Forests

United States National Interests

Forests are a critical ecological and economic resource in the United States and abroad. They are home to 70% of all land-living plants and animals and provide food, fuel, shelter, clean water, medicine and livelihood for people worldwide. They replenish the earth's atmosphere and provide fresh air by storing carbon and producing oxygen. Yet forests in many regions, especially in the tropics, continue to disappear at rapid rates due to population pressures, subsistence agriculture, unsound and illegal logging practices, large scale development projects, and national policies that distort markets and subsidize forest conversion to other land uses.

The United States has an enormous stake in addressing these problems globally. We are the largest producer, consumer and importer of wood and wood products, valued at $150 billion per year. Our growing pharmaceutical and food processing industries have vested interests in protecting source materials in tropical and other forests worldwide for new medicines, pharmaceuticals and food additives.

All countries must work together if we are to reverse deforestation trends and find practical ways to conserve and sustainably manage the world's forests for current and future generations. The State Department is working with other Federal agencies, the states, and US business, environmental and labor interests to promote this goal through global institutions and international negotiations, agreements and initiatives. Among these are the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), International Tropical Timber Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Montreal Process Working Group on Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management, and the Convention on Biological Diversity, as well as through bilateral agreements under the Tropical Forest Conservation Act of 1998. Our priorities include:

• Raising global awareness and facilitating actions to combat the significant problem of illegal logging, related illegal trade and corruption in the forest sector, which rob governments of needed revenues, destroy forest ecosystems, distort world timber markets through illegal product "dumping," and support costly regional conflicts.

• Improving the ability of all countries to improve forest management on the ground, including by implementing the proposals for action agreed by governments in the United Nations and by monitoring and assessing the state of their forests based on internationally recognized criteria and indicators and using the best information available geographic information system and remote sensing data.

• Attracting and building public-private partnerships designed to leverage private investment -- the greatest potential source of significant forest financing -- in the sustainable management of timber-producing forests worldwide.