 Good morning ladies and gentlemen Welcome to the World Forest Week site event planting forests for carbon neutral economies Sustainable landscapes and livelihoods. I am Thaiz Lingari Givinal Team leader of the sustainable forestry value chains innovation and investments stream within FAO's forestry division and I am also the secretary of the International Commission on Populars and other fast-growing trees sustaining people and the environment. I will be moderating this event today. It's a great honor to have such honorable and knowledgeable speakers here with us Planted forests are forests predominantly established by planting seedlings or seeds They produce a wide variety of products and services including wood and non-wood products, forest protection and restoration biodiversity or carbon sequestration They have the potential to provide a balanced package of important social and environmental benefits Today in our site event We are going to discuss How we can advance the contributions of planted forests to Agenda 2030 Our main objectives are to enhance knowledge on planted forests to enable global restoration action to meet both environmental and socioeconomic needs We also want to raise awareness on the new mandate of the International Commission on Populars and other fast-growing trees sustaining people and the environment which since very recently had a new strategy approved And We also want to highlight the importance of science and the role of networks to enable the expansion of planted forests and discussing the private sector opportunity and responsibility to address these points After the opening remarks of mr. Evald Hamsteiner who is here with us on stage Deputy director with FAO's forestry division We will hear from mr. Ansipa Karinen team leader of forest resource assessment also in the FAO's forestry division Ansip will tell us some key facts and figures about the extent of planted forests and other wooded land Subsequently we will discuss with our distinguished panelists aspects related to the science policy and practice on planted forests So before we start our discussions I would like to ask mr. Evald Hamsteiner for his opening remarks. Evald the floor is yours Thank you Thais That's for you Good morning colleagues Good afternoon in the evening for those that are following online distinguished guests It is my great pleasure to open today this world forest week site event on planted forests for carbon neutral economies sustainable landscapes and livelihoods With a world population projected to grow to almost 10 billion people in 2050 the needs for food feed fuel fiber fodder and other biobased products Including very innovative products will raise rise sharply the consumption of Primary processed wood products is therefore it's expected to increase by some 37 percent by 2050 that's Not quite but almost double the amount that of consumption as we have today Planted forests come in for that reason Currently they they cover around 290 million hectares and we will hear a little bit more about this in a minute Which is a very small percentage of the global worlds forest area a mere seven percent The surface is expanding but not as fast that is it did a decade or more ago And We have mono species planted forests under intensive management that we which we call plantations they are a Fraction of planted forests they cover around 33 percent Sorry three percent of the global forest area around a hundred and 31 million hectares But they produce a lot of the primary material coming from forests in terms of wood Almost a third or around a third of total round wood production in 2012 Now with the increasing demand for wood with the Climate issues with a lot of other issues that we have including recovery needs energy needs, etc There is an increasing recognition of the role of planted forests to meet these growing demands but also as a means to reverse forest degradation and to stop or hold deforestation Reducing pressure on natural forests It is in many ways if properly done a nature-based solution And it is an important part of the solution that we are aiming for namely carbon neutral economies with restored landscapes productive landscapes Ecologically functioning landscapes and livelihoods that we can provide from those landscapes So planted forests Now and in the future must not only produce more Raw material they also need to be socially acceptable and they need to be more diverse in order to be resilient Resilient for the climate change that is affecting all of us including ecosystems So, I hope you are largely familiar with FAU's work on planted forests FAU has had quite some work in the past. We have continued working on this We have focused in the past more on Promoting and enabling the responsible management of planted forests and and Produced a number of important publications that still have high value But we also see and we have seen this change in FAU from our more Plantation-oriented or planted forest-oriented productivity focus to these broader focus on socially responsible environmentally responsible work around planted forests and plantations Given this shift that we all have seen overall on the planet on those topics We do think that there is a new chapter to be opened with planted forests as An important part of the solutions in the transformation to more efficient Inclusive resilient and sustainable agri-food systems that we need to meet the agenda 23 FAU is focusing on four bettas in this transition Really targeting the SDGs that is better production better nutrition better environment and better life We are quite convinced that in all of these three Planted forests have a major role to play and today's side event will be an opportunity To look into these different aspects because they need to be integrated to become a holistic whole better production Better nutrition better environment and a better life So we have a range of perspectives today here on the role of planted forests on these to discuss challenges opportunities and best practices To enable the expansion of planted forests as an essential nature-based solution to accelerate the transition to towards a carbon neutral economy sustainable life lewd and Sorry sustainable livelihoods. That's true sustainable landscapes as well and basically resilient environments and resilient economies and societies all of this we will need as we walk into the future We thank you very much for your interest and participation and I wish you and us all together an insightful event today Thank you very much for this I give back the floor to you moderator Thank you very much. I vote and you highlighted many important aspects of the FAO's agenda And the challenge that we have to expand the total area of planted forests At the moment we have only seven percent of the global forest Of the global forest area as planted forests in their different categories And to talk to us about these categories, we will have mr. Ancipe Karinen team leader global forest resource assessment In the forestry division To help us better understand what are planted forests Uh, what are the internationally agreed definitions on planted forests? And he will share with us what the 2020 global forest resource assessment Can teach us with regards To the global area under planted forests their distributions and their main friends Ancipe Karinen, please you have the floor Thank you ties Distinguished delegates ladies and gentlemen dear colleagues. Good morning everyone