This event will bring together persons with Down Syndrome and their families, experts, and advocates to discuss the kinds of support systems needed to ensure that persons with Down Syndrome and their families are welcomed and supported in society.
I am delighted to offer best wishes for a happy Nowruz to all those
celebrating around the world – and to the many others who can benefit from this
rich cultural heritage.
Nowruz is an ancient tradition with modern relevance. Its spirit of
friendship, solidarity and respect for the natural environment resonates
powerfully with the values of the United Nations.
The hundreds of millions of people around the world who observe this holiday
represent a vast range of human experience. Their traditions are richly diverse,
producing a tapestry of cultural expressions and symbols.
The myriad Nowruz commemorations in our world share a common reverence for
the renewal that comes with the Spring Equinox. All people may draw inspiration
from this sense of fresh possibility.
Nowruz transcends national borders, religious divides and other differences
to unite communities with bonds of goodwill.
Such common purpose can help humanity rise to this moment in history.
We are now in the first year of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,
our vision for a life of dignity for all people. This is also the first year of
the historic Paris Agreement on climate change, which possesses enormous
potential to open a new future.
At the same time, conflict, discrimination and other violations of human
rights continue to take an immense toll. We must respond with compassionate
action that addresses immediate suffering while tackling root causes. With its
focus on good relations, environmental stewardship and lasting peace, Nowruz is
an occasion to strengthen our resolve to leave no one behind in our journey to a
better future.
Let us enable all people who celebrate Nowruz to celebrate with joy and
meaning – and let us spread its essential message of hope and renewal around the
world.
Every year, men and women in western, central and southern Asia, the
Caucasus, the Balkans and other regions come together to celebrate Nowruz, in a
festivity marking the new year and the arrival of spring. Inscribed on the
UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since
2009, Nowruz is an outstanding manifestation of how living cultural heritage
expresses the way we understand the world and the means by which we shape it for
the good of all.
This celebration brings together local traditions, accompanied by rituals
that vary from one community to another -- together they embody the shared human
aspiration to experience moments of togetherness, solidarity and joy,
representing a bridge from the past to the future, an annual commitment renewed
to rising generations. At a time when the living traditions of local communities
are under increasing pressure, Nowruz is as an invitation to strengthen the
roots of reconciliation and intercultural dialogue.
The rich variety of ways in which we celebrate the arrival of spring equinox
reminds us of the responsibility we share towards our planet. Nowruz carries a
message of renewal in a world of change, and leads us to reflect on the
imperative of humanity standing together to protect biodiversity and
eco-systems. As countries take forward the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development and Paris Climate Change Agreement, this has never been so
important.
On this International Day of Nowruz, I express my best wishes to everyone
celebrating, in the hope that we will all be inspired by this message of
solidarity and peace.
Inscribed in 2009 on the Representative List
of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity as a cultural tradition
observed by numerous peoples, Nowruz is an ancestral festivity marking the first
day of spring and the renewal of nature. It promotes values of peace and
solidarity between generations and within families as well as reconciliation and
neighbourliness, thus contributing to cultural diversity and friendship among
peoples and different communities.
Located in the dasht-i murghab, or "plain of the water bird," in southwestern Iran, Pasargadae was the first capital of the ancient Achaemenid Persian Empire (circa 540 BCE) and the last resting place of Cyrus the Great. Impressed with its ruins, German archaeologist Ernst Herzfeld (1879–1948) briefly surveyed the site for the first time in 1905. Having completed his PhD thesis on Pasargadae in 1907, he returned in 1923 and 1928 to conduct more extensive excavations.
Heart of an Empire: Herzfeld's Discovery of Pasargadae
The International Day of Forests is dedicated to raising
awareness of the importance of all types of forests and trees outside
forests. Some 1.6 billion people -- including more than 2,000
indigenous cultures -- depend on forests for food, fuel, shelter and
income. Three quarters of freshwater comes from forested catchments.
Forests prevent landslides and erosion and – in the case of mangrove
forests -- reduce loss of life and damage caused by tsunamis.
For these reasons, and more, forests are integral to the
post-2015 development agenda. Among their most important functions is
their role in building climate-resilient societies. That is why, in
this year of action for sustainable development, climate change is the
theme for the International Day of Forests.
Sustaining healthy forests and mitigating and adapting to
climate change are two sides of the same coin. Forests are the largest
storehouses of carbon after oceans. The carbon they store in their
biomass, soils and products is equivalent to about 10 per cent of
carbon emissions projected for the first half of this century. At the
same time, deforestation and land-use changes account for 17 per cent
of human-generated carbon dioxide emissions.
Forests are on the front lines of climate change. These
ecosystems, rich with biodiversity, are increasingly vulnerable to
changes in weather, temperature and rainfall patterns. It is
essential, therefore, that we work to preserve and sustainably manage
our forests.
Despite the ecological, economic and social value of forests,
global deforestation continues at an alarming rate – some 13 million
hectares of forest are destroyed annually. This is not sustainable
for people or the planet. However, there are some encouraging signs.
In the past decade, the rate of global deforestation has decreased by
almost 20 per cent, which indicates that solutions exist to reverse
this destructive trend.
To build a sustainable, climate-resilient future for all, we
must invest in our world's forests. That will take political
commitment at the highest levels, smart policies, effective law
enforcement, innovative partnerships and funding. On this
International Day of Forests, let us commit to reducing deforestation,
sustaining healthy forests and creating a climate-resilient future for
all.
Activities expected to take place on the 2015 International Day
include a special event at United Nations Headquarters, tree-planting
and other community-level events, and national celebrations including
art, photo and film as well as social media.
