102 STATE OF THE WORLD’S FORESTS 2001
PART III
INTERNATIONAL
DIALOGUE AND
INITIATIVES RELATED
TO FORESTS
103PART III INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUE AND INITIATIVES RELATED TO FORESTS
A
n international commitment to work towards
sustainable development was made almost
a decade ago at the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development (UNCED), also
known as the Rio Conference, which took place in
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 1992. Preparations
are now being made for the Rio +10 Conference,
which will be held in 2002. Rio +10 will take
stock of the progress made over the past ten years
towards meeting the commitments made at
UNCED. The review will focus on the
implementation of Agenda 21, the plan of action
produced by UNCED, and identify measures for
its further implementation.
Forests were among the many subjects
addressed at UNCED, and the Conference served
as a catalyst for the intense discussions and wide-
ranging initiatives on forests that followed. This
chapter highlights major initiatives – international
and regional, governmental and non-
governmental – to promote sustainable forest
management. Although the focus is on
developments over the past two years, many of
these efforts were initiated at, or were later
offshoots of, UNCED.
The countries of the world were much divided
on forest issues at UNCED. In order to advance
beyond the agreements contained in the “Forest
Principles
”1
and Chapter 11 (Combating
deforestation) of Agenda 21, intergovernmental
discussion and debate continued, first under the
Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF) and
International dialogue
and global, regional
and national initiatives
then under the Intergovernmental Forum on
Forests (IFF). IFF recently completed its work and
has put forth a proposal for an international
arrangement on forests, including the
establishment of the United Nations Forum on
Forests (UNFF).
The terms for three international conventions
were agreed on at UNCED: the Convention on
Biological Diversity, the Framework Convention
on Climate Change and the Convention to
Combat Desertification,
2
all of which are relevant
to, but not solely concerned with, forests. The past
few years have brought further progress in their
implementation as well as strengthened links with
one another, with IPF and IFF, and with longer-
standing conventions, including the Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species of
Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the Ramsar
Convention.
3
While international discussions and agreements
on forests have intensified since UNCED, regional
cooperation in forest issues also increased and
strengthened. Among the existing regional
intergovernmental initiatives related to forests,
recent developments have occurred in the Congo
basin/central Africa, southern Africa, Central
America, the Amazon basin, Asia and Europe.
Increased cooperation is also occurring at the
ecoregional level; initiatives for countries with a
low forest cover and for mountain forests are
1
The full name is the Non-Legally Binding Authoritative
Statement of Principles for a Global Consensus on the
Management, Conservation and Sustainable Development of All
Types of Forest.
2
The full name is the Convention to Combat Desertification in
those Countries Experiencing Drought and/or Desertification,
particularly in Africa.
3
The full name is the Convention on Wetlands of International
Importance, Especially as Waterfowl Habitat (also known as
the Wetlands Convention).
104 STATE OF THE WORLD’S FORESTS 2001
most notable. Cutting across geographic regions,
such initiatives serve to increase intercountry
collaboration based on ecological similarities.
In agreeing to the Forest Principles of UNCED’s
Agenda 21, countries committed themselves to
working towards the sustainable management of
all types of forests to ensure the continued
availability of the goods and environmental and
social services that they provide. The need to
define what sustainable forest management
actually means in practice and to provide tools to
measure progress gave rise to the development of
criteria and indicators for sustainable forest
management. Model and demonstration forest
programmes have been established to illustrate
what sustainable forest management looks like in
practice as well as the processes that may be
employed to work towards it.
Recognition of the fact that sustainable forest
management cannot be achieved in the absence of
an enabling institutional framework has led to
increased international support for national forest
programmes. The results of a recent review of
national forest programmes are reported in the
section, National-level efforts to support
sustainable forest management, p. 114.
Integral to the concept of sustainability are
social development and equity, which necessitate
widespread participation in decision-making so
that stakeholders can represent their own
interests. NGOs (including those representing the
interests of various civil society sectors) have
become major recognized voices in international
discussions on this topic and are key catalysts for
action at the local level.
THE IFF AND UNFF PROCESSES
IFF achieved notable progress in building
consensus on international forest policy issues
through the intensive deliberations carried out
during its term, from July 1997 until April 2000.
As a result, the wide gap that existed between
North and South at the UNCED Conference in
1992 and at the Rio+5 Special Session of the
UN General Assembly in 1997 has narrowed
considerably. Although a number of issues
related to forests remain controversial, complex
and politically sensitive, countries agree that the
main priority for the next few years is the
implementation of the proposals for action
adopted between 1995 and 2000 by IFF and its
predecessor, IPF. (The topics of the proposals for
action are listed in Table 13.) Contributing to
this enhanced international dialogue has been
the active participation of non-governmental
and indigenous peoples’ organizations, which
have taken a leading role in a number of
regional and global initiatives and international
meetings of experts.
IFF recognized that increased financial resources,
the transfer of environmentally sound technology,
and capacity building to support national forest
programmes were essential elements in the
implementation of the IPF and IFF proposals for
action. The continued coordination of the forest-
related activities of international organizations and
instruments was also recognized as important. The
informal Interagency Task Force on Forests (ITFF),
set up in 1995 as a coordination mechanism for
support to IPF by international organizations, was
acknowledged as one of the main institutional
legacies of the IPF/IFF process.
