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Geneva Timber and Forest Discussion Papers
The objective of the Geneva Timber and Forest Discussion Papers is to make available to a wider audience work carried out, usually by national experts, in the course of UNECE/FAO activities.

Forecast of the Committee on Forests and the Forest Industry
This publication is the statistical supplement to the official statement by the Committee on Forests and the Forest Industry about the current and next year's forest products markets. The tables in the publication show detailed forest products production and trade forecasts by country for 2021 and 2022. The tables are generated based on official submission by more than 30 member States from Europe North America and Eastern Europe Caucasus and Central Asia. The tables presented cover roundwood (logs pulpwood and fuel wood) sawnwood (coniferous and non-coniferous) wood-based panels (plywood particle board OSB and fibreboard) pulp paper and wood pellets. The Committee also collects data on over 30 individual products for many countries in the UNECE region.

Covid-19 Impacts on the Forest Sector in Countries in the Western Balkans
This report summarizes the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the forest sector of countries in the Western Balkans (WB) (Albania Bosnia and Herzegovina Montenegro North Macedonia and Serbia) during the first three quarters of 2020. It focuses on production export import consumption prices and employment of the main wood products: roundwood sawnwood wood-based panels wooden furniture paper and paperboards. It also covers recovery measures implemented by Western Balkan governments. This report employs economic indicators for the period January-September 2020 alongside data from various sources such as official statistics international data bases (COMTRADE EUROSTAT FAO UNECE) domestic organizations as well as interviews with forest products companies of all sizes which were used for their views on the impact of COVID-19.

Guidelines on the Promotion of Green Jobs in Forestry
This publication is intended to assist stakeholders in the forestry sector to successfully navigate the transition to a forest sector that is fully engaged in the green economy. New and increasing opportunities for providing forest-based services and products growing business and revenue as well as creating jobs arise from this transition. Application of the guidelines will assist in ensuring that the forestry workforce is fit for purpose and forestry is able to attract workers in the 21st century’s labour market.

Forest Sector Workforce in the UNECE Region
This study provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of the forest sector workforce in the UNECE region. It analyzes working conditions and occupational safety and health as well as the economic and social contexts that have led to structural changes in the sector to the extent possible through statistical data available at the regional level.. It links the statistics to wider research conducted in a range of disciplines and contexts which shed light on the causes of and experiences with the changes in the sector and possible ways to make the forest sector more future-proof.

Trends in Green Jobs in the Forest Sector in the UNECE Region
This discussion paper includes a description of major transformation drivers of green jobs in the forest sector development a mapping of (i) existing and emerging green jobs in the sector; (ii) skill requirements and; (iii) education needs for forest professionals in the UNECE region.

Rovaniemi Action Plan for the Forest Sector in a Green Economy: Mid-Term Review
This publication is a mid-term review of actions that have been implemented and are in line with the Rovaniemi Action Plan (RAP). Stakeholders of the RAP provided input and the Joint Section also reviewed its own activities. This study also contains a general review of actions reported during 2017 and 2018 as well as information gathered through the previous voluntary updates on the status of the implementation by the member States in 2014 and 2015.

Forest Landscape Restoration in the Caucasus and Central Asia
This study focusing primarily on the period from the collapse of the Soviet Union until the present day identifies the key drivers of forest degradation and the potential for forest landscape restoration in the Caucasus and Central Asia. The study was undertaken to support the preparation of restoration pledges in the eight countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia in the run up to the Ministerial Roundtable on Forest Landscape Restoration and the Bonn Challenge in the Caucasus and Central Asia that took place in June 2018 in Astana Kazakhstan. At this Roundtable Armenia Georgia Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan and Uzbekistan committed to restore over 2.5 million ha of forest landscapes by 2030.

Guidelines for the Development of a Criteria and Indicator Set for Sustainable Forest Management
Criteria and indicators constitute an increasingly common policy tool to implement sustainable forest management (SFM) and to define clear priorities and targets. This should improve monitoring reporting and assessment of key aspects of SFM performance. These guidelines provide specific concepts definitions tools and reference materials to guide the development process of national criteria and indicator sets for SFM. These guidelines have been developed to support the project “Accountability Systems for Sustainable Forest Management in the Caucasus and Central Asia” which is implemented through the UNECE and FAO Forestry and Timber Section and funded through the UN Development Account. The guidelines and the methods described within are used and applied for the development of national criteria and indicator sets for sustainable forest management in Armenia Georgia Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The guidelines might be also relevant for other countries.

Green Jobs in the Forest Sector
The study Green Jobs in the Forest Sector provides an overview of existing Green Forest Jobs and identifies possible areas for future activities and jobs in the forest sector and may serve as starting point for further analysis and discussion on the future of Green Forest Jobs. It offers a framework for classifying Green Forest Jobs under seven thematic work areas outlined in the seven main sections of the study with a particular focus on major trends needs and challenges as well as opportunities and prospects for the forest sector. The findings suggest that to promote Green Jobs in the forest sector it is key to: (i) look at forest ecosystem services management as the frame for Green Forest Jobs; (ii) recognize the progress made in the development of Green Forest Jobs and to identify avenues for the future; (iii) enhance the public perception of jobs in the forest sector; (iv) revise existing curricula and develop new ones for catering to the needs of the sector to close the skills gaps; and (v) to facilitate an inclusive transition to green economy through training and support.

Measuring the Value of Forests in a Green Economy
This paper presents green economy related definitions and concepts and internationally developed assessment methods notably natural capital accounting approaches and in this way explore aligning forest sector approaches to those being used in wider contexts. It also proposes preliminary suggestions on how the forest sector’s contribution to a green economy could be measured.

ECE Committee on Forests and the Forest Industry and FAO European Forestry Commission
The ECE Timber Committee and the FAO European Forestry Commission emerged from the International Timber Conference held in 1947 as the key elements of the United Nations tasked with working on matters related to the forest sector in Europe. During their first 70 years of joint activity the Committee and the Commission have contributed to post war reconstruction to the expansion of the forest sector to meeting the major challenges of the sector and to promoting and monitoring sustainable forest management. This paper chronicles the history of the Committee and the Commission’s work in the context of the 2017 celebrations of the 70th anniversary of ECE and to mark the 70th anniversary of the fruitful cooperation of ECE and FAO on forests in the region.

The Forest Sector in the Green Economy