great to see you here and I'm I'm honored to be here with you today As you heard my my talk today will focus on the extent of plant planted forest and Other land with tree cover because there are trees also outside of forest But let me start with a brief reminder what the fra global forest resources assessment actually is global forest resources assessment is something that FAO conducts Using a five year cycle at the request of FAO members It is the most comprehensive assessment of global forest resources and it covers roughly 60 broad variable categories This also the most authoritative assessment of global forest resources because it is based on official country statistics that we are collecting through officially nominated network of national correspondence that covers 187 countries and territories as of today Um The outreach products the different reports that result from this huge effort of data collection analysis Have reached more than 140,000 users in the latest assessment fra 2020 as we call it now when talking about Anything basically it is important to Have common definitions about things When we are talking about forests in the context of global forest resources assessment We are talking about land spanning more than half a hectare with trees that can reach five meters at least and with a canopy cover of more than 10 percent And the important thing is that the forest definition is a land use definition Forests do not include land that are predominantly under other land uses such as agriculture and urban land use Within the forests we divide the forest into naturally regenerating forests and planted forest And as we heard already the planted forest our forest predominantly compost of trees established through planting or seed And then since the latest assessment Fraut 2020 we are also dividing planted forest into two different categories plantation forests that are intensively managed and meet all a number of different criteria And the other planted forest which are planted forest that resemble more natural forest in their maturity Now we have already heard this figure. I think two times, but let's repeat it once again The only seven percent of the world's forests are planted and that is roughly they already heard 300 million hectares Of these seven percent three percent Are plantation forests that are those intensively managed planted forests The global forest area In the latest assessment was four billion hectares 4.06 billion hectares, which is roughly 31 percent of the total land area of the globe When looking at the trend in the planted forest area, we can see that the area of planted forest has increased More than 70 percent since the 1990s when it was 170 million hectares And while now we have reached 293 million hectares But of course the planted forests are not equally distributed in different regions regions in a The most of the planted forest in terms of area are found in asia followed by new Europe and north and central america and when looking at the percentage of the Forest that are planted in these regions we can see a similar trend most of the planted forest The share of the plant is forest is highest in asia reaching about 20 percent followed by europe again and north america But then there as already mentioned there are trees also outside of forests On the what we call other land with tree cover these are these are areas where The trees Meet the biophysical definition of forests, but not the land use definition So these are lands that are predominantly of other land use than forest agricultural urban for example and The global here we can see the global area of the other land with tree cover which is reaching Uh In the agroforestry category around 45 million hectares Um, but the problem with that category is that the reporting is not complete Uh for all of those categories we just saw the reporting is being done By less than 100 countries and territories globally whereas the total number Of countries and territories is two hundred thirty six Because of that Partially and also to produce some other additional information FAO has conducted a global remote sensing survey during the last years This was done in very close collaboration with the national experts and it involved training of more than 800 experts from 126 countries and territories and according to this assessment The other land with tree cover can actually be much larger than what was On the basis of the fraa reporting This is something that we need to look into very carefully in the coming years. And uh, in fact It seems that we will be requested to conduct a global survey On on agroforestry that will Produce more information about this variable But the difference between the two assessment is quite significant as you can see from here Only in Africa we are talking about 100 million hectares of trees in sorry 400 million hectares of trees outside of On other land So the key messages are About seven percent of the global forests forest area is planted The area of forest uh, planted forest has increased by 72 percent since 1990 And it has been partially compensating the loss of natural forest in terms of global forest area chains Asia has the largest area of planted forest 135 million hectares And the largest share of planted forest of total forest area And finally as just said information on other land with tree cover is much more uncertain Because of the small number of countries that are reporting on this variable And the results from the raw remote sensing survey suggests that the area Can be actually much larger than what we have Analyzed on the basis of the country reporting Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for your attendance And back to back to thais Thank you very much ansi. This was very informative I think very important for the discussions we're going to have today I don't know about you, but I have fra as my bible and I have a lot of fun going through the fra platform So I recommend you do it So We learned from ansi the main trends on planted forest What is happening with three outside forests? How the fra remote survey remote sensing survey Is giving us more details on where we should explore And and understand more what's happening in the field not only with the planted forest But also with trees outside forest So I would like to close this part of our side event Thank you Evold ansi has already left. He's quick And I'd like to invite you to thank you To have uh, uh, we're going to have a video now Um that will tell us a little bit more about the challenge we are facing Maybe do please A growing population means more buildings to fit everyone By 2030 we will have to house an additional three billion people The problem is that a lot of the building materials we use just aren't good enough for the planet This is where wood from sustainably managed forests comes in Thanks to innovation wood is a modern strong renewable alternative With wood we can build faster tread lighter and create homes that don't cost us the earth Choose sustainable wood for people and the planet I hope you have enjoyed the video. Um, I'm not sure if you followed the FAO Media communication efforts during the international day of forests This year the international day at forest was on the stg-12 responsible consumption and production And we had we released a series of videos and the other media products In the role of wood To put us to achieve Carbon neutral economies. So this was one of our videos on to choosing