One of the most controversial issues facing IFF
was how to establish an international arrangement
and mechanism on forests, including the question
of a legally binding instrument on all types of
forests. After long and intense deliberations, IFF
reached an agreement on the establishment of a
new intergovernmental body, which should be
built on existing forest-related arrangements. More
specifically, IFF’s recommendations
4
were for the
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the
UN General Assembly to:
(a) “Establish a new intergovernmental body
which may be called the United Nations
Forum on Forests (UNFF);
(b) Invite the executive heads of relevant
organizations of the United Nations system
4
See the Report of the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests
on its fourth session (E/CN.17/2000/14).
105PART III INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUE AND INITIATIVES RELATED TO FORESTS
Programme element Description
IPF IFF
I.A Progress through national forest and land use programmes
I.B II.D.1 Underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation
I.C II.D.2 Traditional forest-related knowledge
I.D Fragile ecosystems affected by desertification and drought
I.E Impact of airborne pollution on forests
I.F Needs and requirements of countries with low forest cover
II.A II.A Financial resources
II.B II.C Transfer of environmentally sound technology to promote sustainable forest management
III.A Assessment of the multiple benefits of all types of forests
II.D.8 Assessment, monitoring and rehabilitation of forest cover in environmentally critical areas
II.D.3 Forest conservation and protected areas
III.B II.D.4 Forest research
III.C II.D.5 Valuation of forest goods and services
II.D.6 Economic instruments, tax policies and land tenure
II.D.7 Future supply and demand for wood and non-wood forest products and services
III.D Criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management
IV II.B Trade and environment
V International organizations and multilateral institutions and instruments, including appropriate legal
mechanisms
II.E Forest-related work by international and regional organizations and under existing instruments
III International arrangements and mechanisms to promote the management, conservation and
sustainable development of all types of forests
I.A Promotion and facilitation of the implementation of the IPF proposals for action
I.B Monitoring of progress in implementing the IPF proposals for action
TABLE 13
Topics of the IPF and IFF proposals for action
(c) Within five years, ... consider with a view to
recommending the parameters of a mandate
for developing a legal framework on all
types of forests ...;
(d)Take steps to devise approaches towards
appropriate financial and technology transfer
and heads of other relevant international and
regional organizations, institutions and
instruments to form a collaborative
partnership on forests to support the work of
UNFF and to enhance cooperation and
coordination among participants;
106 STATE OF THE WORLD’S FORESTS 2001
support to enable the implementation of
sustainable forest management, as
recommended under the IPF and IFF
processes.”
IFF also reached a consensus on the proposed
working modalities for UNFF, stating that it
“should be open to all states” and “would
initially meet annually.... UNFF would have a
high-level ministerial segment, for two to three
days, as required. The high-level segment could
include a one-day policy dialogue with the heads
of organizations participating in the collaborative
partnership.... UNFF would work on the basis of
a multi-year programme of work, drawing on the
elements reflected in the Rio Declaration, the
Forest Principles, Chapter 11 of Agenda 21 and
the IPF/IFF proposals for action. At its first
meeting on Environment and Development,
UNFF will adopt its multi-year programme of
work and develop a plan of action ... which
would address financial provisions.”
IFF stated that the Collaborative Partnership
on Forests (CPF) – the official name for the
partnership referred to in (b) above – “could
build on a high-level, informal group, such as
the Inter-Agency Task Force on Forests [ITFF],
which would receive guidance from UNFF;
facilitate and promote coordinated and
cooperative action, including joint programming
and submissions of coordinated proposals to the
respective governing bodies; and facilitate donor
coordination”. It said that a compact secretariat
should be established to service UNFF,
“constituted in accordance with established rules
and procedures of the United Nations and
strengthened through staff from secretariats of
international and regional organizations,
institutions and instruments”.
At its eighth session in April-May 2000, the
Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD)
endorsed IFF’s conclusions and proposals for
action. CSD invited ECOSOC and the UN
General Assembly, as appropriate, to take action
on the proposed terms of reference for an
international arrangement on forests, as
recommended by IFF. It invited the President of
ECOSOC to initiate, before the Council’s
substantive session in July 2000, informal
consultations on where to place UNFF within the
UN system. These consultations commenced in
early June and continued through the ECOSOC
session, but without a conclusion being reached
on the location of UNFF. Other unresolved issues
regarded membership and voting rights. In its
resumed session in October 2000, ECOSOC
created an international arrangement on forests,
including UNFF, which was established as a
subsidiary body of ECOSOC. At the
organizational meeting of UNFF, held in February
2001, it was decided, among other things, to base
the UNFF Secretariat in New York. The CPF was
established in April 2001. UNFF’s first substantive
session was held in June 2001.
INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS
AND AGREEMENTS RELATED
TO FORESTS
Convention on Biological Diversity
The fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties
(COP-5) to the Conference on Biological Diversity,
which was held in Nairobi, Kenya in May 2000,
highlighted the need to expand the focus of the
Convention’s programme of work in forest
biological diversity
5
from research to action-
oriented activities. COP-5 called on Parties,
governments and organizations to take practical
actions to do this within the scope of the existing
work programme. Forest biological diversity will
be the major thematic focus of the seventh
meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific,
Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA-7) in
November 2001, for which a substantive report
analysing the status, trends and options for action
will be prepared. The conclusions will be
discussed at COP-6, scheduled for April 2002. The
aim will be to propose an action-based, integrated
and holistic approach to the conservation and
sustainable use of forest biological diversity.
