FRENCH-BRAZILIAN URBAN FORESTS COLLOQUIUM

Forests must be conserved, restored and managed as a fundamental component to urban quality of life.

Enclosing or inside urban areas, they conserve the biodiversity ensuring freshwater, climate stabilization, soil and slope protection, beautiful landscapes and significant spaces for leisure, culture and tourism.

Underscoring the discussions on “Urban Forests and the Dialogues with Nature” between Brazil and France, a Colloquium was held in Paris, Bagatelle Park, on October 11 through 13, 2005.

The 10 main recommendations of the Colloquium are:

1. To promote the multiple use of the Urban Forests to improve their integration in the citizens’ daily life as spaces of sociability, integration of man and nature and educational, cultural and citizenship development;

2. To recognize and disseminate the importance of the Urban Forests as special spaces for environmental education, leisure, neighborhood ecotourism, demonstration of sustainable development practice aiming the cultural and spiritual and development citizens’;

3. To recognize and highlight the role of Urban Forests to biodiversity conservation, freshwater sources, soil and slope protection, climatic comfort and landscape quality, among other different environmental services and activities which are essential to the cities’ life quality ;

4. Stimulate the recovery and the conservation of the forest remains inside or surrounding the cities, as well as, the urban expanding zones trough the creation of parks, territorial zoning andother legal conservation tools, increase of scientific research on biodiversity and social economy, and other mechanisms allowing for the integrity of these forest remains in a long term;

5. To increase the recuperation of degraded areas and the regeneration of the vegetation within urban areas, considering the species diversity and genetic variability, specially in hilly areas, river banks, and in unoccupied public areas, promoting, whenever possible, the connection of isolated forested areas trough ecological corridors, mosaics of protected areas and green belts surrounding the cities;

6. To develop and implement Urban Forests management systems aiming at the effective participation of local communities, users and governmental sectors, like in the case of the Brazilian and French Biosphere Reserves mangement systems and of other remarkable experiences within both countries;

7. To promote the inclusion of “Urban Forests” issues in the qualification processes of urban experts and different urban planning professionals, as well as in their management institutions’ action plans;

8. To encourage the direct participation of communities, civil society, scientific community and private sector in the conservation, environmental education and recovery of the cities' forests stimulating the creation of new private reserves, the production of didactic material, the subject inclusion in school curricula and other participation modalities;

9. To ensure the continuity of the dialogue between Brazil and France on this subject, intensifying the experience sharing, developing integrated projects and disseminating the importance of the Urban Forests in different international forums;

10. To propose the inclusion of the “Urban Forests” subject in the agenda of the next Conference of Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD-COP8), to be held on March 2006 in Curitiba, by means of expositions, visits and other activities.

Paris, October, 15th, 2005.