Switzerland's policy is guided by the goals of sustainable forest management (SFM). Switzerland wishes to share its own experience of SFM with other countries and to promote communication, especially on issues such as the impact of climate change on forests.
The aims of Switzerland's international forest policy are as follows:
- Creating favourable conditions for SFM: This necessitates a holistic view of the ecological, social and economic dimensions of forest ecosystems, which in turn requires Switzerland to facilitate an adequate, stable financial framework. The goal is that all economic and social groups with an interest in the wide variety of forest services should contribute to the financing of SFM.
- Establishing institutional and legal stability: No binding international regulations currently exist for forests.
Switzerland supports the closing of this gap. It also takes the view that forest institutions should be established at the global and regional level to provide central forums for multilateral forest policy. - Ensuring coherence at the international and national level: There is a need for coherence both within the forest regime and in relation to other policy sectors (e.g. climate, trade, biodiversity).
- Support for specific commitments to SFM: These are pursued at the multilateral and bilateral level.
- Sharing of experience: Switzerland's specific experience in SFM is to be fed proactively into international discussions. This includes decentralised, federative cooperation at the local, subnational and national level, or management of different forms of property, but also experience with preservation of the total forested area or near-natural forest management. At the same time, Switzerland is dependent on exchanges of information on new issues, such as the impacts of climate change on forests and the various services they provide.
Further information
Last modification 02.03.2023
