Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the opportunity to share a brief statement on behalf of the Montréal Process Working Group on Criteria and Indicators
for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Temperate
and Boreal Forests.
The twelve Montréal Process members were pleased with the accreditation received this morning, and we look forward to continuing our cooperative work towards achieving our common vision, individually and collectively.
Canada hosted the 16th meeting of the Montréal Process
Working Group in Jasper in October 2004. The UNFF Secretariat, the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe, and IUCN participated.
This meeting followed on the successful 15th meeting, held on the margins of the World Forestry Congress in Québec City in September 2003, which many of you attended.
At that time, the Montréal Process Working Group launched its First Forest Overview Report 2003.
This report is the culmination of many years of collaborative work. Member countries also released their own first country reports based on the internationally agreed framework of criteria and indicators.
A year ago, a member country of the Montréal Process presented, to UNFF-4, the Québec City Declaration, on behalf of the Montréal Process Working Group on Criteria and Indicators for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Temperate and Boreal Forests.
The Montréal Process Working Group has made progress over the years it has worked together, in implementing and measuring the criteria and indicators.
We are continuing to work together for high level support and recognition for the work of the Montréal Process Working Group and member countries.
Our current project is to review our internationally-agreed framework of criteria and indicators, in order to enhance and validate them.
This work will proceed over the next year, until the Working Group will be hosted by Japan in February 2006 to review/approve a revised framework of indicators.
The Working Group wished to ensure that UNFF-5 is aware of our ongoing work. I note with appreciation the comments already made by Montréal Process member countries and I encourage other member countries to express their support for this, as we will continue to work together to implement and improve on the framework of criteria and indicators.
A side event is being held this Friday, May 20, in the ECOSOC Room, at which time we will share and discuss our work and appreciation.
You are all welcome to attend and discuss how we can, not only better our definition of sustainable forest management and our reporting capacity, but also how we can bring science to contribute more to our initiative and develop a more useful policy research tool that criteria and indicators should also be.
Thank you.
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