The Forum, which met for the first time away from UN Headquarters in New York, adopted two resolutions as it wrapped up its two-week session, one on forests and economic development ­– the main theme of the session – and the other on financing.

Recognizing the vital role of forests to lives and livelihoods, the 197 member countries of the Forum called on national governments to take a range of actions to improve sustainable forest management, from substantive data collection to addressing the causes of deforestation and forests degradation.

Also, while recognizing that there is no single solution to meet all forest financing needs, the Forum agreed that multiple sources of financing, at the national, regional and international levels, was needed from various sources, public and private, including consideration of a voluntary global forest fund.

Forests cover one-third of the Earth’s landmass and about 1.6 billion people depend on forests for their livelihood. Three-fourths of freshwater comes from forested catchment areas and forests stabilize slopes, prevent landslides and protect coastal communities against tsunamis and storms. More than three billion people depend on forests for wood for cooking and heating.

“There is now greater recognition than ever before that forests are essential to economic development and sustainable development,” said Jan McAlpine, Director of Forum’s Secretariat.

“In this historic meeting, countries broke new ground and agreed to take actions that demonstrate the need to sustainably manage our forests so that they can continue to be a source of livelihoods, broader economic development, including clean air, clean water and biodiversity – all leading to poverty eradication.”

The two-week session was attended by two Prime Ministers, one Vice President and over 50 ministers and high-level officials. Highlights included events showcasing sustainable forest management best practices and the individuals and countries that have actually put these practices into innovative use, as well as awards honouring activists, filmmakers and photographers from around the world.

The Forum, set up by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 2000, is the only international body that addresses all forest and tree policy issues. Countries will decide at the next session in 2015 how the functions of the Forum will continue internationally, as well as whether there is a need to develop a global treaty on forests.

“The successful outcome of [the session] proves once again the key and unique value-added role of the Forum as a global policy-setting body on all types of forests,” said Mario Ruales Carranza of Ecuador, the Chair of the Forum’s tenth session, hailing the outcome as “a new milestone” in financing forests and economic development.

The deliberations over the past two weeks had paved the way for a positive future and would no doubt contribute significantly to the next session in 2015, when “crucial decisions” would be taken regarding the future of the world’s woodlands.

“Forests and trees on farms are a direct source of food, energy, and cash income for more than a billion of the world’s poorest people,” said FAO’s Assistant Director-General for Forestry, Eduardo Rojas-Briales, in a news release on the report.

“At the same time, forests trap carbon and mitigate climate change, maintain water and soil health, and prevent desertification. The sustainable management of forests offers multiple benefits – with the right programs and policies, the sector can lead the way towards more sustainable, greener economies,” he added.

The report, The State of the World’s Forests 2012 (SOFO 2012), will be officially presented at an event organized by FAO and its partners at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), taking place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Rio+20’s high-level meeting runs 20-22 June, and is expected to bring together over 100 heads of state and government, along with thousands of parliamentarians, mayors, UN officials, chief executive officers and civil society leaders, to shape new policies to promote prosperity, reduce poverty and advance social equity and environmental protection.

SOFO 2012 makes the case that better and more sustainable use of forestry resources can make a significant contribution to meeting many of the core challenges being discussed at Rio+20.

The report notes that investments in wood-based enterprises can generate jobs, create assets and help revitalize the lives of millions of people in rural areas. Some 350 million of the world’s poorest people, including 60 million indigenous people, depend on forests for their daily subsistence and long-term survival, it adds.

Despite sometimes having a poor reputation due to concerns over deforestation, wood products – if sourced from well-run forestry operations – can store carbon and are easily recycled, the FAO report states. It highlights how forest-based industries around the world are innovating competitive new products and processes to substitute non-renewable materials, and by doing so are opening pathways towards low-carbon bio-economies.

The report also argues that sustainable forestry offers a renewable, alternative source of energy.

“Burning wood may be the oldest method by which humans acquire energy, but it is anything but obsolete,” said Mr. Rojas-Briales, adding that wood energy is still the dominant source of energy for over one third of the world’s population, in particular for the poor.

“And as the search for renewable energy sources intensifies, we must not overlook the considerable opportunities for forest biomass-based energy to emerge as a cleaner and greener alternative,” he added.

According to SOFO 2012, deriving energy from wood can offer a climate-neutral and socially equitable solution, provided wood is harvested from sustainably managed forests, burned using appropriate technologies, and undertaken in combination with reforestation and sustainable forest management programs. In addition, by both reducing deforestation and restoring lost forests on a large scale, significant amounts of carbon can be removed from the atmosphere, reducing the severity and impacts of climate change.

SOFO 2012 also notes that putting forests at the heart of a new, green economy will require, first and foremost, policies and programmes that give entrepreneurs incentives to pursue the sustainable utilization of forest resources.

It says that this includes “the removal of perverse incentives that result in deforestation and degradation and conversion of forests to other uses, as well as those promoting the use of non renewable raw materials like steel, concrete, plastics or fossil energies that compete with wood and bamboo.”