The United Nations (UN) will be establishing two initiatives aimed at helping poor countries finance sustainable forest management as a way to cope with the growing impacts of climate change.

Jan McAlpine, director of the Secretariat of the UN Forum on Forests, said the new initiatives “will lead to innovative solutions because they will bring together the broadest possible cross-section, including governments, donors and the private sector.”

McAlpine said the first of the two initiatives includes the setting up of an intergovernmental process that would conduct an in-depth analysis of all forms of financing over the next four years and the second initiative involves a separate process which will help countries mobilize funding to protect the forests.

According to the World Bank, more than 1.6-billion people all over the world are dependent on forests for living and employment. Forest products also account to about four percent of the global trade.

However, about 13 million hectares of forest land is lost annually due to deforestation.

This, the UN said, “threatens biodiversity and reduces the protection offered by forests against the ravages of greenhouse gas emissions.”

Southeast Asia, for instance, is geographically vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. A study earlier conducted by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) this year revealed that the region has a great need for climate change adaptation because of its greater impact in the area.Southeast Asia is one of the largest producers of forest products.

“The region is already adapting but more needs to be done. It needs to strengthen its overall adaptive capacity, and step up efforts in public awareness,” ADB assistant chief economist Juzhong Zhuang said, stressing the need for further research, enhanced policy and planning coordination, and mainstreaming adaptation in development planning.

“The forestry sector has the greatest potential for reducing the region’s (greenhouse gas) emissions,” he said.