Major Groups
From its inception, the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) has been very participatory in its outlook. The Forum’s resolutions and decision have recognized the vital role forest-related stakeholders play in the implementation of Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) of all types of forests. The participation of a wide range of these stakeholders is crucial to the achievement of SFM. For this reason, the Forum welcomes and encourages the active participation of forest-related stakeholders who within the context of the Forum are referred to as Major Groups, as identified in Chapter 23 of Agenda 21, in the Forum sessions and intersessional meetings.
The following Major Groups were identified in Agenda 21:
- Business and Industry
- Children and Youth
- Farmers
- Indigenous People
- Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs)
- Local Authorities
- Scientific and Technological Community
- Women
- Workers and Trade Unions
Major Groups related meetings
- UNFF Expert Group Meeting on the UNFF’s contribution to the 2030 Agenda, Involvement of Regional/Subregional Entities, and Involvement of Major Group and Other Stakeholders, 11-13 January 2023, Bangkok, Thailand
- Expert Meeting to review progress in implementation of the major groups workplans and input to the fourteenth session of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF14), 9-11 January 2019, Bangkok, Thailand
- Expert Meeting on Major Groups and other Relevant Stakeholders’ Contribution to the Implementation of UNSPF and 4POW, 20-21 November 2017, Nairobi, Kenya
- Expert meeting on Strengthening Major Groups and Other Stakeholders’ Engagement in the work of the International Arrangement on Forests, 5-6 October 2016, Ottawa, Canada
- Sustainable Forest Management: Designing the Vehicles for Securing the Means of Implementation, a Major Group Initiative in support of UNFF11, 2015 in Kathmandu, Nepal
- Lessons learnt from ten years of experience and the way forward post-2015, 2015 in Interlaken, Switzerland
- Crafting the Path for Forests to Contribute to Sustainable Development, a Major Group Initiative in support of UNFF10, 2013 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Applying Sustainable Forest Management to Poverty Reduction: Strengthening the Multi-Stakeholder Approach within the UNFF, a Major Group Initiative in support of UNFF9, 2010 in Accra, Ghana