5
Adopted at COP-4 in May 1998.
107PART III INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUE AND INITIATIVES RELATED TO FORESTS
COP-5 stressed a number of other points of
relevance to forests. Among others, it encouraged
the application of the ecosystem approach and
noted the importance of supporting work on
taxonomic, ecological and socio-economic issues
for the restoration of forest ecosystems and forest
resources. COP-5 also made reference to the IPF
and IFF proposals for action, in particular those
concerning the valuation of forest goods and
services, and it stressed the need to harmonize the
Convention’s work with the IPF and IFF
proposals for action on traditional forest-related
knowledge. It requested the SBSTTA to make
recommendations on the development of a Global
Strategy for Plant Conservation for consideration
at COP-6. It also requested the SBSTTA to
consider the impact of climate change on forest
biological diversity in collaboration with the
Framework Convention on Climate Change
(FCCC), and invited the Executive Secretary of the
Convention on Biological Diversity to strengthen
cooperation with the FCCC.
Each contracting Party to the Convention on
Biological Diversity commits itself to developing
national strategies, plans and programmes for the
conservation and sustainable use of biological
diversity, or to adapt for this purpose existing
strategies, plans or programmes that reflect the
measures set out in the Convention. Forest
biological diversity is a major component of some
countries’ strategies, plans and programmes.
At COP-5, Parties were invited to submit thematic
reports on the issues to be considered in depth at
COP meetings. At COP-6, alien species, forest
ecosystems and benefit sharing will be
considered.
Convention to Combat Desertification
Within the past two years, the Convention to
Combat Desertification
6
has held its second, third
and fourth Conferences of the Parties (Dakar,
Senegal, December 1998; Recife, Brazil, November
1999; and Bonn, Germany, December 2000).
Arrangements for the secretariat and for the
implementation instruments have now been
finalized. The Global Mechanism, set up to
promote the mobilization and effective use of
financial resources devoted to combating
desertification, is now fully operational. The COP
called for cooperation with other international
conventions, including the Convention on
Biological Diversity and the FCCC.
The Convention to Combat Desertification’s
major instruments for implementation are national
action programmes, complemented by
subregional and regional programmes. The
strategies for implementation are described in the
Convention’s four regional annexes for Africa,
Asia, Latin America and the northern
Mediterranean. Many countries have organized
national awareness-raising seminars or embarked
on the formulation of national action
programmes, and 23 (including 14 in Africa)
have submitted their programmes.
7
Subregional
programmes, however, have been launched for
West Africa, southern Africa, the Maghreb
countries, El Gran Chaco Americano (Argentina,
Bolivia and Paraguay) and La Hispaniola
(Dominican Republic and Haiti). Regional
programmes have been established for Africa and
for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Regional cooperation is being further facilitated
by the development of thematic programme
networks, which focus on technical measures for
desertification control and land rehabilitation.
Recent meetings to develop these were held for
the African Regional Network on Agroforestry and
Soil Conservation (Bamako, Mali, 1999), and the
Asian Regional Thematic Network on Agroforestry
and Soil Conservation in Arid, Semi-arid and Dry
Sub-humid Areas (India, March 2000).
In an effort to promote interregional
cooperation, the Convention to Combat
Desertification convened a high-profile meeting,
the African, Latin American and the Caribbean
Forum, in Bamako, Mali in March 2000.
6
See footnote 2, p. 103.
7
As of end 2000.
108 STATE OF THE WORLD’S FORESTS 2001
The meeting approved a programme of technical
training and scientific exchanges among the
countries of these regions in all aspects of dryland
degradation control (e.g. water management, soil
conservation, agroforestry and sand-dune
fixation).
United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change
The FCCC, which was adopted in 1992 at
UNCED, aims at stabilizing the concentration of
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere so as to
prevent dangerous human-induced changes to the
global climate system. Parties to the Convention
committed themselves to carrying out national
inventories of greenhouse gas emissions and
carbon sinks. Industrialized countries and
countries with economies in transition (FCCC
Annex I Parties) committed themselves to
working towards voluntary goals in the reduction
of emissions. These obligations were intensified
and specified in the Kyoto Protocol, which was
adopted at COP-3 of the FCCC, held in Kyoto,
Japan in December 1997.
The three years since then have been marked by
continued discussions and negotiations on details
regarding the implementation of the Kyoto
Protocol, of which the salient points are as follows.
Thirty-nine developed countries and countries
with economies in transition (i.e. FCCC
Annex I Parties) committed themselves to
reducing their aggregate greenhouse gas
emissions to at least 5 percent below 1990
levels over the period 2008 through 2012.
Quantified emission limitation or reduction
commitments (QELRCs) for 2008-2012 were
established for each developed and transition
country; these countries and their QELRCs are
listed in Annex B of the Kyoto Protocol.
Three “flexibility mechanisms” for the
mitigation of climate change through joint
activities among countries were agreed on:
emissions trading between Annex B countries;
Joint Implementation (JI) projects, which entail
the transfer of project-based emission
reduction units from one Annex I country to
another; and the Clean Development
Mechanism (CDM), by which project-based
certified emission reductions achieved in non-
Annex I countries are transferred to Annex I
countries.
Issues under consideration that relate to the
implementation of the Kyoto Protocol include the
development of a compliance system,
methodologies for the estimation of emissions and
sinks, and reporting and accounting. At COP-4,
held in Buenos Aires, Argentina in November
1998, Parties agreed to a two-year work
programme (the Buenos Aires Plan of Action)
to tackle these and other implementation
issues.
