 It's now my pleasure to call on Dr. Eduardo Rojas Briales, the Assistant Director General and Head of the Forestry Department at FAO. Today, he'll provide a welcome on behalf of our many co-hosts from the Collaborative Partnership on Forests, which he chairs. Eduardo. Honorable Ministers, Ambassadors, distinguished guests, and colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, good morning, everybody. On behalf of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests, I would like to welcome you all today to Forest Day 5. It's a great honor to have here with us the Minister, Tina German-Peterson, from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries of South Africa, whose, through her presence, conveys the South African government's strong commitment to the full success of Forest Day 5 and COP 17. I would like to thank her on behalf of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests members for her support to this event, as well as for the South African government's contribution to make this day possible. The Collaborative Partnership on Forests, which organized Forest Day 5, is a unique UN mechanism, enabling 14 UN agencies, organizations, global institutions, and key international research networks to join together to support the work of the UN Forum on Forests and ensure efficient coordination on forest-related matters. I would like to particularly recognize CIFOR, which takes the lead for the Collaborative Partnership on Forests in coordinating this important event. I would also like to give particular thanks to all of our partners and agencies and donors that make this event possible. Some weeks ago, we all were shocked by the sad news of the death of a unique African woman, Vangari Matai. She was the first African environmentalist to win the Nobel Peace Prize, which recognized her incommensurable efforts to re-green Africa and was an effective speaker about forest issues at many of our events around the globe. She spoke eloquently this February at the launch of the International Year of the Forest in the UN General Assembly on February the 2nd in New York. To recognize the achievement of this very special woman, the Collaborative Partnership on Forests is considering the establishment of a Vangari Matai Award for outstanding contributions to preserving our forests for future generations while meeting the needs of the present generation. The climate change agenda has moved forward in a stepwise approach. The Kyoto Protocol was a major step forward in raising the international community's attention to the threat of climate change but did not comprehensive address forest issues. Strong scientific evidence, as well as a collective effort of the international forestry community led by the Collaborative Partnership on Forests has made major contributions to identifying forests as a key element of any long-lasting solution to climate change. Unfortunately, the forestation is still a huge source of carbon emissions. But we know that this trend can be reversed based on examples in Europe, North America, the Near East, and Asia as the most recent data provided by F.O. and the Joint Research Center Remote Sensing Survey on Evolution of the Global Forest Cover between 1990 and 2005 have shown. Red Plus was identified as a mechanism to reduce deforestation and forest degradation while improving carbon stocks during the negotiations in Bali where CPF celebrated its first forest day. The Red Plus approach was designed by the climate change community to be a cost-effective mechanism for halting deforestation-related carbon emissions while the Plus added later demonstrated the potential for generating vital social and environmental co-benefits ranging from the provision of livelihoods to the maintenance of biodiversity, soil and water and landscape values. In order to better understand how to optimize these benefits, the CPF, under the leadership of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations, a CPF member, has just launched a major initiative to synthesize research fundings on the relationship between biodiversity, forest management, and Red Plus. But let me emphasize one issue. Red Plus should not be praised because of its low cost, but because it is robust and consistent with many other goals such as improving rural livelihoods or preserving biodiversity. This is why, despite huge difficulties to bring an inclusive climate change deal forward, progress on Red Plus was a major success of the previous conference of the parties held in Cancun, Mexico. Consensus around Red Plus has grown to extraordinary levels and it is a consensus that is now shared between countries and stakeholders. Forests are a long-lasting resource with very long cycles, which need a stable and reliable policy framework, including adequate financial sources like Red Plus, in order to save more the vast range of good and services they can provide. But we hope for a post-Keyota agreement that assures the full realization of Red Plus. Until now, the generous contributions of a few countries led by Norway has created a momentum for Red Plus to move forward and further substantive flows are expected. If negotiations continue to postpone decision on a future climate change agreement, that comprehensively addresses forest issues. However, it will be difficult to keep the financial flows dedicated to Red Plus and creating the enabling conditions for low carbon development path. No matter what choices are made, however, CPFs believe a tipping point has occurred that has shown the vast potential of forest, not only for carbon, but for all functions of life. This is going to be crucial when we move towards Rio Plus 20. Red Plus has been too narrowly linked to tropical rainforests. A broader focus is needed to include other types of forests, such as dryland forests. Drylands may yield modest accounts of carbon storage per hectare, but they hold a huge area suitable for forest restoration and exams, like the one provided by the global partnership on forest landscape restoration, can help rebuild forests in drylands while maximizing the delivery of forest ecosystem services. Drylands are also areas of high vulnerability to climate change that can benefit greatly from capturing synergies between adaptation and mitigation. For inclusive development, active investment that improves local livelihoods linked to Red Plus and to climate change adaptation is critical. Increased attention to the full range of land uses, including agriculture, agroforestry and forest restoration, is a welcome opportunity for taking current approaches to managing forested areas, especially in Africa. Food security is a challenge and one that must be addressed if we want to reverse the deforestation and forest degradation that has taken place in recent decades. And getting women more involved in improving forests is an important part of this process and is reinforced by Bangladesh's legacy. As you all know, the international year of the forest is drawing to a close. I would like to give particular recognition to the leadership of the UN Forum on Forest, which was the United Nations focal point for promoting the year. The year has been a successful one for raising awareness of the importance of forests and the ecosystem services they provide. The spirit of the year, forests for people will continue in our future work. As our world has become increasingly organized, our traditional rural roots emphasizing our connection to the environment have significantly eroded. Improved communication on forests and broad environmental issues is the only way to compensate for this growing social trend. From the very beginning of the year, the collaborative partnership on forest members have been working in a coordinated manner to spread key messages on various forest related themes by producing up to 20 CPF John thematic press releases, as well as organizing international events and engaging celebrities for increased visibility of forest issues. The partnership has also just selected a new logo with the aim to strengthen its corporate identity and visibility. Looking ahead, the forest community has a huge opportunity to influence decision makers at the upcoming Rio Plus 20s Air Summit next June in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The pathways moving towards inclusive green growth and low carbon economies will not just be about how we use and manage our forest, but decision makers need to recognize the major ways in which forests contribute to this transition nevertheless. Forests will help meet some of the essential components of a green economy and the challenge of food security and climate change while maintaining soil productivity, clean water, biodiversity, and supplying sustainable energy and biobytes products. In light of this, the collaborative punishment forest presented the document as part of the Rio Plus 20 process, highlighting the potential of forest to contribute to all these major challenges. The forest-based sustainability principle, or originally drafted in German as Nahal Dichkeit, will celebrate 300 years in 2030. The failures and successes of implementing the sustainable management of forests over such a long period of time may be a highly valuable contribution of the forest community, especially since it reinforced the need to understand the three pillars of sustainability in an integrated and complementary way. And don't forget, South Africa is hosting the next World Forest Congress here in Durban from the 7th to 11th September, 2015, which will be an excellent occasion to welcome you all again here. I would like to close by wishing all the delegates a successful under the South African leadership and you all a fruitful forest day. The collaborative punishment forest looks forward to hearing your views and contributions. Thank you very much for your attention.