A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on international forestry training between ITTO and the Chinese Academy of Forestry (CAF) was signed by Mr. Emmanuel Ze Meka, the Executive Director of ITTO and Prof. Zhang Shougong, the President of CAF on 11 May 2012 at the ITTO Secretariat.

Nearly 100 participants from around the world representing governments, international organizations, industry and NGOs gathered from May 15-17 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the ITTO-sponsored workshop on Tracking Technologies for Forest Governance.

Mangroves are highly productive, biodiversity-rich forest ecosystems adapted to survive in the harsh interface between land and sea. They provide resources such as timber, firewood, thatching materials and a wide range of other products, they serve as habitat for fisheries, and they help protect coastlines from tsunamis, storm surges and erosion. But they are under threat. An estimated 35 600 km² were lost between 1980 and 2005, and the annual rate of loss between 2000 and 2005 was 0.66%.

The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) and the Government of Japan signed a letter of understanding for funding of 278 million Japanese yen (USD 3.6 million) to implement a large capacity-building project to support five Congo Basin countries to provide training on sustainable forest management (SFM) and biodiversity.

The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) and the non-governmental organization BirdLife International signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on January 24, 2012 with the objective of enhancing cooperation and collaboration and to facilitate implementation of the two organizations’ respective work programs.