sustainable wood For the planet Uh, I would like now to invite Our colleagues who are going to participate of our panel I think everyone is ready. So I would like to invite, uh, ross rampton chief executive officer australian forest products association Australia and chairperson of the advisory committee on forest-based industries. Welcome ross Good morning Mr. Tom. Okay. Hello obon Executive director of the Uganda national forest authority Thank you Good morning Uh, mr. Cristofo hatsu director european institute of planted forest And lead of the euphoric task force resident planted forest serving society and bioeconomy Good morning, Cristof Mr. Luis navi silva From the new generation is the leader of the new generation plantations of the wwf international Mr. Martin vey the chairperson of the international Of the IPC the international Um pop the international commission on poplars and other first growing trees sustaining people and the environment And Mr. Julian noelle Raco torresoa Forest and landscape restoration and african restoration initiative a of our 100 focal point Ministry of environment and sustainable development in medicska our speakers today Will tell us more about how they see the trends What is the science guiding planted forest and how we can tackle our environmental and socio-economic objectives through planted forests Let me first welcome Mr. Cristofo hatsu I would like to ask Cristof What can science bring to address the growing needs for wood and on wood forest products? Can you tell us more about the recent scientific developments and avenues that in your opinion need consideration? How to facilitate the uptake of promising practice Stuff, please. Thank you for giving me the floor Um, so we try to answer the three questions. The first one is about What science bring to address the increasing demand? We had a recently a workshop last week on thursday and friday on mixed plantation Mixed plantation are interesting because we can have some kind of over yielding mixing two species and also increase resilience But this is quite challenging. There is a lot of research needed still on that Um science also provides a more accurate monitoring information. We have a remote sensing iot Artificial intelligences many tools that help us to know and better qualify the resource we have where it is What we can use for industry Um, we have also improved material. There is a lot of progress done Uh on genetics project ended Last month that is called before rest showed that We we can now have materials that grow faster, but also that is more resilient resistant to drought resistant to insects um We have also, uh A good knowledge of adequation of the genetic resources and the sites so we can make precision silviculture We can say at the top of the hill. We can Select this material at the bottom of the hill. We can put that one in dry area. We can put this one Um, we have also an improved knowledge on management We have many models and planted forests are very convenient to do models because they are quite simple to Modelize so we can estimate the growth of in the future. We can estimate the effect of climate We can estimate the effect of pathogens. So we have many models that are of interest Um, so all these things are available because planted forests are Attractive and the simple to model and so there is a lot of science ongoing there What are the recent development of interest? perhaps the first result of interest is coming from social science uh, we see that um all the survey made With stakeholders with forest manager forest owners shows that there is an increasing demand of resilience and not only a Demand of increasing the yield and the productivity of planted forest All the stakeholders are very concerned by A global change emerging pest and disease drought fires um The economic science also is working on The new typology of planted forest and we see an emerging demand Of planted forest for carbon sequestration For biodiversity restoration And so this is many new business models that have to be addressed In planted forest as we select what we will plant the genetic component is a key and Um There is still a lot to do to explore the intraspecific variability Um When we face a problem, usually we seem to change our species But within a species within the distribution range of species There is many things to explore and there is a need to explore that more Especially to face the climate change adversity So there is a need for more international cooperation on genetics Um, and there is a need for more trials because Even if we have tools to quickly assess DNA of trees We we need to to stretch the trees outside the distribution area to see how they will react in the future I am coordinating a project called rainforests where we are doing that But there is many other Projects that should be started to to support this international science I have who has been also very active in supporting that 30 years ago on Douglas for for example Um, and then also there is a the need To work on the interaction with pathogens And the genetics so there are more and more works looking how sensitive are the trees to emerging pests and diseases What are the exotic pests and diseases that can come? There is sentinel plantations that are settled by the scientist and there is a need of international cooperation to to tackle this risk Of introduction of new disease and pests So how can we facilitate uptakes and facility and access to knowledge to to everybody? um This is kind of daily activity for my association and we try to set up a planted forest org The resource center where all the stakeholders will find information Um, I think we have to improve cooperation and leave political barriers to exchange genetic materials Because with global change we we need to be able to to use to make the most of all the genetic resources all over the world um There is an uncertainty on global challenge and we need f.r.o to to give us visibility of what will be the climate in 50 years And also f.r.o has done a huge work About treatment of wood in the past and we will need f.r.o also to to have a look at the container traffic that Import a lot of disease and pests and that's returned the forest and especially the forest we use for wood production And then also this is my last point We will organize next year Probably in africa and hopefully if we're able to do it with kenya colleagues in kenya the international congress on planted forest in 2023 in october or early november and you are more well than welcome to to attend this event To share knowledge with us so the call for papers and Save the date will come soon Thank you Thank you very much christoph and let me join the panelists. So we have an empty chair here Thank you very much christoph for telling us more about how research is supporting planting and of forests and trees And how to the dissemination of this work is taking place I would now like to invite mr. martin vey And I would like him to speak a little bit more about how fast growing trees contributes significantly to the provision of wood But not only wood other ecosystem services Can you tell more about the new mandate of the international commission on poplars and other first growing tree sustaining people? And the environment the IPC And how can it support the sustainable? production of wood And the non wood planted forest Thank you ties for this kind introduction. Let me start with saying What the IPC is in a very short