Because a number of questions related to the
treatment of land use, land use change and
forestry (LULUCF)
8
in the Kyoto Protocol
remained to be clarified, in 1998 the Subsidiary
Body for Scientific and Technical Advice (SBSTA)
to the FCCC requested the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to examine the
state of scientific and technical understanding of
LULUCF issues. IPCC presented the Special Report
on Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry at the
12th session of the SBSTA and the Subsidiary
Body on Implementation, in Bonn, Germany in
June 2000. Although this report casts further light
on the subject area, Parties still have to negotiate
how to deal with forests and forestry aspects in
the context of the Kyoto Protocol. Issues to be
addressed include:
what domestic land use, land use change and
forestry activities may be included in meeting
QELRCs;
whether forestry activities that affect biotic
carbon stocks and fluxes, for example forest
conservation and reforestation, are to be
included in the CDM;
definitions, guidelines and standards for
accounting for carbon stocks and fluxes;
8
LULUCF is a term used to denote all human activities that
can affect stocks of biotic carbon and thereby cause emissions
and/or sinks of biotic carbon.
109PART III INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUE AND INITIATIVES RELATED TO FORESTS
monitoring, reporting, verification and
certification of carbon stocks and fluxes.
Discussions on the implementation of the Kyoto
Protocol continued at COP-6 in November 2000.
9
The Protocol will not enter into force until it has
been ratified by at least 55 Parties to the
Convention, including certain Parties in Annex I
that, together, accounted for at least 55 percent of
the total carbon dioxide emissions for 1990 by all
Annex I Parties.
Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
Several threatened and endangered tree species
have been listed for many years in CITES
appendices, which place various levels of control
or restrictions on their trade.
10
It was not until
attempts were made to list some major
commercial tree species in the appendices,
however, that controversy arose. Considerable
debate was generated by the listing in Appendix
III of big-leaf mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) by
Costa Rica (effective 1995) and by Bolivia and
Brazil (effective 1998), and by Bolivia’s and the
United States’ subsequent proposals at COP-10
(June 1997) to have the species moved to
Appendix II, which would impose stricter trade
restrictions.
COP-10 agreed that further discussions were
needed, and the issue was addressed at an
intersessional meeting, held in June 1998 in
Brasilia, Brazil. Scientific information on the
degree to which trade was influencing the status
of the species was found to be insufficient to
warrant a proposal at COP-11 (in Nairobi, Kenya,
April 2000) to move S. macrophylla to Appendix II.
COP-11 did, however, adopt a resolution to
establish a mahogany working group, which
would review the effectiveness of the Appendix
III listing of big-leaf mahogany, and analyse legal
and illegal trade issues. The mahogany working
group will report its findings at COP-12,
scheduled to take place in Santiago, Chile in late
2002. Other proposals related to tree species that
were adopted by COP-11 were the uplisting to
Appendix I of the monkey puzzle tree (Araucaria
araucana) and lignum vitae (Guaiacum sanctum).
Ramsar Convention
The Ramsar Convention,
11
which is concerned
with the conservation and wise use of wetlands
and their resources, includes in its mandate a
range of forested wetland. As of November 1999,
306 of the 1 028 sites on the Convention’s List of
Wetlands of International Importance were
forested wetlands. The Convention has set itself
the short-term target of increasing the total
number of sites on the list to 2 000 by the year
2005. Parties have agreed to give priority to
designating under-represented wetland types,
including mangroves and peatlands.
The Ramsar Convention’s COP-7, held in May
1999, endorsed a draft global action plan for the
wise use and management of peatlands (including
forested peat swamps) and urged that work on it
be taken forward. A revised version of the plan
will be presented to COP-8 in 2002. A Joint Work
Plan for 2000-2001 has been developed between
the Ramsar Convention and the Convention on
Biological Diversity, reflecting an increased
emphasis on the conservation of biological
diversity in wetlands and continuing the
collaboration that was formalized between the two
conventions in 1996. Forest ecosystems are one of
the thematic areas identified for collaboration.
11
See footnote 3, p. 103.
9
This publication was prepared before COP-6, so the results of
the discussions could not be reported here.
10
CITES Appendix III includes all species that any Party
identifies as being subject to regulation within its jurisdiction
for the purpose of preventing or restricting exploitation, and as
needing the cooperation of other Parties in the control of trade.
Appendix II includes: i) all species that, while not threatened
with extinction, may become so unless trade in specimens of the
species is subject to strict regulation; and ii) other species that
must be subject to regulation so that trade in specimens of
species referred to in i) above may be brought under effective
control. Appendix I includes species threatened with extinction
that are, or may be, affected by trade; trade in specimens of
these species must be subject to particularly strict regulation in
order not to endanger their survival further, and it must only
be authorized in exceptional cases.
110 STATE OF THE WORLD’S FORESTS 2001
International Tropical Timber Agreement
The International Tropical Timber Agreement
1994 came into force on 1 January 1997. It
remains in force for four years (up to
31 December 2000), with the possibility of two
three-year extensions, effectively giving it a ten-
year life span. A mid-term review of the
International Tropical Timber Organization
(ITTO) and its operations was carried out in
early 2000, and members decided to extend the
Agreement for the first of these three-year
extensions (i.e. to 31 December 2003).
