Mainstreaming Biodiversity in Forestry Report: Sustainable forestry paramount for biodiversity conservation: FAO

Source: The post is based on the article “Sustainable forestry paramount for biodiversity conservation: FAO” published in the Down To Earth on 7^th October 2022.

What is the News?

The Food and Agriculture Organization has recently released a report titled “Mainstreaming Biodiversity in Forestry Report.”

What is Mainstreaming Biodiversity?

Mainstreaming Biodiversity is the process of embedding biodiversity considerations into policies, strategies, and practices of key public and private actors to promote the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.

About the Mainstreaming Biodiversity in Forestry Report

FAO’s forestry statutory body, Committee on Forestry (COFO), had asked FAO to review biodiversity mainstreaming in forestry in its 25th session in 2020.

COFO has also asked the FAO to share good practices on solutions that balance conservation and sustainable use of forest biodiversity.

What are the key findings of Mainstreaming Biodiversity in Forestry Report?

The world’s forests provide habitats for about 80% of amphibian species, 75% of bird species and 68% of mammal species. In addition, about 60% of all vascular plants occur in tropical forests.

But forests and their biodiversity continue to be lost at an alarming rate. Much progress has been made towards mainstreaming biodiversity in production forest management. On the other hand, biodiversity continues to decline globally.

Forests that are managed primarily for economic benefits are critical for biodiversity conservation.

What are the concerns highlighted by the report on Mainstreaming Biodiversity?

Weak governance and law enforcement are the biggest stumbling blocks behind biodiversity conservation in the protected area.

Deforestation is the greatest driver of the loss of valuable biodiversity, with around 10 million hectares lost to deforestation each year, mainly for agricultural expansion.

Other threats include over-harvesting of timber, invasive species, climate change, desertification and forest fires.

What are the global efforts in Mainstreaming Biodiversity?

-The role of forests in maintaining biodiversity is explicitly recognised by the United Nations Strategic Plan for Forests 2017–2030.

-In 2019, FAO adopted the Strategy on Mainstreaming Biodiversity across Agricultural Sectors.

What are the recommendations of the report on Mainstreaming Biodiversity?

The report recommended various measures and actions such as,

a) Halting and reversing deforestation, b) Combating illegal and unregulated forest activities, c) Recognising the forest tenure of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, d) Preventing the conversion of natural forests into monospecific forest plantations, e) Managing and controlling invasive and overabundant species, f) Adopting a multisectoral perspective, and g) Leveraging global momentum on restoration to enhance biodiversity conservation.