form the IPC is a proven model for technical international technical cooperation in forestry It is a science policy implementation platform converting science-based solutions into practice. That is what we are going for and as you Already can see in the name Our focus is on fast growing trees. Let me say a few words about what are these fast growing trees? There are numbers in the literature telling that its forests growing with roughly more than 10 cubic meter annual increment per year But those of you who are in forestry are fully aware of that those numbers will be achieved by any Even conventional forest species, but and that's an important But you would have to wait several decades until you achieve these high annual increments And this is the main difference of these so-called fast growing trees That those are often in an ecological sense early successional species that achieve these high Annual increments already after five or ten years And as you easily can imagine that means That you can achieve very high land use efficiencies by using those fast growing trees if you imagine you replace Or you harvest those trees after 10 or 20 years depending on in what climate you are and Rotating the system all the time and this is also Reflected by this kind of interesting figures that we have already heard this morning That only three percent of the forest area are covered by these Um intensely managed planted forests But on the other hand one third of the roundwood production in the world is coming from these plantations Which is quite interesting And these fast growing trees, um, they can be grown either in traditional silvicultural systems Or also in short so-called short rotation forest tree or we can also use them in agroforestry systems and um We have within the IPC We are working in several working parties and focusing for example on genetic resources or production systems or ecological or ecosystem services And so on and we are working I have a lot of experience on Especially um poplars and willows because that was where the um species that we have been working with Traditionally, so we have been looking into Production capacities management systems Recently we have been looking into carbon accumulation both above ground and below ground and the different carbon fractions I am one PhD student working with And we have also we are also looking into different value chains of these forests or these trees and um using them not only as a for energy production in traditional heat power plants But also for ethanol production biogas production and I have um if I'm One member of my research group under the adela who is also the chair of the swedish national poplar commission She is has now in a pilot project I've been working on Using poplars for textile So there are lots of different possibilities how these fast growing trees can be used And this is the basis where we within the IPC Are coming from and in addition because of this very fast growth rate all the ecological processes are kind of accelerated So these systems are really fantastic model systems to test Also ecological theory for example on biodiversity ecosystem functioning. So we use our willow plantations to test those hypothesis in a big global framework of tree diversity experiments Where we can in our fast growing trees test these hypothesis much faster than the colleagues working with other kinds of tree species And now to the broader mandate of the IPC that Includes or implies now that we can include more Species but not only more species but also different Geography's and we are for example interested to work much more with colleagues in Africa and also Asia And just to give you an example this jacket is made of bamboo and This is one of those species that we could now include Also in our further work, although one can of course discuss whether this is a tree or a grass But still this is this kind of We have own experience already in the IPC. I have been working with bamboo in Africa So it's not only in Asia also in Africa And so we have probably a lot of sleeping Uh competence even within the IPC to work together with colleagues in all parts of the world to really Make this broadened mandate of the IPC Making a living thing and the second thing We believe that we will his broadened mandate that really can also align our Work much more with the overall Fio goals of the other 2030 agenda you indicate on family farming or the un decade on ecosystem restoration And finally I would therefore like to invite those countries Who so far have not been Too much interested in our work because we Naturally, I mean we have been we had reduced our work to pop plus and willows But now after this broadened mandate We can already see that we have received much more interest from colleagues for example from Madagascar and from Uganda who have joined our business meetings And we hope that this will in the end lead to that we get more members And that more people are interested in joining us and the IPC secretariat will Certainly help you to understand and Perform the membership procedures and how they work Thank you very much Thank you very much Martin. Thank you very much for explaining the context that we are in terms of science and what IPC is doing to advance planted forests to advance fast-growing species and I Reinforce Martin's invitation for those who are not yet Part of the IPC but want to know more about this work and want to engage with the commission. Please Call us, you know, we can have also more information our colleague first things over that also can support you because The work of IPC is critical For us to advance on the agenda 2030 in particular on the contributions from planted forests on fast-growing planted forests so With that, I would like to move to policy now. We spoke about science. So now let's speak a little bit more about policy and what countries are doing. I would like to welcome Mr. Tom O'Kello Obong Tom, Uganda has now a significant expansion in the area of planted forests in the past 15-20 years Is small and Is small and medium three growers own most of these planted forests with a direct impact in terms of job creation With more than 12,000 jobs created so far So what were the success Factors for this change the question which has just been put to me and I will start by saying that in Uganda the area under planted forest increased by over 100% from 2004 to date Where it increased from around 54,000 hectares to over 110,000 hectares And these are areas which are planted in government owned forest reserves But planted by the private sector by the small and medium players that the moderator have talked about To date we estimate that the available round wood has also increased from around 200,000 cubic meters in 2019 And will reach about 800,000 cubic meters by next year The country is therefore shifting to a condition of an oversupply of the wood product in the market and this will call for increased investment in milling value addition and market development We need support and partnerships to carry out assessment of the other many small to medium Plantations which have been established on private land I think in the presentation which we have seen on other planted forest Most of it is unknown and even this is true in my country where we have considerable amount of forest planted by individuals in their households in their farm holds And we have no done assessment of these plantations What did we do differently? The government