A special event for the International Day of Forests, entitled
“International Day of Forests: Create a Climate Smart Future” will be
held on 20 March 2015 at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 10
a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Chamber.
The event will be webcast live.
You can get involved by creating your own International Forest Day exhibit on the lead up to the Day by using the design material available and by using the hashtag #IntlForestDay on social media.
Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, Del. Baja
California, el departamento de Promotoría Forestal y Programa de Cultura
Forestal de la Comisión Nacional Forestal, Baja California
World Down
Syndrome Day “Right to Work” Conference United Nations Headquarters
Conference Room 4 New York - 21 March 2013, PROGRAM BOOK
The aim of the
Day is to raise awareness and increase the understanding about Down
syndrome, to promote the inherent rights and dignity of persons with
Down syndrome to enjoy full and dignified lives and to recognize the
worth and valuable contributions of people with Down syndrome (DS). The
Day also works to ensure the inclusion of people with Down syndrome in
every aspect of their community and society.
In November 1971, at the request of the European Confederation of
Agriculture, FAO'S member governments supported the annual observance of
21 March as World Forestry Day. Since then many nations have adopted
this practice. In schools and public buildings in Nigeria, World
Forestry Day posters appeared calling attention to "Our Forest
Heritage." In the United States, a presidential proclamation marked
World Forestry Day as part of a week of activities and ceremonies about
the role of the forest and forestry in every man's life. In Australia, a
national committee representing states, territories, universities and
timber producers launched a campaign which included distribution of free
booklets (Forests are forever; Forestry, the environmentally compatible industry)
and a 15-minute television film. In multilingual Switzerland, the
press, radio and television, encouraged and assisted by the information
services of the state forest service, described in French, German and
Italian the important role played by forests and forestry in the
economy, in the protection and conservation of the environment, and in
the mountain heritage and culture of the Swiss people.
Case Study : Forests in Finland , Forests in Vietnam
The need to explain
Forestry, more than other branches of agriculture, is an activity
which needs to be brought before the public, as is well noted in the
article entitled "Explaining forestry to forest users". But to make the
practices and benefits of forestry comprehensible to the public is not
as simple as it may at first seem. This is partly because of the long
time scale involved in forest management compared to the increasingly
rapid pace which modern man has come to accept as normal in so many
other activities. In some countries there is also a residue of public
suspicion of foresters as the "policemen of the woods" and this has to
be overcome.
Every forester appreciates and understands the value of the
forest as a source of raw material, as a provider of local employment
and national income, as the great sponge which gathers and releases
water, as the habitat for flora and fauna that otherwise would become
extinct, and as the environment and atmosphere in which man feels
uniquely at home with nature. If foresters and forest services talk in
plain language about that which they know best, people will listen,
understand and be with them.
Sir Frank Fraser Darling rightly says: "Man is weaned of the
forest, and yet the forest is still very much a part of us." This is at
the root of the concern of so many people today for the preservation of
forests and other natural environments.
We would like to know about the various kinds of World Forestry Day activities in different countries so as to better communicate ideas
among them. Those in charge of such activities should send samples of
their efforts - posters, booklets, press cuttings, photographs and films
- to unasylva.
FAO congratulates and supports the European Confederation of Agriculture in its efforts to promote World Forestry Day.
Shifting cultivation, the oldest system of farming still widely
practiced, is destroying forests, degrading land and causing erosion in
many parts of the world on a vast scale. There are an estimated 3.6
thousand million hectares currently under shifting cultivation
throughout the world and it is believed that some 250 million persons
live by it.
The situation is particularly serious in countries where there is
population pressure on the land, such as in the tropics of Asia. This
is a problem of historic importance in which food production and forest
management are the interlocked elements and, it is widely felt, the
foresters have the key.
As is shown in the article by Krit Samapuddhi of Thailand (page
20) and the report from the Philippines by Rifat Alwi (page 22),
agri-silvicultural methods - taungya and its variations-are
providing viable working alternatives to uncontrolled slash-and-burn
agriculture. In various ways agri-silviculture seeks to create harmony
between crop farming and tree farming. Both reports point out that
agri-silviculture is not easy and does not always work. Patient,
flexible, intelligent administrators with an understanding and sympathy
for the farmers of the forest, their traditions and their human needs,
are among the most important elements for the success of any system of
agri-silviculture.
Preventing forest destruction
At a time where there is an awareness throughout the world of the
serious imbalance between food production and distribution and
population increases, there should be much more research and practical
work on agri-silviculture for tropical countries. As foresters we should
also spread an awareness of the imbalance between the vast areas of the
tropics which are being devastated by unchecked slash-and-burn
cultivation and the relatively small areas where agri-silviculture is
being practiced, and in good part successfully practiced. The latter can
and should be greatly increased. Forest services in tropical countries
and university faculties specializing in tropical forestry should
concentrate more resources and efforts in these directions.
Are you looking for FAO documents on forestry?
You can locate them with the new two-volume
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY (Vol. 1)
and AUTHOR AND SUBJECT INDEX (Vol. 2)
Publications and documents for the period 1967-73 covering
forestry, forest industries, forestry education, administration,
environment, wildlife and related forestry subjects.
A total of 917 pages with 33350 index references
Price: US$10.00 £4.00 FF50.00
From these basic reference books you can order the actual publications and documents.
If out of print, FAO publications and documents are availabe on MICROFICHE
Size: 105 x 150 mm (Cosati Format A-6) up to 60 document pages on a card Price per microfiche: US$1.00 £0.40 FF5.00
Orders to be sent to FAO - Distribution and Sales Section, Via delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy
