided
a framework for guiding the forest-related activities of international
organizations and multilateral institutions.  Several legal instruments with
relevance to forest, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity, the
Convention on Desertification and Drought and the Convention on Climate Change
were also important outcomes of UNCED. 

9.   An assessment of the roles, mandates and activities of international
organizations, multilateral institutions and instruments under existing
agreements must take into consideration the relatively fast-changing
perspectives on forests.  During the past 10 years, these organizations have
had to adjust to a significant shift in how forests are viewed and in the
approaches towards their management.  Sustainable forest management has
emerged as a result of a much wider appreciation of the multiple services and
benefits provided by forest ecosystems.  Forests are no longer viewed simply
as producers of wood or as occupying idle land that could be put to better
use.  The scope and scale of the role of forests in providing diverse
socio-economic, environmental, industrial and cultural benefits at local,
national, regional as well as global levels are now better recognized, and
involve many international and regional institutions and instruments.

10.  In many developing countries, forests meet the basic needs for human
subsistence at the local and national levels.  For countries richly endowed
with forests, they provide an important vehicle for economic development, a
basis for processing industry, employment opportunities and a source of
foreign exchange through international trade. 

11.  At the regional level, the role of forests may extend beyond national
boundaries.  The watershed of most international rivers are forested, and
human intervention of these watershed forests may have consequences on water
and soil conservation regimes downstream.  Ecoregions seldom follow political
borders, consequently many conservation efforts, in the form of protected
areas, have benefited from bilateral and multilateral regional collaboration. 
Forests are often the habitat of species that migrate across national
boundaries and their protection requires multilateral cooperation.

12.  At the international and global levels, while forests, on the one hand,
have been subjected to transboundary stresses they also play a broader, global
ecological role.  These transboundary and global dimensions include the
effects of transboundary pollution and the role of forests in global
ecological cycles, such as the carbon cycle and climate change.  International
trade in forest products, also an international concern, has been the focus of
attention of many international and regional institutions.

13.  The evolving perspectives and approaches towards sustainable forest
management covering local, national, regional and global levels have and will
continue to require the mobilization of resources and expertise of several
international and regional organizations.  These organizations, as a group,
have had to broaden their scope to include a whole new set of issues requiring
a wide array of action at different geographical levels.  Accordingly, the
need to review the mandates, roles and activities of international
institutions often appears as a major recommendation in many forest-related
deliberations. 


                              II.  CURRENT STATUS

14.  The activities and mandates of many institutions involved in
forest-related issues have changed over the years in response to evolving
perspectives on overall development.  The importance of forests to
environmentally sound socio-economic development, as well as the growing
awareness of the complexity and the strong cross-sectoral linkages, underline
the need to review the role of the relevant organizations and identify their
comparative strengths and potential for cooperation.  Reinforcing some of the
existing and to some extent emerging partnership arrangements will be
increasingly necessary in order to strengthen linkages and to make effective
use of resources to address complex national, regional and global scale
issues.  The deliberations of the Panel could provide a clear priority agenda,
agreed intergovernmentally, on forests.  This priority agenda would provide
the necessary framework for international organizations, both within and
outside the United Nations system, to efficiently align their expertise and
financial resources.

     United Nations organizations

15.  The organizations within the United Nations system have their own
specific mandates and consequently their approaches to issues related to
forests are based on their distinctive perspectives.  Their mandates are
established and modified by their governing bodies, constituted of government
representatives coming from a range of sectoral ministries.  The Forest
Principles and chapter 11 of Agenda 21, are the agreed common priority United
Nations agenda on forests.  Establishment of the Panel provides an opportunity
to develop further a coordinated response by the United Nations and other
institutions.  The following United Nations organizations are engaged in
forest-related activities:

     Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 

     United Nations Environment Programme 

     United Nations Development Programme 

     United Nations Industrial Development Organization 

     United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 

     The World Bank

     World Food Programme 

     World Health Organization 

     International Fund for Agricultural Development 

     Other international organizations and institutions

16.  In addition to the United Nations system, other multilateral and regional
intergovernmental organizations and research institutions and non-governmental
organizations and institutions commonly referred to as international, are
involved in forest issues from different sectoral points of view.  Their
activities and areas of interest include research, manufacturing, business,
conservation, development, trade etc.  The following is a partial listing of
such organizations: 

     International organizations

     International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO)

     Regional development banks

     Research institutions

     Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)

     International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF)

     International Union of Forestry Research Organization (IUFRO)

     Non-governmental organizations

     Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)

     Global Forest Policy Project (GFPP)

     Greenpeace International

     International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)

     World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development (WCFSD)

     World Conservation Union (IUCN)

     World Resources Institute (WRI)

     World Wide Fund (WWF)

     Existing legal instruments

17.  Many international legal agreements, such as the conventions on
biological diversity, desertification, climate change, the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and
the International Tropical Timber Agreement (ITTA), have been negotiated to
address particular issues and interests.  Many of these agreements are
relevant to forests and have an impact on sustainable management of forests as
well as international trade in forest products.  However, they are not
necessarily interrelated, which results in a rather fragmented approach to the
conservation, management and sustainable development of forests, when it comes
to implementation.  Institutional arrangements have also been made to support
and service these conventions and legal instruments.  In addition there are
several regional agreements that have relevance to forests.

     Existing reviews

18.  There have been few attempts in the past to chart institutional linkages
in the context of forest-related issues.  Since UNCED, some of the
international initiatives, for example the Canada/Malaysia Initiative, have
prepared documentation and proposed options for action to address the concerns
relating to international institutional structures. 3/  An independent
assessment of the work of international organizations has been called for, and
there are several examples of analyses made by non-governmental organizations.

