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Monday,
13 May
During the opening
Plenary, delegates heard statements from, inter alia, the Executive
Director of the ITTO, the Chair of the ITTC, the Governor of Bali,
the President of Indonesia, and several Ministers. In the afternoon,
following a Council session and a short Joint Committee session, participants
split into the Committees on Reforestation and Forest Management (CRF)
and on Forest Industry (CFI).
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Opening
Plenary
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 Manoel
Sobral Filho, Executive Director of the ITTO,
stressed the need to improve forest management on the ground,
and described ITTO efforts to train forest managers in sustainable
forest management (SFM) practices. He identified the lack of funds
as the primary factor undermining SFM, and noted the failure of
markets to remunerate the global services provided by natural
forests. |
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Ibu
Megawati Soekarnoputri,
President of Indonesia, said that globalization has affected efforts
to manage forests, and called for greater international cooperation
to curb illegal practices. She hoped the ITTO would assist in
national endeavors to implement the management of sustainable
forests, particularly in rehabilitation and conservation activities.
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President
Megawati rang a gong to officially mark the opening of ITTC-32.
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Above:
Delegates heard presentations from David Kaimowitz,
Director-General of CIFOR (second from right), and from
a
representative of the FAO (far right). |
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During
the council session, Markku
Simula (Finland) outlined activities carried out to implement
ITTC decisions on certification. His presentation centered on
an overview paper and the workshop on certification held in Kuala
Lumpur in April 2002. He said that demand, in many cases, was
greater than supply of certified products. He noted a lag in certification
of tropical forests, but continued commitment to its wider implementation.
He said that certification could aid in controlling illegal logging.
One of the issues he flagged was that of mutual recognition of
the different certification schemes. |
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Jürgen
Blaser, ITTC Chair,
stressed the need to ensure that forthcoming negotiations of the
new ITTA will help create SFM and fair and transparent forest
trade. He underscored the need for the ITTO to become the platform
for stakeholder dialogue on SFM, citing an ITTO project in Africa
on fostering a partnership as a promising development. |
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View
of the packed Plenary hall during President Megawati's speech |
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President
Megawati being escorted away from the Plenary hall by Sobral and
Blaser (on the left). |
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Juan
Mayr Maldonado, Minister of the Environment of Colombia,
stressed the need to respond to the challenges to forest management
posed by climate change. He called for greater coordination between
biologically mega-diverse countries. |
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Delegates
attended a luncheon hosted by the Indonesian Association of Forest
Concession Holders (APHI) which included a display of Indonesian
traditional fashions. |
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During
the Joint Session of the Committees, it was noted that all the
Committees' Chairs were women - a first in ITTO history. From
left to right: Kayoko Fukushima (Japan), Chair of Committee
on Finance and Administration; Angela Andrade Perez (Colombia),
Chair of CRF; Astrid Bergquist (Sweden), Chair of the Committee
on Economic Information and Market Intelligence; and Candy Green
(USA), Chair of CFI.
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