ITTO co-hosted a discussion forum on “Forest Landscape Restoration: Enhancing more than carbon stocks” at Forest Day 6, convened during UNFCCC COP18 in Doha, Qatar. Over 150 people participated in the discussion on the important role of forest landscape restoration in contributing to ecosystem health, sustainable development, poverty alleviation and human rights, as well as carbon sequestration.

Twenty-three ITTO Fellowships totalling nearly $150,000 were awarded during the recently completed 48th Session of the International Tropical Timber Council (ITTC). Recipients were from 15 different countries and included 10 female Fellows.

The International Tropical Timber Council (ITTC) announced today at the closing of its Forty-eighth Session additional funding of US$9 million towards the sustainable management and trade of tropical forest resources, including $3.6 million for the implementation of activities from a new work program for 2013-14. Funding announced at the Session included $6 million in new pledges as well as those made earlier in 2012.

An agreement on the implementation of an ITTO project on REDD+ capacity building in the context of sustainable forest management was signed by the government of Myanmar and the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) on November 8th 2012.

The opening of the 48th International Tropical Timber Council (ITTC) Session on Monday November 5th was preceded by a symposium attended by visitors and delegations from over 50 countries on “Renewed Opportunities and Challenges for the Future of Tropical Forests” to commemorate the entry into force of the new International Tropical Timber Agreement (ITTA 2006).