from around 2004 introduced a private sector commercial tree planting program which allowed individuals companies groups to plant trees in government forest reserves on long term lease or what we call line sessing of up to 50 years And at that time 200,000 hectares of forest land was earmarked. This was mainly the grasslands and then the bushlands were earmarked for plantation establishment The objective for providing this land was to provide alternative source of forest products to release pressure on the natural forest and also to provide raw materials for wood value chain development and also improve the livelihoods and income of the tree farmers and the local communities but also to contribute to economic development This program is in line with the government national forest policy which aims at having an integrated forest sector which achieves sustainable increase in the economic, social and environmental benefits from forests and trees by all the people of Uganda especially the poor and the vulnerable It is also in line with the national development aspirations of increasing forest cover and also the vision 2040 which aims to restore forest cover up to around 24% the level we had in 1990 The government with funding from the government of Norway initially but later on with the substantial funding from the European Union implemented what we call the solar production grant scheme and and this scheme started in 2004 in three phases 2004 to 9 2009 to 13 and then 16 to 21 which ended just last year and this scheme was the biggest catalyst for the private sector to plant trees in forest reserve and to establish plantations Due to the long-term repairment period for forest investment many private investors do not want to venture into commercial forestry It is also important to note that phase three of this solar production grant scheme was implemented by the food and agricultural organization with the overall aim to increase rural income through commercial tree planting by private sector actors and also local communities in Uganda It also at the same time helped to mitigate climate change effects through intensive afforestation The three phases attracted substantial investment and contributed up to around 70,000 hectares of plantation forest and also additionally it also targeted small communities and then institutions where total of about 7,500 hectares was also planted This grant scheme also helped build capacity for seed collection necessary establishments and production of seedlings and also for planting and caring for the planted trees So the other thing which government did around 2016 was to design a project which was called the firm income enhancement and forest conservation project This was mainly geared towards improving the household incomes and also food security but also ensuring that the communities becomes resilient and also improve on their natural management natural resource management capability especially on management of fragile ecosystems and the watershed This project has also contributed over 9.2 million seedlings which was planted distributed to the communities and planted And the government also implemented the community tree planting program where over 100 million seedlings were raised and distributed to the farmers in five years and this was given free and mainly this was targeting indigenous species to try to protect what we were losing from the natural forest And as a follow-up to the national community tree planting program we are now implementing a mass tree planting program which is called named running out of trees campaign which is roots and we intend to be planting 40 million trees every year for the next five years This one started last year also and you are welcome to join us and support this program The right of ownership of the planted trees I think also contributed to people planting trees because in the law, in the policy, trees belong to the people So if you have trees on your farmland it is your property and it is an incentive for people to own even natural forests there are people who own small natural forests Yeah, so to conclude I'm saying that the improved quality of planting materials improved varieties and conditions which favours tree planting really contributed to the increase in the commercial plantations and these plantations offer opportunities for investments into wood-based industries including paper and pulp and panel products Thank you so much Thank you very much Don I know there is so much to tell about the Uganda case but thank you very much for showing us how policy could actually drive these advancing and planting forest but also how Uganda adopted a value chain approach to this planting of forests and trees and engage with communities So I would like to turn now to Mr Julien Noël Haakotoa-Rissoua I hope I am pronouncing it more or less correctly and Mr Julien Noël is going to speak in French I was told and I also was told that there is a bit of an issue with the translation we cannot get the translation to everyone so everyone is actually going to receive your message in English So we know that planted forests are established for a variety of management objectives well-managed forests can also deliver a suite of ecosystem services such as enhancing water quality, protecting soils or providing buffers against floods and extreme weather events Countries also identify planted forests as an option to restore degraded landscapes We are going now to hear from Mr Julien Noël from Madagascar What is the first sin role of planted forests to meet the pledge of 4 million hectares to be restored by 2030 Thank you Thank you for giving me the floor And I would like to speak French to add to the diversity of languages and I think that that is important to improve our exchanges It's a moment for wood energy with a strong Madagascar The interpreters just wait for him to make a pause and then come with the English Just a quick pause The demand for wood energy is very strong in Madagascar and it's growing along with the population growth in Madagascar The current needs are about 18 million cubic meters per year at the national level And according to estimates, only 4% of the wood supply comes from planted forests So 10 million cubic meters are coming from natural forests throughout the country As you mentioned, the forest plantations in Madagascar are already existing and the other ones are coming from a lot of ecosystem services Planted forests, those that exist and those that will be planted are providing very important ecosystem services in Madagascar Planted forests are an option to restore degraded landscapes Planted forests are very important to restore degraded ecosystems Planted forests also provide a buffer that protects the natural forest Therefore planted forests are necessary to meet the needs in terms of wood fuel and construction wood and wood for other purposes So coming back to planted forests and their role in restoring degraded ecosystems Madagascar has indeed committed to restoring 4 million hectares by 2030 This does not mean that Madagascar will be planting 4 million hectares But 4 million hectares will be returned to their natural function And the focus of the restoration is to maintain and improve the ecosystem services and this can be achieved through a mosaic approach to planting Starting from different biophysical and socio-economic parameters And these mosaic plantations are key in the approach to ecosystem restoration And they have