Forests have been at the heart of intense international debate for the last five years since the Rio Summit.
Forests provide habitats to about two-thirds of all species on Earth.
The challenge for the future will be to find efficient and cost-effective means of conserving and protecting, on a sustainable basis, this vulnerable natural resource for coming generations and to assist countries to add value to the products which are being extracted from forests and from which the lives of millions of forest inhabitants and others depend in both developed and developing countries while also ensuring that important natural habitats are not exploited. The Congress will provide an opportunity for the forestry sector to provide a technical response and to identify actions at the global, regional and national levels to ensure that the forestry sector is oriented on the path to sustainable development well into the third millenium. Forty-three technical sessions of the Congress, lasting from 90 minutes to six hours each, will be held in parallel in four different auditoriums. Among the special programmes, there will be satellite meetings on community forestry, on combatting desertification, and on special mediterranean concerns. There will also be two special plenary sessions devoted to the question of Youth in forestry and Women in forestry .