The fact that over 800 people attended the first ever ‘Forest Day’, organized by CIFOR and the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF), reinforced the extent to which forests have moved to centre stage in the global climate debate.

Nobody who attended the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) conference in Bali in December 2007 was left in any doubt about the importance of forests. If we are to successfully tackle global warming, we have to change the way we manage and exploit forests.

At present, deforestation and degradation account for around 20 per cent of all carbon emissions, and the Bali Conference made it clear that reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) will be an important element in future climate-change negotiations (see Do Trees Grow on Money?, p.3, for more information about REDD).

Forest Day attracted experts, enthusiasts and decision-makers from national delegations, government departments, non-government organizations, research and academic institutions, community groups, the media and the private sector.

"I never dreamt that so many people would attend," says Markku Kanninen, Director of CIFOR's Environmental Services programme. "Forest Day enabled us to promote the issues that we believe really matter: getting forests into the climate-change negotiations and ensuring that REDD projects not only reduce deforestation, but provide livelihoods for the rural poor."

During the opening plenary Indonesia's Minister of Forestry, M.S. Kaban, officially opened Forest Day on behalf of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Short contributions followed from: Frances Seymour, CIFOR's Director General; Wangari Maathai (via video), winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and founder of the Kenya Green Belt Movement; Katherine Sierra of the World Bank; Victoria Tauli-Corpuz of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues; Rudy Rabbinge, Dean of Wageningen Graduate Schools, Wageningen University and Research Centre; and Ernesta Ballard of Weyerhaeuser Company.

The main feature of the day comprised four parallel panel discussions, each focusing on a theme crucial to forests and climate change: Setting the Baseline & Estimating Forest Carbon; Markets and Governance; Efficiency vs Equity; and Adaptation to Climate Change.

24 side events provided a range of interactive fora addressing these and other issues surrounding forests and climate change.

The key points to emerge during Forest Day were summarized by Frances Seymour, CIFOR's Director General, during the closing plenary. This summary pointed to those areas where there exists significant consensus, as well as those areas that require further research and debate. Although significant methodological challenges remain, there appears to be enough information to design successful mechanisms for REDD. Issues of governance pose the greatest risks for investors in REDD schemes, as well as the local communities affected by them.

Yvo de Boer, UNFCCC Executive Secretary, responded to Seymour. "Congratulations on what has been a hugely successful event" said Mr de Boer. "If you can achieve this much consensus in one day, you should have my job." He

went on to say that the feedback he had received from delegates had been overwhelmingly positive, and that the Forest Day summary would help to inform the negotiating process.

In practical terms, what did Forest Day achieve? "I don't want to claim that we definitely influenced the UNFCCC negotiations," says Kanninen, "but there is undoubtedly a correlation between our recommendations and the Bali Road Map." This text recognises that forests cannot be ignored in future climate change negotiations, and that the focus should not just be on curbing deforestation, but on forest degradation as well.

"What this means", reflects Kanninen, "is that sustainable forest management will be included in the final agreement, and this paves the way for introducing measures which will benefit the livelihoods of forest-dwelling people."

Story by Charlie Pye-Smith