International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) in collaboration with CIFOR -

Forest Day 2 brought together nearly 900 participants from a diverse range of forest stakeholders, academics and decision makers from around the world, to discuss key issues that link forests with climate change. Cross-cutting themes that were considered included: adaptation of forests to climate change; addressing forest degradation through sustainable forest management; capacity building for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD); and options for integrating REDD into the global climate regime.

Participants also attended a poster exhibition and around forty side events with themes including: REDD for rural development; indigenous and local community perspectives on forests and climate change; the business case for REDD mechanisms for biodiversity conservation and human wellbeing; REDD and peatland conservation and restoration; and improving global forest monitoring using accurate satellite imagery.

Frances Seymour, CIFOR, presented a summary of the key messages that emerged in the course of the day, drafted by a committee representing members of the CPF, to be forwarded to the UNFCCC Secretariat. Key messages included: that climate change adaptation and mitigation are linked, particularly in the context of forests; that it is important to involve women, the poor, and indigenous peoples in the design and operation of forest-related climate change policies; and that forests provide significant co-benefits beyond carbon storage. Differing views were expressed on whether and how these benefits should be monetized and included in a potential regime for REDD.

Download the summary

Download Forest Day Bulletin - summary report of Forest Day 2 event

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The second Forest Day event was held at the University of Adam Mickiewicz, in Poznań, Poland, on Saturday, 6 December 2008. It took place in parallel with the fourteenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 14) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate (UNFCCC) and the fourth Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP/MOP 4), held in Poland from 1–12 December 2008. It was convened in order to facilitate discussions on the potential to incorporate forests into climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies at both the
global and national level.

Forest Day 2 was co-hosted by the Centre for International Forest Research (CIFOR), the Government of Poland and the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF), a partnership of 14 forest-related international organizations, formed in 2000 to enhance cooperation on forest issues. CPF members include: the UN Forum on Forests, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, the International Tropical Timber Organization, the UN Development Programme, the Global Environment Facility, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, the UN Environmental Programme, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the World Conservation Union, the International Union of Forest Research Organizations, the World Bank, and the World Agroforestry Center.