Mr. Chair,
As current Chair for the Montréal Process Working Group on Criteria and Indicators
for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Temperate
and Boreal Forests, Japan would like to take this opportunity to share a brief statement on behalf of the Working Group.
For more than ten years, the member countries of the Montréal Process Working Group have collaborated to develop, measure and report on an internationally agreed framework of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management.
We are continuing to work together, and with others, to improve our framework and raise awareness of the work of the Montréal Process.
In this regard, the Working Group wishes to ensure that UNFF -6 is aware of ongoing efforts to review and revise the indicators in our criteria and indicators framework and we invite all interested parties to examine and comment on the draft revised indicators.
The goal of the Montréal Process indicator review is to enhance the relevance of the indicators to sustainable forest management and improve each member country's ability to report. The review process is designed to facilitate stakeholder input and take account of global trends in C&I development and international reporting.
At UNFF-5, the Working Group advised the Forum of our intention to review the indicators. We also hosted a side event to discuss with interested parties ways to improve the indicators, and enhance our reporting capacity, increase the contribution of science, and use C&I as a more efficient policy research tool.
Since UNFF-5, member countries have consulted with their domestic stakeholders and the Working Group's Technical Advisory Committee has organized two intensive meetings, one in Russia and the other in Chile, to review and revise the indicators among member countries. The draft revised indicators are now available.
The Working Group's Technical Advisory Committee is confident that the revised indicators address the values, issues and concerns of the forest communities in the member countries and that the revised indicators will improve reporting. But, we welcome the views of the international community and we invite interested parties to examine the draft revised indicators for themselves and let us know if they feel there are omissions or areas that require a second look.
Paper copies of the revised indicators are available on the side tables at this forum and Mr. Simon Bridge of the Technical Advisory Committee will be available to speak with any interested party on Monday, February 13 and Tuesday, February 14. Mr. Bridge can be found at Canada's seat, here in the forum, on the
13th and 14th
during the lunch break, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. and is available throughout these two days for individual meetings. I encourage interested parties to contact him.
In March, the Technical Advisory Committee will finalize its recommended set of indicators, carefully considering all input received. In July 2006, the Working Group will meet in Sapporo, Japan, to approve the recommended revised indicators.
I would also like to note that the Montréal Process Working Group is working with ITTO, the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe (MCPFE), FAO, and others working with indicators to develop an inter-C&I Process Workshop. This event is being planned for June 2006, hosted by the MCPFE in Poland. When the organizers are prepared, I am sure you will all hear more about this workshop. It will be a wonderful example of the spirit of collaboration among the international C&I Processes.
Thank you.
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