a vital role to play in the sustainable management of ecosystems And the groups of functions that are being aimed at are protection of the soil, water and biomass And we have put together a guide for the different species to be used for the reforestation And this will make it possible to choose the right varieties for the different uses for soil, for fuel and the other purposes, choosing the right varieties for the different regions of the country And therefore much of our strategy depends on planting forests in the country It should also be noted that this approach to planting the different varieties of trees in the areas creates favorable conditions also for agricultural development And the second very important aspect of this strategy is the role that planted forests can play in protecting biodiversity and dealing with the impacts of climate change And planted forests are an essential strategy for the protection of the biodiversity of Madagascar and for the biodiversity of the world So far the need for wood and also the need for an increase in agricultural land has led to a loss of biodiversity And planting forests can mean creating buffered zones that can reduce the pressure on the natural forest and protecting biodiversity in this way And biomass also has an important role to play in terms of carbon sequestration and therefore reducing this way the impact of climate change And speaking of planter forests of course one also must consider the needs in terms of wood fuel and wood for construction purposes The need for wood energy is growing substantially as I said at the very beginning And therefore reforestation is one of the major strategies that was decided on during the important conference held in Madagascar And so we're speaking of large scale reforestation in government land and also through private investment And there will also be other alternative sources of wood including short cycle wood and bamboo And in conclusion you have certainly understood that planted forests are necessary to achieve the many objectives of the government of Madagascar And a final word, Africa is often known for the big five, the major five fauna species In Madagascar we'd speak more of the small five And what is very sad is that the smallest primate in the world which is the microcepus Berte With a weight of about 30 grams that we can hold in our hands Has now been declared as being extinct by one of the greatest etologists of the world And this is also due to the lack of reforestation to produce the wood that is necessary for the needs of our country Thank you Thank you very much Julien Noël, merci It's a very interesting experience, a very interesting approach I think that you had a lot of elements here on how to implement but also how we can choose species according to the different objectives and restore the sustainable landscapes for their sustainability So without further delay I would like to turn to Ross Hampton Ross, yesterday we had the launch here of the Global Forest Industries Outlook 2050 And it revealed that the consumption of primary processed wood products could increase by 37% by 2050 compared to an increase of only 28% over the past 30 years Despite a lower population growth in the same period So what are the challenges and the opportunities that the industry will face to meet this future demand? What is the role of Planted Forest and this effort? Ross, please Thank you to our panelists for being fascinating and congratulations to all of you online and in the audience It's really great to be here, I'll tell you why, congratulations just in a moment The role I have here today really is the interface between Fowl and the private sector One of the secondary bodies for Fowl is the advisory for the sustainable forestry industry I'm the chair of that committee and we have a mandate to advise the Director-General on the sorts of things Thank you, I'm not sure how much you heard of that, so I'll start again I'm the current chair of the advisory committee on sustainable forest based industry So our mandate is to advise the DG of the best way to interface with the private sector And what I said at the very beginning is congratulations to those of you in the audience online and indeed in the auditorium Because although there's many wonderful events this week, World Forest Week, this is the main event This is the crucial event for us all You only have to observe what's happened in Pakistan, observe the heat waves in Europe We've got floods in Australia now wiping out communities and you'll recall we had terrible fires two or three years ago This is the overriding question of our age is how to deal with runaway climate change And so it's not an option to deal with planting more forests This is what you heard from Thiers and the team at FAO yesterday and indeed most of you I'm sure will have read Many of the reports from Potsdam, WWF and others that talk about the need to pivot rapidly To much much more fibre in our global consumption diet I mean we've only want to make three quick points Thiers and this is the first Henry didn't know it but he's going to be the model for my first point Because Martin's jacket is what we all have to be wearing The fashion industry is a 1.2 billion a year trade 10% of global emissions are coming out of fashion Thank you Martin for making a little inroads into fibre based clothing I said yesterday and you will have heard this some of you already that in construction as Potsdam keeps telling us Construction has to change rapidly to timber We've got in the next 20 to 30 years as much building is going to take place in the world As has taken place till now up to now from the beginning of time to now And you try to think about that if we don't turn that into a carbon sink Then we can forget about it And we're not even going to have time to talk about sustainable aviation fuels Or the pivot to plastics All of our fantastic global fibre and packaging companies are rapidly trying to Move into the plastics market to replace oil based petroleum based packaging But even so that's considered to keep growing to be the fifth largest emitting country They call it the plastic kingdom The fifth largest emitting country by volume 15% of emissions So I don't want to spend too long making the case because I think you all know it That we have to move fast into this area of getting fibre into the world diet Well that brings us to trees and there's no way This is my second point There's no way for us to get to that volume as report after report tells us Unless we embrace planted forests And I don't mean accept I mean embrace I mean fast track I mean move rapidly into planting far far more far more many trees The FAA report if I've read it correctly overnight to suggest 37 million hectares Just to keep pace with business as usual If we were to pivot dramatically into a global fibre based commodity diet This number would have to increase So it's not an option and I'd hate us in this room to think that it's somehow We can have either either planting forests or environmental plantings and land remediation plantings We're going to need to do both But often I find in my work internationally that the planted forests are coming third in those conversations Now my third point, last point moderator is that doesn't have to mean the same thing everywhere in the world In fact it very much won't mean the same thing everywhere in the world It's going to look very different in Uganda It's going to look different in