International Forest Issues, FLEGT and Its Future Development

The main differences of current international forest issues focus on three themes, i.e. national sovereignty, traditional knowledge, and modern technology and fund. The position of developed countries is affected by their domestic voters’ decisions and forest resources. There are different opinions in developing countries according to different per capita GDP, richness of forest resources of the nations. Some developing countries may change their standpoints because of the inducements of developed countries. It is also related with the ability and understanding of negotiators. EU’s proposals for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) and Voluntary Partnership Agreement(VPA) voted down the possibility of reaching a consensus by nations under the United Nations frame, split up developing countries, and may cause the breakup of the United Nations Forest Forum after 2015. China should strengthen the think tank building and research on international forest issues, formulate strategy of international forest issues and put it into practice as soon as possible. We must embody our wisdom and benefit in participating international forest issues.