Chapter 9: Forestry
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9.7 Forests and Sustainable Development
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9.7.3 Implications of mitigation options on water, biodiversity and soil
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) aim at poverty reduction, and to improve health, education, gender equality, sanitation and environmental sustainability to promote Sustainable Development. Forest sector can significantly contribute to reducing poverty and improving livelihoods (providing access to forest products such as fuelwood, timber, and non timber products). Land degradation, access to water and food and human health remained at the centre of global attention under the debate on the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). A focus on five key thematic areas was proposed (Water, Energy, Health, Agriculture, and Biodiversity -WEHAB), driving attention to the fact that managing the natural resources like forest in a sustainable and integrated manner is essential for sustainable development. In this regard, to reverse the current trend in forest degradation as soon as possible, strategies need to be implemented that include targets adopted at national and, where appropriate, regional levels to protect ecosystems and to achieve integrated management of land, water and living resources associated to forest areas, while strengthening regional, national and local capacities.
Literature describing in detail the environmental impacts of different forest activities is still scarce and focuses mostly on planted forests. For these reasons, the discussion focuses more on plantations. It is important to underline that while benefits of climate change mitigation are global, co-benefits and costs tend to be local (OECD, 2002) and, in accordance, trade-offs have to be considered at local level. (...)
