‘ABCs of Forests’ Cooking Show on International Day of Forests 2025
©FAO
Main event: The ‘ABCs of Forest’ Cooking Show
Date: 21 March 2025
Time: 12:30-15:00 EAT
Venue: UN Gigiri Complex, Nairobi
Join us live on Instagram here
This year’s International Day of Forests will highlight the crucial role forests play in food security, nutrition, and livelihoods under the theme “Forests and Food.”
As part of the global commemoration, a live cooking demonstration will take place at UN Gigiri Campus in Nairobi, featuring a local chef and regional participants from the UN-REDD Programme's benefit-sharing global knowledge exchange. They will prepare three dishes that symbolize the ABCs of Forests through key ingredients. While cooking, they will discuss how forests contribute to sustainable food systems and the policy changes needed ahead of COP30.
The event will be livestreamed to engage a global audience and raise awareness about the critical need to protect forests while ensuring food security.
About the theme and key message
With unsustainable food systems driving deforestation and biodiversity loss, the messaging will focus on “The ABCs of Forests: Adapt, Balance, Change”—a call to rethink how forests and food systems interact, with a message to COP30 in Belem, Brazil.
The ABC’s of Forests:
A – Adapt food systems to work with forests not against them. Healthy forests mean healthy food, resilient farms, and thriving communities. By embracing forest-friendly farming, we can nourish people while protecting nature.
B – Balance and share benefits equitably and effectively. Forests provide jobs, food, and vital resources, yet those who protect them often face barriers. Strengthening land rights, improving governance, and ensuring safeguards helps protect both forests and the people who depend on them.
C – Change policies to put forests and people at the heart of climate action. With major global talks ahead, we have a critical opportunity to demand policies that protect forests, strengthen livelihoods, and build a food-secure, climate-resilient future for all.