Near East Forestry and Range Commission (NEFRC) - 24th Session

25 - 29 November 2019. Antalya, Turkey. Near East Forestry and Range Commission (NEFRC) - 24th Session.

Objectives of the meeting:

• Countries to discuss ways to further improve the effectiveness of the Commission as a regional platform to deliberate on policy and technical aspects that relates to forests and rangelands development in their countries with the aim of strengthening countries participation and engagement and its follow up actions and in guiding FAO's overall programme of work,.
• FAO to continue its support in strengthening countries' technical and institutional capacities in formulation and implementation of forest and rangeland policy and resources development, including through large scale restoration projects, and in monitoring and assessment of their forests and rangelands cover changes.
• FAO to assist countries in accessing climate change funds and other sources of finance for the implementation of forestry and rangelands projects.

Presentation by Dr. Mounir Louhaichi - Rangeland Ecology & Management, International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas : [email protected]

Background

The first inter-sessional meeting of the Executive Committee of the NEFRC was held in September 2018. The meeting took stock of the progress made by FAO in the implementation of the recommendations of NEFRC23. It also brainstormed on the priority areas (topics) to bring to the attention of the 24th Session of NEFRC and agreed on the tentative date for the next session.

In line with the Commission's recommendation to support knowledge sharing and to benefit from technical experience and successful resource mobilization strategies of other countries, the COFO Working Group (WG) on Dryland Forests and Agrosilvopastoral Systems was inaugurated in July 2019. The TOR of the WG, which was adopted by COFO, aims to contribute to developing a comprehensive understanding of dryland forests and agrosilvopastoral systems and the people depending on them, sharing knowledge and upscaling initiatives. Information on the WG is presented in document FO:NEFRC/2019/10.

Following the recommendation of NEFRC23 to continue supporting the Near East Network on Forest Health and Invasive Species, FAO supported the maintenance of a web platform for the Network and will organize a training of trainers workshop on the guidelines for implementation of phytosanitary standards in forestry in December 2019. FAO also promoted Network activities by organizing side events at the COFO session in Rome, Italy in July 2018 and during the 6th Mediterranean Forest Week held in Lebanon in March 2019.

FAO supported the functioning of the Near East Network on Forest Wildlands Fires (NENFIRE), by organizing capacity building training in February 2019 in Beirut, Lebanon, for the national focal points from 9 countries on major aspects of fire management. The meeting allowed for exchanging views with participants on how to improve the work of the NENFIRE and for developing a regional project proposal on strengthening the capacities in Forest Fire Prevention and Fire Risk Reduction in the context of Climate Change. The proposal was submitted for the FAO Additional Budgetary Allocation in 2019 but was not funded. Other funding sources are now being sought.

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