11/2/2005
Annan Calls For Cooperation To Save Central Africa’s Forests

Forests play a vital role in fighting poverty and in promoting medicine and food security UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told Central African leaders this week. “Dense tropical rainforests, such as those found in Central Africa, provide an especially wide range of economic, social and environmental functions and services,” he said in a message to the second Central African summit on forest conservation and sustainable management in Brazzaville, Congo.

Stressing the central role of forests in efforts to eradicate poverty and to achieve sustainable development, he said they provided a livelihood for millions of people while their importance as watersheds and in absorbing carbon and helping to fight climate change was well known. Their capacity to retain water offers safeguards against flooding and erosion, and the genetic resources found in them are the basis for many advances in medicine and food security, he added.

“Only a balanced approach, such as that of sustainable forest management, will allow us to enjoy these and other benefits over the long term,” he added in the message, delivered by UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Klaus Toepfer. “Partnerships among the major stakeholders – including private companies and local communities, especially indigenous peoples – can contribute significantly.”