UNFF20 – United Nations Forum on Forests (2025)

Prelims: Current events of national and international importance

Why in news?

Recently the 20^th session of the United Nations Forum on Forests was held at UN Headquarters, New York, from May 5 to 9, 2025.

• United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) - It is a functional body under the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
• Establish – 2000
• Objectives – To promote the management, conservation, and sustainable development of all types of forests.
• To strengthen long-term political commitment to forest-related goals globally.

United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating global economic, social, and environmental issues.

UNFF-20 Objectives

• To review progress toward the Global Forest Goals.
• To assess countries’ Voluntary National Contributions (VNCs) toward forest conservation.
• To promote discussions on forest financing, forest fires, certification, climate resilience, and ecosystem valuation.
• To integrate Country-Led Initiatives (CLIs) into global decision-making.

Country-Led Initiatives (CLIs) are voluntary initiatives hosted by individual UN member countries in support of the work of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF).

India on UNFF-20

 India now has 25.17% forest and tree cover of its total geographical area as per India State of Forest Report.

• Restoring Degraded Forest Landscapes - The event showcased India’s experience in integrated forest restoration through policy innovation, convergence of resources, community engagement, and use of technology for monitoring and evaluation.
• Valuing Forest Ecosystems - India called for ecosystem service valuation in national forest policy planning.

Ecosystem Service Valuation refers to the process of identifying, quantifying, and assigning economic, social, or environmental value to the benefits humans receive from ecosystems.

• India presented studies from Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, and tiger reserves.
• These studies quantified ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, water provisioning, and biodiversity conservation.

Reference

PIB| 20th Session of the United Nations Forum on Forests