Rio+20; The Landscape: Transformative Action through Cross-Sectoral Coordination

Lead organizer: United Nations Forum on Forests Secretariat (UNFFS) on behalf of Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) 

Co-organizers: Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF): Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO), Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Secretariat of the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), The World Bank, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

Around the world there are extraordinary examples of integrated sustainable land management approaches that have improved the livelihoods of millions of people; from the transformation of the Loess Plateau in China to the hillside restoration across Rwanda. These are called a landscape approach, which incorporates economic, social and environmental actions required to achieve sustainability. 

Global leaders have not emphasized and operationalized enough the value of local wisdom, global expertise and the transformative power that emerges when sustainable economic growth and food systems are combined.

Food security is one illustration of the critical need for cross-sectoral approaches to economic development. We cannot feed people without protecting forests or protect forests without feeding people. We cannot sustainably grow our economies without valuing our environment. We must bridge the gaps between agriculture, forests, water, land and energy, and between rhetoric and action. The event will focus on two sectors: agriculture and forests.