CIFOR Hosts International Discussion on Global Trends in Forest Management

Monday – Tuesday, 29 – 30 November 2004

Media Interviews 12:30 – 13:30, 29 November

Bogor, November 24, 2004 — A meeting of some of the world’s leading forests experts in Bogor will examine the new and emerging trends shaping the future of the world’s forests including those of Indonesia. Forests are not static entities nor is the science and technology that underpins their sustainable management and the role they play in reducing poverty.

The forests and their ability to create wealth for the poor are being shaped by events outside the forest sector such as agriculture, macro-economic policies, trade and health, demographic trends and market access. Issues come and go. Trends in forest management change as new science and technologies appear.

The relationship between forests and people also changes over time and with changing values. For research to be relevant and have impact it needs to be responsive to these environmental, economic and social trends and drivers.. CIFOR’s Mega-Trends forum will debate global and regional forest trends and drivers and raise though provoking question these ask and answer a range of key questions surrounding the latest developments in forest management:

  • What are the global and regional trends and main events shaping the forest sector?
  • To what extent are institutional and human capacities able to respond to these drivers? What types of new skills are required in forest research and administration?
  • Where are we up to in the ongoing debate of conserving forests versus using forests for livelihoods?
  • Are the rural poor getting compensated for guarding global biodiversity or is conserving biodiversity making them poorer?
  • What can be done to help resolve long-standing conflicts between conservation and development?
  • What are the global trends in paper and timber consumption and how will forests be affected?
  • What do we really know about the rate of deforestation around the globe?
    Is there a future for the world’s forests?

In what is expected to be a lively forum, these issues will be address by leading experts from around the world. One of the main outcomes is a better understanding of CIFOR’s external environment that is critical in setting and maintaining a strategic research agenda. The external voices will be in the form of six key note addresses coming from some of the foremost experts in their fields:

Suniata Narain is the Director of the Centre for Science and Environment. Highly regarded for her strong views on forests and people issues, Ms Narain is known throughout global forestry circles as a leading researcher, journalist and environmental advocate. She has co-edited publications on the environment and researched environmental governance and management in India and worked extensively on issues of rural resource management, particularly forest-people relationships. Ms Narain is also the publisher of the fortnightly newsmagazine, Down To Earth, a newsmagazine established in 1992 and widely considered as the best in the region.

Paulo Barreto started his career in 1990 as a research assistant evaluating the ecological impacts of conventional (unplanned) timber harvesting in the eastern Amazon. Later, he evaluated the costs and benefits of forest management for timber production in the same region. His current studies address a number of areas, including evaluating the enforcement of forestry legislation, and examining the design and implementation of public production forests. Mr Barreto has published several articles in major international scientific journals, book chapters and technical reports. He has undertaken consultancies with Brazil’s Ministry of Environment, Greenpeace, the World Bank, the UK’s Department for International Development, and the FAO.

Robert (“Bob”) T. Watson is the World Bank’s Chief Scientist and Senior Advisor for Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development, Co-chair of the Board of Directors of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and Co-chair of the International Scientific Assessment of Stratospheric Ozone. His former positions include Director of the World Bank’s Environment Department; Associate Director for Environment, White House, Washington DC; and Director and Chief Scientist with NASA’s Office of Mission to Planet Earth. Mr. Watson has received numerous awards for his outstanding work on environment and climate related issues, including global warming and biodiversity. His global experience includes participation on numerous international committees and chairing many distinguished global processes.

Don G. Roberts is the Managing Director, Global Investment Bank, CIBC World Markets Inc. As CIBC’s Senior Paper and Forest Products Research Analyst, Mr. Roberts collaborates with many international forestry organizations to gain a global perspective on the paper and forest products sector. At CIBC he leads a team of experts in advising pension and mutual funds and other institutions on paper and forest related investments. Mr. Roberts is ranked by institutional investor surveys as one of the top equity analysts covering the paper and forest products industry. Mr. Roberts is a former Chief of Industry and Trade Analysis for the Canadian Department of Forestry. He is also a frequent speaker at industry and investor conferences around the world.

Christian Samper is the Deputy Director Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and member of the Board of Trustees for the Center for International Forestry Research. The founder and Director General of the Alexander von Humboldt Institute, the national biodiversity research institute of Colombia, Mr Samper has played a key role in biodiversity conservation in Colombia, promoting scientific research in the nation’s conservation agenda and winning the country’s National Environment Prize in 2001. His reputation at the international level is as equally significant, with representation on a range of influential international committees and panels, including the Millenium Ecosystem Assesment Panel, the World Conservation Monitoring Centre, IUCN’s Species Survival Commission, and the Editorial Committee for the World Resources Report.

James Murombedzi is the Southern African Regional Director for IUCN (The World Conservation Union) based in Harare. Prior to joining IUCN Mr. Murombedzi was a Program Officer for the Ford Foundation where he oversaw the development and implementation of the Foundation’s initiative on securing land and resource rights for marginalized constituencies in southern Africa. Mr. Murombedzi’s background in forestry extends over 15 years of work as an academic, researcher, administrator and manager in the field of environment and development. He has served on international environment and natural resources management boards, including the Conservation and Development Forum and the International Association for the Study of Common Property, and has also served as an advisor to the Biodiversity Support Program.

Journalists are invited to use the lunch break to have a bite to eat and interview the above key speakers or other participants, 12:30 – 13:30. If you wish to arrange an interview in advance, discuss transport arrangements, or seek further information, please contact:

CIFOR Jl. CIFOR Sindang Barang, Bogor Barat Telp. 0251 622622

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