Put wood to work for sustainable development, says major conference

Action is needed to change negative public perceptions about wood use if deforestation is to be reversed worldwide and the Sustainable Development Goals achieved, according to participants at an international conference in February.

Working across Sectors to Halt Deforestation and Increase Forest Area – from Aspiration to Action, convened on 20–22 February 2018 by the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) in Rome, Italy, brought together more than 300 participants to explore ways of accelerating progress towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15.2 on halting deforestation by 2020 and Target 1.1 of the UN Strategic Plan for Forests 2017–2030, which calls for the reversal of forest loss and a 3% increase in forest area worldwide by 2030. ITTO is one of 14 members of the CPF.