Topic 6: Non-legally Binding Instrument on Forests, International Arrangements on Forests, and National Forest Laws

Introduction

Many countries have realized that the functions of forests and the agreements addressing forests are dispersed over a great number of separate international instruments. Some functions receive much more attention than others; there was a lack of an integrated legal regime that would view forests in a holistic way, with due consideration to the full range of goods and services they provide. For example, the UNFF has identified at least 40 legally binding international instruments related to forests, of which six are protocols to framework conventions whilst another three are complementary stand-alone agreements to other framework conventions.

By end of 2005 there was a political will to start negotiations to come to a comprehensive multilateral forest agreement to fill in the gaps. Although from a juridical perspective this was possible and perhaps desirable, many countries felt that a conclusion of a legally binding convention was no guarantee that the commitments would be carried out because it still depended on political determination.