World Bank heads forest forum

The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that global forest-based employment provides approximately 47 million jobs–including both industrial and non-industrial forest harvesting and industrialized forest products manufacture–with more than 60 percent of those jobs in developing countries.

An unprecedented gathering of leaders from multinational forest product companies, international development and financial institutions, and prominent environmental organizations will focus on strategies to encourage investment in socially and environmentally sustainable forestry in developing and those with economies-in-transition.

The Forest Investment Forum is sponsored by the World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Forest Trends, Program on Forests (PROFOR), the World Bank, and the International Finance Corp. (IFC).

Private sector investment in the forest sector–both domestic and foreign–is on the rise, while development assistance and public funding are on a downward cycle.

In light of these trends in financial flows, the two-day forum will provide a unique opportunity for high-level discussion on actions to be taken to create enabling conditions for private sector investment in sustainable forestry projects in both developing and countries with economies in transition.

"The forum builds on the premise that sustainable management of natural forests and the protection of critical forest areas are mutually compatible and achievable goals, and that protection and productive use of forests must be pursued responsibly as complementary, not conflicting activities" says Ian Johnson, World Bank vice president for sustainable development.

Scheduled for October 22-23 at World Bank headquarters in Washington, DC, the forum will explore:

• potential for multilateral financial institutions to commit substantial investment in sustainable forest industries;

• actions that the World Bank Group and forum participants can take to create enabling conditions for private sector investment in sustainable forestry; and,

• a process for companies, financial institutions, and the conservation community to develop mutually-compatible environmental and social guidance for engagement in forestry projects.

Keynote speakers include World Bank Group president James Wolfensohn, World Business Council for Sustainable Development chief operating officer Odd Gullberg, and WWF international director General Claude Martin.

The forum marks a proactive stride toward implementing the World Bank’s October 2002 Forest Strategy, which charts a course for meeting three interdependent goals of poverty reduction, integration of forests into sustainable economic development, and the protection of local and global environmental services.