EARTH SUMMIT+5 Special Session of the General Assembly to Review and Appraise the Implementation of Agenda 21 New York, 23-27 June 1997 PROGRAMME FACT SHEETS

	Intergovernmental Panel on Forests
	Responsible Organization(s)	IPF Secretariat.
	Description	At its Third session the UN Commission on Sustainable Development decided to establish an open-ended, ad-hoc Intergovernmental Panel on Forests, to consider eleven priority issues clustered into five categories as follows: I. Implementation of UNCED decisions related to forests at the national and international level including an examination of sectoral and cross-sectoral linkages; II. International cooperation in financial assistance and technology transfer; III. Scientific research, forest assessment and development of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management; IV. Trade and environment relating to forest products and services; and V. International organizations and multilateral institutions and instruments including appropriate legal mechanisms. The issues include: various biophysical and economic aspects of forests including assessment and valuation; sustainable forest management; forest degradation, deforestation and rehabilitation; and the environmental aspects of trade in forest products. IPF's work programme also includes various policy approaches and instruments to address issues and to foster international cooperation. Among these are traditional forest related knowledge, financial assistance and transfer of technology, international institutions, and legal mechanisms and instruments.
	Issues addressed	Forest-related aspects of: land-use planning, combating deforestation, combating desertification, conservation of biological diversity, criteria and indicators for sustainable development, participation of major groups (NGOs, indigenous people and forest dwellers, the industrial private sector, forest owners), financial assistance and transfer of technology, capacity building, trade and environment, coordination and institutions, legal instruments.
	Objectives	Promote conservation, management and sustainable development of all types of forests within the framework of national sustainable development strategies and international policy instruments relevant to forests.
	Results achieved	The Panel has completed three of its four scheduled sessions. Notable progress has been made towards international consensus on issues such as basic principles and operational guidelines for national forest programmes, forest assessment, and criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management. The Third session of the IPF, held in Geneva 9-20 September 1996, produced a bracketed text for negotiation at IPF IV comprising approx. 90 pages. The Panel will submit its final report to CSD V in April 1997. However, it is anticipated that countries will wish to continue the high level international policy debate on forests in a forum similar to the IPF, at least until the need, or otherwise, for an international convention on forests and its modalities have been clearly defined and agreed upon. This may require an additional 2-3 years of intergovernmental consultations similar to those actually taking place in the IPF.
	Lessons learned	The IPF is supported by a core group of international agencies who have established the informal, high level Interagency Task Force on Forests (ITFF). Members include: FAO (Chair and Task Manager for forests in Agenda 21), UNDPCSD, ITTO, UNDP, UNEP, Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the World Bank. The first five of these have seconded staff to the Secretariat. Each of the agencies has assumed lead responsibility for one or more of the eleven Programme Elements of the Panel's work programme. This arrangement has allowed rapid deployment of experienced staff within the UN system, avoiding long recruitment delays and the establishment of any new permanent structures and, at the same time, has enabled the UN Secretariat to draw effectively on the institutional capacity of agencies. A wide range of special interest groups have contributed actively and constructively to the deliberations of the Panel. Participation of delegations as well as NGOs have been greatly facilitated by the quality of documentation and the use of the Internet for informal, but timely, access to information and reports.
	Financing	Extra-budgetary. Contributions have been received from ITTO-Japan, Switzerland, Canada, USA, Finland, Norway, Austria, Denmark and EC.
	Contact	Coordinator and Head: Mr. Jag S. Maini. Melek Habachy, IPF Secretariat, Tel.212-963-6208; Fax. 212-963-3463; e-mail.habachym@un.org Web site.Http://www.un.org/dpcsd/dsd/ipf.htm