Draft as of 08 February 2012
The International Year of Forests Awards
and Closing Ceremony
Thursday, 9 February 2012
10:00 am - 1:00 pm and 3:00 - 6:00 pm
Conference Room 1 in the North Lawn Building of UNHQ, NY
Programme
10:00 am – 1:00 pm
 Welcome and Opening
o Mr. Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs and Secretary-General of the
2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.
o H.E. Mr. Mourad Benmehidi, Permanent Representative of Algeria to the UN
o H.E. Mr. Ranko Vilović, Permanent Representative of Croatia to the UN
o Ms. Jan McAlpine, Director, UN Forum on Forests Secretariat
 Forest Heroes Awards Ceremony, recognizing forest heroes for their energy and visionary approach
o Chair: Ms. Jan McAlpine, Director, UN Forum on Forests Secretariat
o Jury members: Mr. Peter Csoka (FAO), Mr. Steven Johnson (ITTO)
and Mr. Jan Hartke (Clinton Global Initiative)
Photo © UNICEF/HQ07-1367/Pirozzi
3:00 – 6:00 pm
o Chair: Ms. Jan McAlpine, Director, UN Forum on Forests Secretariat
 Forests for People Book launch - with contributions from 75 authors and 35 countries.
o Mr. Peter Csoka (FAO)
o Mr. Steven Johnson (ITTO)
 2011 Universal Postal Union’s international letter-writing competition winners, in which children imagined
themselves as trees writing to people.
o Mr. Rhéal Le Blanc, Universal Postal Union
o Ms. Wang Sa, Gold Prize Winner
o Ms. Charlée Gittens, Gold Prize Winner (video)
 Winners’ announcement - 2011 International Children’s Art Contest to “Celebrate the Forests.”
o Mr. Juan Manuel Gabarron, The Gabarron Foundation
 Announcement of the 2nd International Forest Film Festival
o Ms. Lisa Samford, Executive Director, Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival
Film clips from the award-winning International Forest Film Festival will be shown during the programme
Fax: +1 917 367 3186 • Email: forests@un.org • Web : www.un.org/forests