European Tropical Forest Research Network

This edition of the ETFRN news was sponsored by the National Forest Programme Facility (Facility) and the Program on Forests (PROFOR).

The Facility, hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), assists countries in developing and implementing national forest programmes (nfps) that effectively address local needs and national priorities, and reflect internationally agreed principles, through the informed participation of all relevant stakeholders. Facility assistance focuses on capacity building and knowledge sharing on the implementation of nfps as instruments to:

• integrate sustainable forest management into poverty reduction strategies and other broad processes linked to other sectors;
• develop a consensus on how to address issues relevant to forests at the national level;
• translate commitments made at the international level into national forest policy and planning. For more information, please visit: http://www.nfp-facility.org/home/en/

PROFOR is a multi-donor partnership formed to pursue a shared goal of enhancing forests' contribution to poverty reduction, sustainable development and protection of environmental services. Through improved knowledge and approaches for sustainable forest management (SFM), PROFOR seeks to encourage the transition to a more socially and environmentally sustainable forest sector supported by sound policies and institutions that take a holistic approach to forest conservation and management. PROFOR is housed at the World Bank within the Sustainable Development Network (SDN). For more information, please see http://www.profor.info/.

I would like to thank James Mayers for all his work as guest editor, including the challenging task of bringing together the various bits and pieces of evidence on the essential role of forests in achieving the MDGs. Nicole Armitage and Erika van Duijl did a great job in editing the diverse and large number of contributions we received. I would also like to thank everyone who contributed to this edition. Finally, sincere gratitude to the staff and donors of both the Facility and PROFOR for supporting this issue. May it provide food for thought and discussion with people outside the forest sector.

Kindest regards,
Willemine Brinkman, ETFRN coordinator

ETFRN News is a publication of the European Tropical Forest Research Network and has a ciruculation of 4,000 copies. Texts may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes citing the source.