Fifteenth Annual Meeting of MegaFlorestais:
The Evolution of Forest Management on the Path to 2030
The fifteenth meeting of MegaFlorestais was held in the state of Pará, in northcentral Brazil from August 19–22, 2024. The week’s activities were hosted by the Brazilian Forest Service, led by Director Garo Batmanian. The meeting began in Alter do Chão on Day I and a field trip to the Tapajós National Forest on Day II. The week included two nights traveling by riverboat on the Tapajós River with stops in the Coroca community on Day III and Casa do Saulo on Day IV. Forest agency leaders and resource advisors participated from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Nepal, Peru, Sweden, and the United States.
Topics discussed
- Top priorities of forest agencies around the world
- Global issues, forest product trends, and ecosystem market trends
- Challenges and opportunities for nature-based markets
- Socioeconomic initiatives led by communities in the Tapajós region
- The impact of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and Afro-descendent Peoples in accelerating forest conservation
- The importance of tenure rights to forest conservation
- Political transitions and other challenges
Field trip
On the second day of the MegaFlorestais meeting, the group left Alter do Chão for a two–hour drive to the Tapajós National Forest where we convened at the offices of COOMFLONA, a co–op composed of Indigenous Peoples and local communities who live within the National Forest and have the exclusive right to commercialize the timber and natural resources produced by the forest. There the group learned about their forest management plan and timber chain of custody, visited the carpentry workshop, and learned about the history and governance of the community-led cooperative.
Resources
- Agenda
- Synopsis in English (more languages coming soon)
- List of participants
- Speaker biographies
Presentations
- Sally Collins and Herman Sundqvist: Transforming Forest Management, Delivering Climate and Conservation Solutions
- Herman Sundqvist, Leslie Weldon, Solange Bandiaky-Badji, and Sally Collins: Overview and Reflections on the History and Impact of MegaFlorestais
- Garo Batmanian: Brazilian Forest Context and the Forest Service
- David Brand: Major Trends Affecting the Global Forestry Sector Outlook
- Solange Bandiaky-Badji: Tenure Rights in Forest Conservation: An Overview
- José Risonei Assis da Silva, Marquizanor dos Santos, and Vitor Alvez: Community Forest Management in the Tapajós National Forest