United Nations Forum on Forests

The United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) is a high-level intergovernmental policy forum. The forum includes all United Nations member states and permanent observers, the UNFF Secretariat, the Collaborative Partnership on Forests, Regional Organizations and Processes and Major Groups.
History.
In 1992, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, ("Earth Summit") held in Rio de Janeiro, adopted the "Non-legally Binding Authoritative Statement of Principles for a Global Consensus on the Management, Conservation and Sustainable Development of All Types of Forests" (Forest Principles) together with Agenda 21, which included a chapter (Chapter 11) on "Combating Deforestation".
Following the Earth Summit, the UN established the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF) and its successor, the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF), to implement the Forest Principles and Chapter 11 of Agenda 21. From 1995 to 2000, the IPF/IFF processes dealt with such issues as underlying causes of deforestation; traditional forest-related knowledge; international cooperation in financial assistance and technology transfer; development of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management; and trade and environment. The IPF/IFF processes resulted in a set of 270 proposals for action for the promotion of the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests.
In 2000, the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) established the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) with the main objective to promote "… the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests and to strengthen long-term political commitment to this end…" based on the Rio Declaration, the Forest Principles, Chapter 11 of Agenda 21 and the outcome of the IPF/IFF Processes and other key milestones of international forest policy...
Global objectives on forests.
In 2006, at its sixth session, UNFF agreed on four shared Global Objectives on Forests which seek to:
"United Nations Forest Instrument".
On December 17, 2007, the UN General Assembly adopted the Non-Legally Binding Instrument on All Types of Forests negotiated by the UNFF earlier that year. The purpose of this instrument is:
On December 22, 2015, the UN General Assembly renamed the instrument to the "United Nations Forest Instrument" though the content of the instrument did not change. The UN General Assembly also extended the objectives outlined in the global objectives to 2030, in line with the 2030 Agenda For Sustainable Development.
Collaborative Partnership on Forests.
The Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF), a grouping of 14 forest-related international organizations, institutions and convention secretariats, was established in April 2001, following the recommendation of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. The CPF works to support the work of the UNFF and its member countries and to foster increased cooperation and coordination on forests. Member organizations of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests include:
Wangari Maathai Forest Champion Award.
In 2012, the Collaborative Partnership on Forests launched the Wangari Maathai Forest Champion Award to honour the life and work of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai.
Winners include: