Joint Statement of the 2026 APEC Ministerial Meeting on Forestry (MMRF6)

1. We, the Ministers and representatives attending the 2026 APEC Ministerial Meeting on Forestry (MMRF6) in Shenzhen, the People's Republic of China, on 27-28 July 2026; 

2. Recalling the significant achievements made by APEC economies since the previous APEC Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Forestry (MMRF), in advancing forestry policy dialogue and practical cooperation on combating illegal logging and facilitating trade in legally harvested forest products, and Sustainable Forest Management(SFM), including conservation and restoration of forests in the Asia-Pacific region; 

3. Reaffirming our aspiration to build an open, dynamic, resilient and peaceful Asia-Pacific community for the prosperity of all our people and future generations, as reflected in the APEC Putrajaya Vision 2040; 

4. Noting the theme of APEC 2026 “Building an Asia-Pacific Community to Prosper Together” and China’s APEC priorities of “Openness, Innovation, Cooperation”, and recognizing the important role of forests and forestry in advancing economic growth, biodiversity conservation, ecological well-being, and a prosperous Asia-Pacific region; 

5.  Recognizing the important role of the APEC Experts Group on Illegal Logging and Associated Trade (EGILAT) in combating illegal logging and associated trade and promoting trade in legally harvested forest products through policy dialogue and cooperation, information sharing, and capacity building, including through collaboration with relevant stakeholders; 

6. Recognizing the importance that APEC has placed on forest landscape restoration and the increase in forest cover across the APEC region, and underscoring the need to further enhance evidence-based SFM; 

7. Noting that urban and peri-urban forests and trees provide ecosystem goods and services, thereby promoting health, well-being and other benefits for local communities, and also recognizing the significance of innovative and participatory forest governance approaches supported by technological innovation and integrating conservation and economic growth; 

8. Recognizing the multiple values, services and contributions that forests, including mangroves, provide for economic growth and people’s well-being, including biodiversity conservation,  employment generation, the prevention of land degradation,  floods, and sand and dust storms, among others; and emphasizing the need to take joint actions to enhance forest resilience, and halt and reverse forest loss and degradation so as to secure these benefits for present and future generation, we aspire to: 

9 (1) Strengthen efforts to combat illegal logging and associated trade; promote trade in legally harvested forest products and SFM, including forest restoration, and conservation; and halt and reverse forest loss; 

10 (2) Promote biodiversity conservation, disaster risk reduction, economic growth, and enforcement to combat illegal trade of forest products; better integrate forest governance and SFM into economic development plans, policy frameworks and recommendations; share knowledge and best practices in the formulation of forestry plans; and encourage, as appropriate, economies to formulate evidence-based plans for forestry development; 

11 (3) Promote policy dialogue, transparency, and information sharing of best practices and capacity building under EGILAT; and coordination across fora within APEC and the participation of relevant stakeholders to enhance joint efforts; 

12 (4) Promote protected area-based efforts combined with Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs), SFM, forest governance and forest health and resilience; 

13 (5) Strengthen cooperation with relevant stakeholders, including the private sector and industry, such as micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs); promote investment and financing opportunities for the development of the forest sector and trade in legally harvested forest products, in consideration of domestic circumstances and priorities, encourage policy dialogues and the sharing of best practices on facilitating voluntary market-based mechanisms and transparent platforms for nature-based solutions, where appropriate; support participation in global markets and the transformation and upgrading of forest product processing and enhancement of the value chain; strengthen voluntary innovation cooperation; and foster higher value products through innovation in the region, as appropriate;

14 (6) Strengthen cooperation and exchanges of experience and best practices on urban forestry and water resource management in the Asia-Pacific region, including through technological innovation and SFM with a view to ecosystem restoration, mitigation of habitat fragmentation, and enhancement of human health; 

15 (7) Encourage the development of existing and new forest-based industries, goods and services, consistent with SFM, including but not limited to advanced-processing of wood products, the use of wood in construction and other sectors, forest-based and circular bio-economies, recreation activities, non-timber forest products, forest therapy, agroforestry systems, education on forest and wood-use, as well as the recognition and valuation of ecosystem services; and

16 (8) Encourage strengthened cooperation with relevant international and regional organizations and stakeholders to support APEC’s forestry goals and the work of EGILAT;

17 We express our appreciation to the People’s Republic of China for hosting this meeting, to the city of Shenzhen and Guangdong Province for their hospitality.