WRI Forest Governance and Policy Conference 2024

The Forest Governance and Policy annual conference (#FGP24), formerly known as Forest Legality Week, convenes in Washington DC during the week of April 29, 2024. 

The main panel sessions run from the afternoon of Tuesday April 30 until Thursday May 2. Side meetings and associated events will take place on Monday, Tuesday morning, Thursday afternoon, and Friday. An off-site reception will take place on Tuesday evening.

The event is focused on in-person participation but will include a livestream, with recordings of the main sessions posted on the WRI website after the conference. Simultaneous interpretation will be provided for panels with speakers presenting in French and Spanish. However, there will not be simultaneous interpretation available for the entire conference.

The agenda on the WRI event site will be updated and will include registration links for the livestream and in-person attendance.

For any inquiries, please contact Sophie Labaste at sophie.labaste@wri.org.

AGENDA

Tuesday, April 30th 2024

1:00 pm to 1:30: Opening remarks

• Craig Hanson, World Resources Institute

1:30 pm to 3:00 pm: Traceability and geolocation: emerging solutions – part 1 

• Moderator: Laura Vary, World Resources Institute
• Speakers TBC

3:30 pm to 5:00 pm: Traceability and geolocation: emerging solutions – part 2

• Moderator: Laura Vary, World Resources Institute
• Speakers TBC

Wednesday, May 1st 2024

9:00 am to 10:30 am: Independent forest monitoring: Comparing approaches across regions 

• Moderator: Achille Djeagou, World Resources Institute
• Fausto Mejias Zelaya, Monitoreo Forestal Independiente, Honduras
• Angeline Modjo, Forets et Developpement Rural (FODER), Cameroon (TBC)
• Mardi Minangsari, Kaoem Telapak, Indonesia (TBC)

11:00 am to 12:30 pm: Strategies for disrupting financial crime linked to forest crime

• Moderator: Yulia Stange, Nature Crime Alliance
• Lynn Schlingemann, Nature Crime Alliance 
• Scott Greytak, Transparency International 
• Julia Yansura, FACT Coalition 
• Other speakers TBC

1:30 pm to 3:00 pm: Use of early warning systems for monitoring forests and managing territories: Examples from indigenous peoples and local communities in the Amazon basin

• Moderator: TBC
• Jamer Lopez, Organizacion Regional AIDESEP-Ucayali (ORAU), Peru
• Adme Aspajo, Federacion de Comunidades Nativas del Medio Napu (FECONAMNCUA), Peru
• Samai Gualinga, Pueblo de Sarayaku, Ecuador

3:30 pm to 5:00 pm: Regional focus: Central America

• Moderator: TBD
• Jeremy Radochowsky, Wildlife Conservation Society
• Other speakers TBD

Thursday, May 2nd 2024

9:00 am to 10:30 am: Scientific verification of species and origin: update and outlook

• Moderator: Chip Barber, World Resources Institute
• Jade Saunders and Thomas Mortier, World Forest ID
• Other speakers TBD

11:00 am to 12:30 pm: Expanding the use of scientific testing in wood supply chains: Updates from Indonesia

• Moderator: TBD
• Dr. Iskandar Siregar, IPB University, Indonesia
• Dr. Fifi Gus Dwiyanti, IPB University, Indonesia
• Dhio Ferdyan, WRI Indonesia
• Kenny Cetera, WRI Indonesia

12:30 pm to 1:00 pm: Closing remarks (followed by lunch)

• Gillian Caldwell, United States Agency for International Development

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SIDE MEETINGS

Hosted by WRI and partners and open to conference participants. Note that interpretation will not be provided unless explicitly mentioned in the event description.

Monday, April 29th 2024

Tuesday, April 30th 2024

10:30 am to 11:30 am: Nature Crime Alliance: updates and outlook

Hosted by WRI and the Nature Crime Alliance

Launched in 2023, the Nature Crime Alliance is a global, multi-sector network that raises political will, mobilizes financial commitment, and bolsters operational capacity to fight nature crime and the other international criminal activities with which it converges. As a relatively new initiative, this side event will introduce the Alliance to those who would like to find out more. The Alliance focuses on areas of nature crime (including forest crime) convergence and convergence of strategic approaches to address this crime. The event will include an overview presentation from the Secretariat (hosted by WRI), and potential speakers from amongst the founding membership. 

For more information about this side meeting, contact Luke Foddy (luke.foddy@wri.org)

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Thursday, May 2nd 2024

1:30 pm to 3:00 pm: The 2024 Goldman Environmental Prize: Meet the prizewinners

Hosted by WRI and the Goldman Foundation

Celebrating its 35th anniversary in 2024, the Goldman Environmental Prize has been awarded annually since 1991 to honor ordinary people who take extraordinary actions to protect our planet. The six 2024 awardees will be celebrated at events in San Francisco on Monday, April 29, and in Washington, DC on Wednesday, May 1, coinciding with FGP24. On Thursday, May 2, directly following the closing lunch, WRI is pleased to co-host a special event for FGP24 participants to meet and hear from four of the six 2024 prizewinners. The event will be moderated by Gillian Caldwell, Chief Climate Officer and Deputy Administrator for USAID and former CEO of Global Witness.

Confirmed speakers:

• Moderator: Gillian Caldwell, United States Agency for International Development

For more information about this side meeting, contact Chip Barber, charles.barber@wri.org.