Seychelles attends 14th World Forestry Congress |05 October 2015

Seychelles was represented at the 14th World Forestry Congress held in Durban, South Africa from September 7-11, 2015.

The delegation comprised the principal secretary for environment, Alain de Comarmond and the principal forestry officer John Quilindo.

Nearly 4,000 delegates from 142 countries, United Nations organisations, global organisations working in the forestry sector, politicians and the private sector met at the XIV World Forestry Congress – for the first time on the African continent – in a spirit of inclusiveness and with a willingness to learn from each other, share diverse points of view and gain new perspectives on the subject of forests and forestry.

The Seychelles delegation attended various events including a pre-Congress meeting for the African countries organised by the African Forest Forum, various side events organised to give focus to various subjects related to forestry for example climate change, water and the importance of good communication and information in the sector.

Mr De Comarmond also presented the status of forestry in Seychelles in a special event organised by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO)’s forestry division for the southern African countries including the small islands states.

Seychelles also used the opportunity to meet officials from the FAO to discuss ways and means Seychelles could benefit from the organisation’s various programmes.

The FAO has expressed its willingness to help Seychelles with forestry-related issues for example the drafting of a national forestry policy as well as other technical assistance areas.

Seychelles also contributed to the FAO’s stall in the Congress’ expo with displays on the coco de mer nut.

The Congress also saw the launch of the Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) 2015, the Congress took stock of the state of the world’s forests, particularly that forests are more than trees and are fundamental for food security and improved livelihoods, that integrated approaches to land use provide a way forward for improving policies and practices in the forestry sector and that forests are an essential solution to climate change adaptation and mitigation.

The conclusion of the Congress saw the release of the Durban Declaration which reflects a diverse set of view points of the Congress delegates especially the 2050 vision for forests and forestry.