How to report on the role of forests in times of crises

A conversation with David Shukman and Malgorzata Buszko-Briggs

Powerful and accurate reporting is crucial to solving the climate and biodiversity crises. But in a time of fake news, how should journalists write about forests – and how can we break down barriers between experts and the media?

This free livestreamed on 28 April at 17:50 KST (UTC+9) / 10:50 CEST brings together former BBC Science editor David Shukman and FAO Senior Forestry Officer Malgorzata Buszko-Briggs to discuss reporting on forests to diverse audiences.

Find your time zone here.

This discussion is part of our online media seminar Building a green, healthy and resilient future with forests ahead of the XV World Forestry Congress.

It will be streamed via our YouTube channel as well as our Facebook and Twitter accounts.

 

David Shukman played a leading role in the BBC’s coverage of the environment with reports regularly featured on flagship TV and radio programmes and the BBC website for nearly twenty years. A pioneer of live broadcasting from remote locations from the Amazon rainforest to the Antarctic ice-sheet, David has won awards for highlighting global warming, deforestation and plastic pollution. Sir David Attenborough describes him as “a leader in raising awareness of climate change”. After a career in journalism lasting four decades and spanning more than 100 countries, David left the BBC after COP26 in November 2021 and is now working as a freelance journalist, speaker and consultant.

His recent TV documentary, Reporting from the Climate Frontlines, is available here: https://youtu.be/CrxtRJmjAPc.

Website: https://davidshukman.com/ 

 

Malgorzata (Margo) Buszko-Briggs is Senior Forestry Officer and Team Leader of the Forestry Division at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) as well as Secretary of the Committee on Forestry. Margo recently served as REDD+ Team Leader and led FAO’s global portfolio on REDD+. She also served as FAO’s representative to the Management Group of the United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (UN-REDD). With more than 20 years of international experience in a range of environmental areas, Margo has worked in Eastern Europe, Russia, Asia-Pacific and West Africa, and has been based in FAO’s Rome headquarters since 2011.

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UNCCD 15th session of the Conference of the Parties

The fifteenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) will take place in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, from 9 to 20 May 2022.

The COP15 theme, ‘Land. Life. Legacy: From scarcity to prosperity’, is a call to action to ensure land, the lifeline on this planet, continues to benefit present and future generations.  ​

COP15 will bring together leaders from governments, the private sector, civil society and other key stakeholders from around the world to drive progress in the future sustainable management of one of our most precious commodities: land. ​

Land is the bedrock of a healthy, productive society, and COP15 will explore links between land and other key sustainability issues. These issues will be discussed during the high-level segment on 9-10 May 2022, including a Heads of States Summit, high-level roundtables and interactive dialogue sessions, as well as numerous other special and side events. ​

COP 15 is a key moment in the fight against desertification, land degradation and drought. It will build on the findings of the second edition of the Global Land Outlook and offer a concrete response to the interconnected challenges of land degradation, climate change and biodiversity loss as we step into the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. ​

Drought, land restoration, and related enablers such as land rights, gender equality and youth empowerment are among the top items on the Conference agenda. Through its decisions adopted by UNCCD’s 197 Parties, COP15 is expected to galvanize sustainable solutions for land restoration and drought resilience, with a strong focus on future-proofing land use.​

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