For example, international legal arrangements regarding forests have been
reviewed in a discussion paper prepared by the Environmental Law Centre of the
World Conservation Union (IUCN), which includes some discussion of the
activities under them as well as under a few international organizations. 4/ 
A report of the Secretary-General (E/CN.17/1995/3) to the Commission at its
third session reviewed the response of the United Nations system to chapter 11
of Agenda 21, "Combating Deforestation", as well as the Forest Principles.


                               III.  APPROACHES

     Inter-agency Task Force on Forests

19.  The decision at the third session of the Commission to establish the
Panel also called for drawing upon the resources and technical expertise of
relevant organizations.  In response, an informal group was formed to
coordinate the preparatory work associated with the tasks ahead and to ensure
mobilization of the organizations' expertise and resources.  The organizations
involved in this informal group, referred to as the Inter-Agency Task Force on
Forests, include:   the Division for Sustainable Development in the Department
for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development of the United Nations
Secretariat; United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP); Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (FAO); World Bank; International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO);
and the secretariat to the Convention on Biological Diversity.  The first
meeting of the informal Task Force, held in July 1995, resulted in the initial
designation of lead agencies, and agencies providing active input, towards the
preparations for each of the programme elements (see table).  This cooperative
approach is modelled after the Inter-Agency Committee on Sustainable
Development (IACSD), where task managers are identified to lead particular
issues.  The secretariat of the Panel was designated as lead for programme
element V.1.  In addition CIFOR is making valuable contributions to the
preparatory process for meetings of the Panel.  The FAO continues to be the
task manager for reporting on chapter 11 of Agenda 21 and the Forest
Principles, under the arrangements established by IACSD.


        Table.  Contribution of the Inter-agency Task Force on Forests
                           to programme of work of the Panel

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Programme     *Lead agencies*
 element      Agencies providing active input
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
  I.1          *FAO*
               UNDP/ITTO/UNEP/World Bank/Convention on Biological Diversity

  I.2          *UNDP*
               FAO/World Bank

  I.3          *Convention on Biological Diversity*
               FAO/World Bank

  I.4          *FAO*
               UNDP/FAO/World Bank/UNEP

  I.5          *UNEP*
               World Bank

  II           *UNDP*
               FAO/World Bank/ITTO/UNEP/Convention on Biological
               Diversity/Division for Sustainable Development, Department for
               Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development

  III.1        *Assessment FAO*
               UNEP

               *Valuation World Bank*
               UNEP/FAO

  III.2        *FAO*
               UNEP/ITTO

  IV           *ITTO*
               UNEP/FAO

  V.1          *Secretariat of the Panel*
               UNEP/FAO/UNDP/ITTO/Convention on Biological Diversity/World
               Bank
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

     Swiss/Peruvian initiative

20.  During the first session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests,
Switzerland and Peru made a joint proposal to co-sponsor a "Study on the work
of international organizations, multilateral institutions and instruments in
the forest sector" in support of this particular programme element.  The study
is intended to examine the forest-related activities undertaken by various
institutions and under existing international instruments, identify gaps and
areas requiring enhancement, as well as any areas of duplication, in
accordance with programme element V.1 of the programme of work of the Panel. 
This initiative includes the establishment of an independent, internationally
recognized group of experts, which would be given the task of elaborating a
study on the work carried out by international organizations, multilateral
institutions and under existing legal instruments related to forest issues. 
This expert group would consist of three representatives each from the five
regional groups and three representatives from non-governmental organizations.

The expert group is headed by two co-chairs, one from Switzerland and one from
Peru.  The expert group will hold its first meeting during 5-8 March 1996, in
Geneva.  The expert group will submit a progress report to the Panel at its
second session, 11-22 March 1996.  A second meeting of the expert group will
be held in the early summer of 1996, followed by regional consultations on the
preliminary results of the expert group's deliberations.  A final report will
be prepared prior to the third session of the Panel, scheduled for
2-13 September 1996.


                 IV.  PREPARATIONS FOR SUBSTANTIVE DISCUSSION

21.  For the third session of the Panel, the Secretary-General will prepare a
report on this programme element presenting an overview and description of
existing institutions and instruments, including their role and mandates
vis-a`-vis programme elements I-IV above, and identifying institutional
linkages and cooperation, gaps and areas requiring enhancement, as well as
areas of duplication.  To the extent possible and within the available time-
frame, the report will take into account emerging institutional arrangements
as well as government sponsored initiatives under way in support of this
programme element.  The report will also take into consideration proposals on
institutional aspects that would emerge from discussions under any of the
programme elements I.1-IV.


                           V.  PROPOSALS FOR ACTION

22.  The Panel may wish to take note of the present progress report at its
second session and provide further guidance on the preparations of the report
for substantive discussion at its third session.


                                     Notes

     1/   Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 1995,
Supplement No. 12 (E/1995/32), chap. I, sect. D, annex I, programme element
V.1.

     2/   E/CN.17/IPF/1996/3, para. 18, programme element V.1.

     3/   "Institutional linkages", final reports and background papers
prepared for the second meeting of the Intergovernmental Working Group on
Forests (IWGF) (Ottawa, Canadian Forest Service, 1994).

     4/   "Developing the current international forest regime:  some legal and
policy issues", discussion paper, IUCN Environmental Law Centre (Bonn,
Germany, September 1995).


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Date last posted: 7 December 1999 12:45:30
Comments and suggestions: DESA/DSD