Australia It's going to look different in Scotland where I've just come from Where they're doing a mixed sort of pattern of species, citrus, spruce I mean one area for the sawmills but then broadleaves in another area to add biodiversity and amenity It's all about climate mitigation though They're storing carbon, all of those trees whether they're for the sawmill And the harvested wood products or whether they're for the slower growing trees It's going to look different in Finland, got colleagues from Finland and fantastic video coming up It's going to look different in Canada and in Sweden and Brazil and New Zealand But it has to go forward rapidly and that's where the private sector comes in So the private sector is ready to create new generation investment platforms And we're seeing this around the world already So the platform of investment that might have produced the plantation or the planted forest that we see in Australia Which is monoculture, it's alongside our biodiversity forest So we want to keep the land use as tight as possible So we want to do small plantings of monoculture and we want to offset farming So we want our beef farmers to be carbon neutral by planting more trees like a crop That model probably isn't going to translate so well to Uganda or Mozambique Or indeed to other parts of the world I'm talking to Gabon quite a lot and I know they're doing a different model of growing sustainable forestry So we'll work with WWF, we'll work with fast growing trees, we'll work with FOW Private sector is ready to work with governments, with anyone To develop the right sort of investment vehicles that will suit the country And that will suit the different values and variables of that country as we've just heard from Mozambique But we need to do it, let's just, if I can end there moderator please Let's be in no, leave this room completely sure that not only do we have to do it, we have to do it fast Thank you Thank you very much Ross for this compelling message And indeed we need to move fast We have a climate urgency, we need to change the way we consume We need to change, you know, the percentage of fossil fuel in our lives And wood and forests have a very important role to play So we really need to move very fast And with that I turn to Mr. Luis Neves Beyond production and environmental considerations Social costs and benefits are an essential dimension in planted forests Can well manage inclusive and profitable plantations become a reality at scale What are the tools and approach enabling communities to take part in the decision making process? Luis Thank you very much Thais and it's a great pleasure to be here Well, in short, the answer is yes, it's possible On the initiative that I've been leading for the last 15 years Called New Generation Plantations We have been working with private sector, with local communities and local government agencies in many different geographies of the world What we did was to go through those landscapes to convene these multiple different types of stakeholders With different cultural backgrounds, orientation for productivity and profit from private sector Hearing from the different values of the indigenous and local communities And convene around the challenges that we are discussing here How can those local economies be developed in a way that they are really inclusive for all those different parties Where are the blockages and how to overcome those challenges This is never a task that is achieved in any moment It is a continuous work in progress because indeed that's also how nature works That's how landscapes they evolve and that's also how societies they evolve We are continuously resolving one issue and moving to the next one So the fundamental conclusion that we have taken from this already Long road in terms of interacting with many different landscapes Where the intensively managed plantations are being developed Is that it is fundamental to develop a landscape approach Which convenes all these different parties from the landscape That we are able to create effective participatory processes Which empower the local communities, enable them to be part of the discussions And the decision making processes And this needs to be done in a continuous way This needs to be done in long term and with stable source of finance That all the parties know exactly that this process is an honest process And will continue on that long run And this links very much also what we heard from Ross In terms of currently there is a huge effort to develop innovative financing mechanisms That address the multiple needs for us to move fast on this path of investment We need obviously to be able to make the large scale commercial funding That will enable the private sector to invest on achieving the numbers Which are extremely challenging everywhere But at the same time we need that those financing vehicles They also bring the other kind of finance that currently is not available Doesn't exist to address the environmental and the social aspects on those landscapes This is not commercial funding It's funding that needs to come from the revenues that we all take In terms of storing carbon in the landscapes Having wealthy ecosystems which don't allow us to hear stories like The species from those regions they keep to disappear And also to bring into the value chain those local groups That until now the economy hasn't been able to include them And this is an investment that needs to be taken inside the economy It can't continue to be an externality It needs to transform in an internality It needs to be a value that is recognized And we need to do this on a permanent basis And those are the innovative finance vehicles Which are being tested, are being developed And here I leave my words to those who are making this effort By taking the risks, it's the moment to take the risks Because the risks of not taking the action They are much greater at this stage So with this I think I've answered to the main question Thank you very much once more Thank you very much Luis This is a very important experience The one with the new generation plantations And all the work also to have the social aspects Taken into consideration when expanding industrial production So we are very close to our end time We're behind the schedule But I think we have the opportunity to have at least one question So anyone wants to ask our panellists I think everyone is already thinking of the next co-full session Well, sorry, yes please Can you please identify yourself? Hello, hello Yeah, my name is Augustine I'm the recently elected IFSA president of the International Forestry Student Association I'm from Chile And we have a big industry on rapid growing plantations But we have a big also resistance from the Not only the local community that live near the plantations But from the society that lives in the cities for example From ecological perspective, from biodiversity How do you think that we can overcome this And we can actually keep planting If most of the people that are linked to forests That aren't foresters Don't want us to keep planting more trees Thank you Are you directing the question to someone specific? No, anyone that would like to answer Maybe Ross? Yes, Christoph Yes, I don't know if you can hear me Yes, I think that science can contribute Because there is many levels And a wide diversity of plantations And there is some statement done by some NGOs that are wrong For example, biodiversity is not compatible