29
April 2003, Vienna
Thank
you, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to share with
this conference the progress being made by the 12 member
countries of the Montréal Process on “Criteria and Indicators
for the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Temperate
and Boreal Forests”. As many of you may know, the
Montréal Process has developed concurrently with the
Pan-European Process on criteria and indicators initiated
under the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of
Forests in Europe (MCPFE).
Launched
in 1994, the “Montréal Process” includes 12 countries
spanning the globe: Australia, Argentina, Canada, Chile,
China, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Russian Federation,
Uruguay and the United States of America. Together
these countries account for 90% of the world's temperate
and boreal forests, 60% of all forests and 45% of world
trade in forest products. Russia's contribution to
these statistics is of course shared with the Pan-European
Process since Russia – with both European and Asian
forests – is a member of both processes.
Like
the Pan-European process, members of the Montréal Process
are seeking to implement criteria and indicators to
guide forest monitoring, assessment and reporting and
to institute forest policies and practices that foster
progress toward sustainable forest management. To this
end, each of the 12 countries is now finalizing its
first ever Country Forest Report on sustainable
forest management using the 7 criteria and 67 indicators
adopted by Montréal Process countries in the Santiago
Declaration of 1995.
These
Country Forest Reports 2003 are designed for
policy makers and interested publics. The reports present
the state of and trends in forests at the national level
based on contemporary scientific understanding of forest
ecosystems and their values to society. All 12 reports
will be released at the XII World Forestry Congress
in September in Quebec City.
At
the 14th meeting of the Montréal Process Working Group
hosted by Uruguay in Montevideo earlier this month,
we also agreed to release a Montréal Process First
Forest Overview Report 2003. This Overview
Report will present sample data available from
all 12 countries for one indicator under each of the
seven Montréal Process criteria. These criteria, which
are very similar to the MCPFE criteria, are: (1) Biological
diversity, (2) productive capacity of forest ecosystems,
(3) forest health and vitality, (4) soil and water resources,
(5) forest contribution to the global carbon cycle,
(6) socio-economic benefits and (7) legal, institutional
and economic framework.
By
illustrating the data on indicators that can be found
in individual country reports, the Overview Report
will highlight for policy makers, other stakeholders
and the international community the progress and challenges
reflected in the Country Forest Reports. The
report will also outline a set of next steps for the
Montréal Process.
I
would now like to say a few words about what we have
learned in preparing our first Country Forest Reports
and where we go from here.
First,
the country reports reveal that all Montréal Process
countries have made progress in reporting forest information
since 1997 when countries prepared our First Approximation
Reports.
Second,
despite vast differences in our forest ecosystems, land
ownership patterns, economic development and government
structure, many countries show some similar trends over
the past few decades. These include decreased conversion
of forests to agriculture or urban land, increased regulation
or other actions to protect soil and water, and small
decreases in forest employment as a percent of overall
employment.
Third,
while the capacity to collect and report on indicators
varies greatly among countries, no country is able today
to report on all 67 indicators. This is because: (1)
The data has not been traditionally collected (e.g.,
non-wood forest products), (2) there is no scientific
agreement on how the data should be collected, creating
data gaps at sub-national levels (e.g., soil and water
conservation) or (3) there is little or no scientific
understanding of how to measure an indicator (e.g.,
forest fragmentation).
Fourth,
considerable improvement in the ability of countries
to report on forests using the Montréal Process criteria
and indicators is expected over the next five years.
In addition, we anticipate criteria and indicators
will be used increasingly as a framework for strategic
planning, expanding forest inventories, involving stakeholders
in sustainable forest management, and communicating
progress to policy makers at national and sub-national
levels. They may also provide a useful model for monitoring,
assessment and reporting on other natural resource conditions,
such as rangelands, mining and freshwater.
Finally,
member countries agree that the Montréal Process Working
Group has provided many benefits as an international
forum for collaboration, including catalyzing national
efforts and promoting a shared view about what constitutes
sustainable forest management and how to measure it.
The exchange of information and experience has enabled
our countries to identify common goals for implementing
criteria and indicators, consolidate technical know
how related to indicator measurement and data collection,
foster bilateral and regional cooperation among members,
and enhance national capacities to report on sustainable
forest management.
In
a sense, one era of the Montréal Process is coming to
a close and another is about to begin. With the completion
of the Country Forest Reports, we have demonstrated
that we can assess our forests using the Montréal Process
criteria and indicators. We have also developed a better
understanding of the challenges that remain. In future,
all 12 countries will be looking first and foremost
for ways to increase our capacity to report using criteria
and indicators and to better inform our policy makers.
To
launch this new era, Canada will host a Special “High
Level” Session of the Montréal Process Working Group
this September in conjunction with the XII World Forestry
Congress. At this Special Session, ministers, vice
ministers and other heads of delegation of the 12 Montréal
Process countries will officially launch the 2003
Country Forest Reports and Overview Report;
reaffirm their political commitment to the Montréal
Process and to using criteria and indicators to assess,
monitor and report on forests; and set the vision and
course for the Montréal Process Working Group for the
next five years.
We
consider this an exciting time for the Montréal Process.
We look forward to working closely with the MCPFE process,
ITTO and other criteria and indicators processes in
the coming months and years to increase global recognition
of the contribution of criteria and indicators to sustainable
forest management, as well as enhance international
cooperation to further develop, implement and use criteria
and indicators.
Ministers,
Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for your attention.
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