The year 2000 is of special significance to
ITTO, since it is the focus year for its Year 2000
Objective, under which all ITTO member
countries committed themselves to producing
their exports of tropical timber from sustainably
managed forests (see The Year 2000 Objective,
p. 117). ITTO has played a catalytic role in
supporting efforts in sustainable forest
management through its criteria and indicators,
which broke new ground when they were
published in 1992. They have stimulated
initiatives by producer countries at the national
level as well as at the level of forest
management units and have provided a focus
for ITTO-funded fieldwork. In its upcoming
work, ITTO will put emphasis on updating its
Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable
Management of Natural Tropical Forests;
preparing manuals on forest management;
promoting increased efficiency in utilization and
processing; encouraging further processing; and
improving market access.
RECENT INITIATIVES
OF REGIONAL GROUPS
Central Africa: Conference on the Central
African Moist Forest Ecosystems and
the Yaoundé Declaration
Two initiatives are under way to enhance
cooperation in forestry among central African
nations: the Conference on the Central African
Moist Forest Ecosystems (CEFDHAC), a
multistakeholder, governmental and non-
governmental process; and the Yaoundé
Declaration and its related efforts, which are
essentially governmental. These two processes
are mutually reinforcing and have the potential
to coalesce in the future.
CEFDHAC, also known as the Brazzaville
Process, was launched in May 1996 as a forum
for consultation, information exchange and the
strengthening of subregional cooperation in
matters concerning central African forests. The
member countries are Burundi, Cameroon,
Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, the Central African
Republic, the Congo, the Democratic Republic of
the Congo, Rwanda and Sao Tomé and Principe.
CEFDHAC, which was initially sponsored by
the World Conservation Union (IUCN), is open
to governments, NGOs, the private sector,
research institutions and development agencies.
The third CEFDHAC meeting, held in
Bujumbura, Burundi from 5 to 7 June 2000,
focused on governance and joint management of
central African moist forest ecosystems. Also
discussed were the Strategic Action Plan for the
Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biological
Diversity in the Congo Basin, which is being
formulated; the need for further work to set in
place a timber certification system for the Congo
basin – based on the standards, criteria and
indicators of ITTO and the African Timber
Organization (ATO); and various options for
institutionalizing CEFDHAC.
The Yaoundé Declaration was adopted by the
Summit of Central African Heads of State on the
Conservation and Sustainable Management of
Tropical Forests, held in March 1999 in Yaoundé,
Cameroon. The following countries participated
in the summit: Cameroon, Chad, the Congo,
Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. Among other
activities and aims, the Yaoundé Declaration calls
for action towards harmonized national policies;
participation of the rural population and the
private sector in decisions on forests;
transboundary protected areas; the fight against
poaching and other unsustainable exploitation;
financial systems that support sustainable forest
management; and international cooperation. An
expert meeting was held in September 2000 to
111PART III INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUE AND INITIATIVES RELATED TO FORESTS
prepare for the first ministerial conference,
scheduled for December 2000, to follow up on
the Yaoundé Summit.
Southern African Development Community
The Southern African Development Community
(SADC)
12
provides a framework for cooperation in
forestry among its 14 member nations through its
Forestry Sector Policy and Development Strategy
of 1997. Issues addressed in the Community’s
Forestry Sector Policy are reflected in the SADC
Forestry Programme of Action, which is aimed at
developing and implementing regional projects.
The six programme components include: forestry
training and education; improved knowledge of
the forest resource base (e.g. forest resources
assessment and monitoring); forestry research;
forest resources management (of “indigenous”, or
natural, forests and plantations); forest industries,
markets and marketing; and environmental
protection.
Major regional projects that are operational
cover the management of indigenous forest
ecosystems (through the promotion of local
communities’ participation); the strengthening of
seed centres in many member countries; and
support to forestry training.
Current SADC initiatives include:
the establishment of the Forest Resource Data
Bank;
the development of a Forestry Protocol for
SADC;
support to a regional programme on
biological diversity;
the development of a regional project for the
domestication and marketing of indigenous
fruit-trees.
Coordination and support for SADC’s forest
activities are provided by the Forestry Sector
Technical Coordination Unit, based in Malawi’s
Department of Forestry.
The Central American Council for Forests
and Protected Areas
The Central American Council for Forests and
Protected Areas (CCAB-AP) is an advisory body
of the Central American Commission on
Environment and Development (CCAD). It is
responsible for the implementation of CCAD
policies and strategies on the sustainable use of
forest resources and the conservation of biological
diversity. CCAB-AP was established in response
to the Central American Agreement on
Biodiversity, which was signed by the presidents
of the region in 1993. It is composed of the heads
of forest departments and national parks
departments of the seven Central American
countries (Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras, Panama and Nicaragua).
CCAB-AP’s main strategic working areas at
present are: research and inventory of species;
economically sustainable uses of forests and
wildlife; the valorization of environmental services;
the strengthening and consolidation of Central
America’s national systems of protected areas; the
economic valuation of forests; the promotion of
comanagement within protected forests and
wildlife areas; studies on the agricultural frontier
and on agroforestry; and the promotion of a
regional strategy for the prevention of forest fires.
