Mr. Mam Sambath, Executive Director of DPA, attended the Conference on the Challenges of Deforestation and Forest Degradation in the context of Climate Change, Development and Biodiversity Loss from 26th to 27th May, 2014 in Brussels, Belgium. There were 129 participants from around 30 countries taking part in this conference.

The purposes of the conference were to:
• Increase common understanding of issues and help identify possible solutions to address forest loss and degradation at a global level, identify possible areas of convergence/agreement between stakeholders and outline possible new actions in line with existing targets.
• Build synergies between key players from public and private sectors, as well as civil society, both from EU, and developing/third countries, with a view to inform current and future policy areas.
• Inform processes such as REDD+, Sustainable Development Goals, CBD Biodiversity Strategy, the EU FLEGT Action Plan and Resource Efficiency Roadmap implementation.
The conference allowed time for informal discussions on joint challenges and approaches by looking at key forest-related issues at the intersect of international climate, biodiversity and development areas. It provided a useful opportunity to consider “take home messages”, by all different groups of stakeholders.