with plantations It's not true For example, clear cut are demonstrated now And there is a meta-analysis coming out in a few weeks That demonstrates that we have as much biodiversity After clear cut or not after clear cut There is things to estimate There is impact on soil for example And nutrient export that have to be studied on site Because this is varying a lot from one site to the other We have seen the example also For biodiversity conservation and restoration We have many cases of plantations related to that And we have to explain that the reality of plantations Evidence-based from science is much more complex And that plantations can bring much more amenities That people think Of course it produces wood But it serves the society for many other aspects So science can help Thank you very much, Christoph I think Martin would like to compliment the answer Yeah, I can just add in more So that I am a plant ecologist myself So I think I understand very well what you are saying And I just would like to add that we must have really high ambitions Of what we are doing is also ecologically sound So that's why we need ecological studies That look into the effects on carbon accumulation Species diversity and to create plantations That are, for example, what we are seeing If we mix different species or so Can we at least maintain, for example, the biomass yields And is this something that industry also can live with Because they want to have homogeneous products So we have always to see the whole value chain So it is a challenge But we need to have very high ambitions Not only from the end user perspective But also from the ecological perspective And when we are with these high scientific ambitions Talking to the people, I think we should be able to convince them That this is something that is good for everybody Thank you Martin, Luis I think this is where the discussion starts to be interesting Because we have heard these arguments And I know the conflict is talking about And they don't hear these arguments, right? It's a very political conflict about the Mapuche people Reclaiming access to their ancestral lands So this is exactly where inclusiveness comes And the social dimension that overcomes And the technical, on the scientific aspects And that's really the complexity It's almost impossible to replicate solutions From one place to the other Because this is a very specific conflict Between the Mapuche people with, let's say, the Chilean state And because plantations is the large land Used in that region, it's caught in the middle of the conflict So I would say that the conflict is less About the specificities of plantations But very much related with access to land And the land rights Thank you, Luis, and thank you very much for your question I think this was a very good compliment To the discussions we had here today Just as a matter of curiosity When we were planning this side event We thought of the title Did mystify a planted forest And I think this address also The lack of awareness and the lack of understanding Sometimes with a lot of prejudice against a planted forest And we need to help to disseminate more What they really are, what are the possibilities And that there are very good practices to be disseminated I see Cecile, I just ask you to be very quick Because we're very short on time now Thank you I'm Cecile, I'm based in Cameroon And I'm working with 20 countries Women in 20 countries in Africa And we have come to an agreement That we need forest plantations But the problem with women in Africa Is that they don't own anything They don't have land to plant even those forests So how can you secure the tenure for the women To get involved in the forest plantations And not hear much about how they could link Plantation forest plantations And lovely development for those communities Thank you Thank you very much Cecile Who would like to take this one I can say something Thank you so much Cecile And thank you so much for your concern As an African lady True in many African societies Women don't own land And I think one of the ways We are going through that is Under the program in Uganda Where we are leasing We are licensing land for tree planting We also have at least reserve 5% For what we call under collaborative forest management Where we give the communities And for them they don't pay for the land fees The other private sector developers They don't pay for ground rent On annual basis But these communities don't pay for ground rent And when we are giving seedlings I did not give you the statistics You find we also have earmarked seedlings Which are for women group And even for the youth group So under that collaborative forest management We really encourage women groups To also plant their own trees In the government forest reserve Under that collaborative forest management They can plant their own trees And they can benefit from it But I really entirely agree with you That without the affirmative action Then the women would be left out Which is not good, thank you Yes, maybe quick Yes, very quick So good to see you Cecil And regarding the second part Of the question I think It's through the landscape Integration of the plantations Where we need to hear from The communities what they need In terms of livelihoods And it is perfectly possible to integrate The development of the plantation With the restoration of natural forest And establishment of agroforestry systems So depending then in terms of The structure of the landscape A good and well designed project Should incorporate these three dimensions Of the project Thank you Louise and thank you to all panelists If the moderator can say something Cecil in the publication Yesterday the forest industry Outlooked the 2050 There is a very Specific recommendation On addressing the Ownership structure This is fundamental for us To meet the needs of expanding Planted forests and expanding The wood production And the biomass production But also achieving the restoration needs So it's a very important question And with that I think that closing remarks Are Almost unnecessary In the sense that you have clearly seen The role of science The role of policy The role of working with the private sector And how actually The objectives converge So we have seen here Very different speakers From different regions Of the world From different professional backgrounds Different experience And we all I think Agree that Not only is needed to We need to expand planted forests Planted forests are critical For sustainable landscapes For meeting the Objectives of the one decade Of ecosystem restoration To meet the objectives Of Socio-economically Relicating rural poverty Allow us to transition To a carbon-neutral economy And sciences here And they have different options Modalities on the ways We can expand these planted forests They are working a lot On the dissemination We heard here about the networks We heard here about the work That the IPC is doing We also have very good examples On how countries are Actually taking the lead In implementing policies That can support These efforts that can really Support These restoration And socio-economic Benefits from planted forests And we have also heard How the private sector Is actually ready To tackle the challenge Including addressing The social issues So thank you very much For this very rich discussion Thank you to the participants Thank you for the questions And I wish you a very good rest of the day Thank you very much