A fifteen-member group of international organisations concerned with ensuring that issues of forest conservation and the greening of economies remain at the heart of the human development agenda, last week made a high-profile international appeal for forests and tree landscapes to be brought to the centre of the global building back effort “for a more resilient and sustainable future.”
The Collaborative Partnership on Forests, (CPF), a partnership which includes the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF Secretariat), and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), says that “forests and tree landscapes should be at the heart of the building back better after the COVID-19 pandemic for a more resilient and sustainable future.”
In a statement which contends that the rampaging COVID-19 pandemic is a consequence of “the breakdown in the relationship between human and natural systems,” the CPF statements highlighted the need for healthy forests to “provide ecosystem services and decrease the risk of virus spillover from wildlife to humans.” Simultaneously, CPF is calling for the integration of the “conservation, restoration and sustainable management of all types of forests and trees outside forests into recovery measures in response to the causes and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and to achieve sustainability.”
“We urge everyone to turn the COVID-19 pandemic, a historic challenge, into an opportunity by shifting to greener and more inclusive economies and societies that will ensure a sustainable future for people and the planet,” CPF members said.
Meanwhile, and against the backdrop of the impact which the pandemic is having on food availability particularly in poor countries, the CPF wants the international community to develop a greater awareness of the importance of forests as “safety nets for the livelihoods of the most vulnerable members of society, providing food, subsistence and income in times of scarcity.”
The group warned meanwhile, that the COVID-19 pandemic should not be used as an excuse to weaken environmental regulations in the process of seeking to foster economic growth. “Recovery strategies must recognize that ecosystem integrity plays a key role in keeping societies healthy and on a path towards sustainability,” the CPF grouping asserted.
The forest sector should also take advantage of a ‘historic opportunity’ presented by growing awareness of the need for, and benefits of, living in harmony with nature, according to the statement.
The private sector is showing more interest than ever in investing in nature-based solutions, while the finance sector is increasingly aware of the risks posed to their portfolios by climate change and biodiversity loss, CPF members noted.
“There is a strong need to unlock investment opportunities that strengthen livelihoods, are deforestation-free, and mitigate the risks of future zoonotic diseases,” the CPF declared.
