NASF President and Alaska State Forester Chris Maisch was in Rome this week to participate in the Committee on Forestry, referred to as COFO 22.
The biennial sessions of COFO bring together heads of international forest services and other senior government officials to identify emerging policy and technical issues, to seek solutions and to advise the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and others on appropriate action.
COFO 22 will review the state of the world’s forests, focusing on their socioeconomic benefits and related questions, including income and employment; ownership and management rights; wood energy and forest products in housing. In this context, it will examine forest policy measures that promote sustainable production and consumption; access to resources, markets and financing; equitable benefit sharing; and valuation of forest products and services.
COFO was held in conjunction to the United Nation's World Forest Week. During the event, director of the FAO's Forestry Division Eva Mueller said that forests are "fundamental to the survival of forest dwellers, including indigenous people."
"Across the world, forests, trees on farms, and agroforestry systems play a crucial role in the livelihoods of rural people by providing employment, energy, nutritious foods and a wide range of other goods and ecosystem services," Mueller said.
Learn more about the Committee on Forestry.
Learn more about the Alaska State Forester and forestry in his state.