The Council is currently emphasizing activities
related to the economic valuation of environmental
benefits of Central America’s forest ecosystems,
including carbon sequestration. In collaboration
with FAO and the Tropical Agriculture Research
and Higher Education Center (CATIE), it has
trained more than 80 professionals from the region
in related fields. The conservation of biological
diversity is currently an important concern for
CCAB-AP; together with its member countries, it
is supporting an important project on the Meso-
American Biological Corridor, which will
strengthen linkages between national biological
diversity activities and forest programmes.
Treaty for Amazonian Co-operation
The Treaty for Amazonian Co-operation (TCA)
fosters collaboration among member countries
12
See Part IV, p. 134, for more information about SADC.
112 STATE OF THE WORLD’S FORESTS 2001
(Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru,
Suriname and Venezuela) with regard to policies
and activities in agriculture, fisheries, forestry and
the environment in the Amazon watershed. In
2000, the pro tempore Secretary of the Treaty was
transferred from Venezuela to Bolivia, where it
will stay until the Permanent Secretary begins
operations in Brazil. The main forest activities
carried out under the Treaty during the past few
years have consisted in follow-up to the Tarapoto
Process of criteria and indicators for the
sustainable management of the region’s forests
(see discussion of criteria and indicators for
sustainable forest management, p. 116); research
and studies analysing the potential of secondary
forests within the region; and the formulation of a
common strategy for the valuation of the natural
tropical forest as a carbon sink.
Recently, the Treaty has implemented activities
concerned with the establishment and
management of protected areas and wildlife in the
Amazon, and it has actively pursued a common
position among member countries regarding
carbon sequestration within the framework of the
Kyoto Protocol. As a result, a meeting was held in
Santa Cruz, Bolivia to develop a common regional
position. This was then presented at the 21st
Session of the Latin American and Caribbean
Forestry Commission, held in Colombia in
September 2000. The Treaty has also promoted
coordination meetings to harmonize the position
of its member countries within IFF.
Association of Southeast Asian Nations
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN)
13
is making some progress in
implementing its Strategic Plan of Action on
ASEAN Cooperation in Food, Agriculture and
Forestry 1999-2004, which was adopted at the
Sixth ASEAN Summit in December 1998. The
plan represents the first phase in the
implementation of the Association’s long-term
strategy for the food, agricultural and forest sector
as outlined in the “ASEAN Vision 2020”. The
plan’s objective is to formulate and implement
regional cooperation activities to enhance the
international competitiveness of ASEAN’s food,
agricultural and forestry projects and to
strengthen the region’s food security situation as
well as its joint positions in international fora.
The plan outlines five strategic thrusts for
forestry: i) sustainable forest management;
ii) strengthening ASEAN cooperation and joint
approaches in addressing international and regional
forestry issues; iii) the promotion of intra- and
extra-ASEAN trade in forest products, and private
sector participation; iv) increasing productivity and
efficient utilization of forest products; and
v) capacity building and human resources
development. ASEAN countries have been moving
ahead in some of these areas and are seeking
partnerships with other organizations to carry out
the plan, which has taken on added importance as
countries try to respond to the fire-related
problems of 1997. In addition to activities related to
the prevention of forest fires in the ASEAN region,
the plan’s “sustainable forestry management
strategic thrust” defines activities in the following
areas: criteria and indicators of sustainable forest
management; the development of comprehensive
forest information databases; the establishment of a
network of demonstration forests; cooperation in
the use of geographic information systems; the
promotion of low-impact logging and modelling
on growth and yield; and natural forest
management.
Ministerial Conference on the Protection of
Forests in Europe
The Ministerial Conference on the Protection of
Forests in Europe is a high-level political
initiative involving about 40 European countries
(including the Russian Federation). Its purpose is
to address common opportunities and threats
related to forests and forestry. The initiative,
which was started in 1990, consists of a series of
ministerial conferences at which resolutions are
adopted, and of mechanisms for follow-up
13
See Part IV, p. 123 for more information on ASEAN
and its members’ forest sectors.
113PART III INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUE AND INITIATIVES RELATED TO FORESTS
activities. The third, and most recent, conference
was held in 1998 in Lisbon, Portugal. Two
resolutions were adopted: the first calls for
further development of human resources
through increased dialogue with the public;
education and training; and the involvement of
women in forest-related activities. This resolution
also aims at enhancing the socio-economic
functions of forests. With the second resolution,
pan-European criteria and indicators for
sustainable forest management were adopted
and pan-European operational-level guidelines
for sustainable forest management were
endorsed.
The current work of the Ministerial Conference
on the Protection of Forests in Europe focuses on
putting into action the commitments made by
ministers at the Lisbon Conference, and on the
further implementation of commitments made at
previous conferences. All activities are integrated
into the Ministerial Conference’s overall Work
Programme, which was approved by the Second
Expert-Level Meeting on the Follow-up to the
Lisbon Conference, held in October 1999. The
Work Programme covers four main areas:
dialogue with society (public participation,
public relations, education); socio-economic
issues (rural development, renewable resources –
goods and services, training, education and
gender issues, countries in transition); biological
diversity and conservation (biological and
landscape diversity, forests and climate change,
management of mountain forests); and planning,
monitoring, evaluation and reporting (national
forest programmes, criteria and indicators for
sustainable forest management). Furthermore, a
pan-European Work Programme on the
Conservation and Enhancement of Biological and
Landscape Diversity in Forest Ecosystems 1997-
2000 is carried out in cooperation with the
“Environment for Europe” ministerial process.
