The world’s forest ecosystems provide critical and diverse services and values to human society. As primary habitat for a wide range of species, forests support biodiversity maintenance and conservation.

The 2012 Study on Forest Financing expands and updates the 2008 study and provides a systematic and objective analysis of funding sources and gaps among and within thematic areas, geographic regions, country groups and individual countries, through a review of existing, emerging and evolving funding sources and mechanisms.

This policy brief suggests that financial resources expected to be allocated to forests for climate change programmes, including through REDD, should be mutually supportive of financing sustainable forest management.

Sustainable forest management is a comprehensive framework that includes all sustainable development aspects and has huge potential in strategies and actions to address climate change. What is required however, are actions which ensure that climate change and sustainable forest management policies and programmes are mutually supportive.

The global climate change agreement should include actions on deforestation and forest degradation within the wider context of sustainable forest management. Current funding for sustainable forests management is far short of what is needed. Th e funding should be provided from various public and private sources