Pretoria - South Africa is determined to be part of the global response to the challenges relating to forest conservation, says Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.
He was addressing the 14th World Forestry Congress in Durban, on Monday.
The five-day congress brings together governments, non-profit organisations, forest industry and forest communities to seek consensus on important challenges facing forests and the world, from climate change to habitat loss and threats to rural livelihoods.
It is attended by local and international delegates, including African Union Commission Chair Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma and Director General of the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) Jose Graziano da Silva.
"We are confident this congress will help map the future of the forestry sector as a critical pillar of the sustainable development of our planet. South Africa is determined to be part of the global response to the global challenge of addressing the challenges that face all of us as human being, particularly in relation to how we can conserve our forests,” said Deputy President Ramaphosa.
The congress, which is an event of the FAO, is themed "Forestry and People, investing in Sustainable future”.
The thorny issue of food security is expected to take centre stage as many, especially for African countries as they have vast land not used for agriculture.
Forests have historically been the source of more than just wood as many communities still harvest a wide range of food products from the forest environment.
Dlamini Zuma said forests and woodlands covered 21 percent of Africa’s land surface.
She lamented the fact that ecosystems were being degraded and water security diminished at a more rapid rate in Africa than elsewhere.
Flora, fauna under threat
Flora and fauna in African forests were under threat, including iconic species such as rhinoceros and elephant. Making existing agricultural land more productive would ease the pressure on forests.
For his part, Da Silva said the world, as a whole, had been protecting forests better than before – including in Africa, where protected areas had increased faster over the past five years than ever in history.
With the current global population standing at about 7.1 billion people and some projections suggest that this number will grow to around 9.3 billion by 2050.
Deputy President Ramaphosa said the implication of this growth is that, collectively, the world has to produce 70% more food than they are currently producing.
The pressures of food security has also in many instances resulted in deforestation, he said.
“The real challenge will be to explore ways in which we are able to ensure the multi-use of land while ensuring the sustainable growth of our forestry assets.”
Deputy President Ramaphosa said the congress had a weighty and worthwhile agenda.
He appealed to delegates to help place forestry on the national agendas of all countries – for the sake of the earth‚ people‚ climate change and water security. – SAnews.gov.za