The work of the Conference, including expert
meetings, working groups and studies, is
coordinated by a Liaison Unit in Vienna, but also
through partner organizations and institutions,
including UN-ECE and FAO.
EFFORTS AT THE ECOREGIONAL
LEVEL
Initiatives by countries with low forest cover
Only relatively recently have “low forest cover
countries” been considered at the global level
and their specific concerns addressed in
international fora. There is no single definition of
what constitutes a “low forest cover”, but it
generally relates to a low ratio of forest cover to
a country’s total land area (or the total for
specific parts of a country), and hence to a
limited availability of forest environmental
services for society as well as to people’s limited
access to, and use of, forest resources. More than
70 developing countries and a number of
developed countries are considered to have a
low forest cover.
IFF focused attention on these countries
through its programme element entitled Special
Needs and Requirements of Developing
Countries with Low Forest Cover and Unique
Types of Forests. The Islamic Republic of Iran, in
collaboration with Egypt and the Sudan, took
the lead in supporting this programme element
and, with the collaboration of Canada, Denmark,
Finland, Germany and Norway, it convened a
meeting of experts to discuss the topic in
Teheran in October 1999. This meeting laid a
foundation for developing the concept,
characterizing the needs and devising focused
responses to challenges posed by inadequate
forest cover. The meeting produced the Teheran
Declaration and launched the so-called Teheran
Process. The Government of Iran is taking the
lead in promoting follow-up action. The goals
for the coming years are to place the issue of
low forest cover on the agenda of international
forest policy deliberations; promote and facilitate
the preparation and implementation of national
forest programmes in all countries with a low
forest cover and encourage cooperation among
them; and create synergies between low forest
cover-related initiatives and other international
frameworks, in particular the Convention to
Combat Desertification, the Convention on
Biological Diversity and the FCCC.
114 STATE OF THE WORLD’S FORESTS 2001
International initiatives related to mountains
and mountain forests
Mountain communities and ecosystems have
received increasing attention in recent years,
largely owing to ongoing efforts to implement
Chapter 13 (Managing fragile ecosystems:
sustainable mountain development) of UNCED’s
Agenda 21. Recent major initiatives related to
mountains in general, and to mountain forests in
particular, include the following:
International Year of Mountains. At its 53rd
session in November 1998, the UN General
Assembly formally recognized the importance
of mountain communities and ecosystems by
proclaiming 2002 the International Year of
Mountains (IYM). The IYM is meant to be a
springboard from which to launch or reinforce
long-term and sustained mountain
development and conservation efforts. FAO,
as the designated lead agency for the event,
maintains a Web site
14
that provides
information on national, regional and
international preparations for the observance
of the International Year of Mountains.
Tropical Montane Cloud Forest Initiative. This
initiative was launched in February 1999 to
support the conservation of tropical montane
forests, one of the world’s most threatened
forest ecosystems. The Tropical Montane
Cloud Forest (TMCF) Initiative is a
partnership between the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP), the World
Conservation Monitoring Centre, the World
Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), IUCN and the
International Hydrological Programme of the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization. It provides information,
encourages networking and promotes new
commitments and activities by organizations
around the world that are working to
conserve these forests.
Forests in Sustainable Mountain Development.
This state-of-knowledge report identifies major
gaps in knowledge and corresponding research
needs, thus providing a framework for future
research initiatives on mountain forests (Price
and Butt, 2000). Published in 2000, it
culminates two years of work by a task force
set up by the International Union of Forestry
Research Organizations (IUFRO) and consisting
of researchers from around the world.
Mountains of the World: Mountain Forests and
Sustainable Development. This publication,
which was presented at the eighth session of
CSD in April/May 2000, addresses the causes
and consequences of deforestation in
mountain regions and presents promising
forest protection and sustainable management
measures (Centre for Development and
Environment, 2000).
Electronic Conference on Mountain People, Forests
and Trees: Strategies for Balancing Management
and Outside Interests. This five-week electronic
conference, hosted by the Mountain Forum
network in 1999, highlighted major issues,
documented examples of successful
community-based management of mountain
forests and trees around the world and made
recommendations for action (Mountain
Forum/The Mountain Institute, 2000).
NATIONAL-LEVEL EFFORTS TO
SUPPORT SUSTAINABLE FOREST
MANAGEMENT
National forest programmes
Most countries are now carrying out activities
related to the formulation and implementation of
a national forest programme, a process that
started about 15 years ago in many countries. A
national forest programme refers to an iterative
forest sector planning process. The process
involves the development of a comprehensive
forest policy framework that is consistent with a
country’s socio-economic, cultural, political and
environmental conditions, is integrated into wider
programmes for sustainable land use and
involves the participation of stakeholders. The IPF
proposals for action emphasized the need for all
countries, developed and developing, to elaborate,
14
www.mountains2002.org.
115PART III INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUE AND INITIATIVES RELATED TO FORESTS
update and/or revitalize their existing policy and
planning processes. IFF recognized national forest
programmes to be a viable framework for the
implementation of the IPF and IFF proposals.
A survey was carried out by FAO in November
1998 to assess the status of national forest
programmes worldwide, appraise their impacts,
and draw lessons for improving their
development in the future (FAO, 1999c). The
survey found that most countries of the world are
engaged in national forest programme
development to some extent and that the
development of national forest programmes has
had a positive influence on forest-related policy
and planning processes in many countries, but
that their implementation has lagged behind in
many cases. A more detailed impact evaluation is
currently being carried out in all Central and
South American countries, the results of which
are expected to be available in 2001.
