Ms. Lina Pohl Alfaro, FAO Representative in Mexico.

Ambassador Dennis Thokozani Dlomo held a meeting with H.E. Ms. Lina Pohl Alfaro, FAO Representative in Mexico.
The accompanying South African delegation consisted of Officers Selai Khuele and Alexander Newell.

FAO has a regional office for Africa. Africa’s forests offer an enormous opportunity not only for prosperity, but also as a tool to help combat climate change and hunger and build the continent’s resilience to future crises.

Forests are vital as hosts for biodiversity, as carbon sinks and as sources of livelihoods for local communities.
But forests in Africa are under enormous pressure as economic demand drives deforestation and other unsustainable practices.
Meeting this demand must not be at the expense of ecosystems, but must be sustainable through increased efficiency, restoration, reforestation and afforestation on degraded lands.
A sustainable, carbon-neutral and circular bioeconomy can be built through sustainable timber and non-timber forest products.
Countries already embracing this emerging concept include Ethiopia, Ghana, Namibia, Uganda and South Africa.