Most countries implementing national forest
programmes reported increased recognition of the
importance of sustainable forest management and
of forests’ contributions to the national economy
and the environment. A number of countries
indicated wider stakeholder participation in
forestry planning and decision-making processes
in connection with national forest programmes.
Furthermore, many countries reported significant
revisions to their forestry policies and legislation
during the post-UNCED period, a development
that is indirectly linked to their national forest
programmes.
Although nearly half of the countries had
reached the stage of implementing their national
forest programmes, the process had stagnated in
many, in part owing to financial constraints. This
was particularly the case for developing countries
that are heavily dependent on external financial
assistance. Financing was reported as a critical
issue by both Latin American and African
countries. Most developing countries reported a
decline in external official development assistance
for the forestry sector in recent years. Although
financial limitations appear to be a common
constraining factor, several countries indicated
some success in mobilizing domestic resources to
support sustainable forest management through
innovative financing mechanisms.
Constraints were by no means only financial.
The survey indicated a shortage in many
countries of reliable and up-to-date data and
information on the forest sector. It also showed
that, in most countries, five key areas related to
forests required increased effort:
awareness building among the general public
and decision-makers;
institutional effectiveness and international
coordination;
partnerships and conflict resolution;
capacity building and the development of
human resources, especially related to data
collection and analysis for policy
development, planning and monitoring;
financial resources and innovative financing
mechanisms.
An initiative that aims to address some of the
weaknesses in the implementation of national
forest programmes is the UNDP Programme on
Forests (PROFOR). PROFOR was established in
1997 in response to the IPF proposals for action,
in particular the proposal encouraging countries
to develop and implement national forest
programmes and to use them as a basis to
improve cooperation in the forest sector. PROFOR
operates simultaneously in two spheres: at the
country level (e.g. in Cameroon, Costa Rica,
Guyana, Malawi and Viet Nam) to assist in the
development of national strategies for sustainable
forest management through national forest
programme processes, with a particular focus on
developing financing strategies; and at the
international level to advance the development of
policy and financing instruments to support
sustainable forest management.
PROFOR also contributes to establishing the
foundations for forest partnership arrangements
as a vehicle for coordinating sectoral support. By
collating and reviewing existing information and
analysing its own field-level and thematic work as
well as that of others, PROFOR works to improve
understanding worldwide of best practices for
116 STATE OF THE WORLD’S FORESTS 2001
achieving sustainable forest management and
poverty alleviation. The audience for the
knowledge generated by PROFOR includes the
programme’s national partners, donor agencies,
governments, non-governmental and community-
based organizations, researchers and the private
sector. The future direction to be taken by
PROFOR is currently under discussion – the
current situation is reported on the UNDP
Web site.
15
Criteria and indicators for sustainable forest
management
Over the past several years, initiatives
undertaken by governments and other
institutions, NGOs and the private sector to
develop and implement criteria and indicators
for sustainable forest management have helped
to develop a better and a common
understanding of what is meant by sustainable
forest management. Criteria and indicators were
developed in response to countries’ demands for
practical ways of assessing and monitoring
sustainable forest management at the national
level and as benchmarks to measure and report
progress towards sustainability.
The criteria define the essential elements or
principles against which sustainability is judged,
and the indicators help policy-makers and forest
managers monitor the effects of forest
management over time. Currently, about 150
countries are participating in nine major criteria
and indicator processes, although the degree to
which the criteria and indicators are used varies
considerably from country to country. The
initiatives include ITTO’s criteria for sustainable
management of tropical forests; the Pan-European
Process on Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable
Forest Management (the “Helsinki Process”); the
Montreal Process on Criteria and Indicators for
the Conservation and Sustainable Management of
Temperate and Boreal Forests Outside of Europe;
the Tarapoto Proposal for Criteria and Indicators
for Sustainability of the Amazon Forest; the Dry-
Zone Africa Process; the Near East Process; the
Lepaterique Process of Central America; the
Regional Initiative for Dry Forests in Asia; and
ATO’s identification and testing of criteria and
indicators for sustainable forest management in its
member countries.
16
While each process differs
somewhat in specific content or structure, they are
all conceptually similar in objective and approach.
Criteria of all the international, regional and
national processes and initiatives centre around
seven globally agreed elements of criteria for
sustainable forest management. An important
implication of this is that there is potential for
convergence or mutual recognition, so that over
time a common global approach may be used to
assess sustainable forest management.
While initially focusing on the assessment of
sustainability at the national level, most of these
processes have subsequently developed criteria
and indicators to be adapted and applied by
participating countries at the level of the forest
management unit. The national-level indicators
contribute mainly to the development and regular
updating of policy instruments (laws, policies,
regulations), while the indicators at the
management unit level help to improve forest
management so as to contribute to meeting
established national goals. There are now some
known cases of the use of criteria and indicators
for the forest management unit by industry and
forest communities (in both tropical and non-
tropical countries) to assess and monitor their
forest management activities.
Criteria and indicators, as neutral assessment
tools, and the certification of forest products, as a
market-based instrument to encourage improved
forest management, represent different approaches
to achieving a similar objective. In certain
countries they have been closely linked. For
example, some countries have used international
criteria and indicators (e.g. those of ITTO, the
15
www.undp.org/seed/forest.
16
Additional information is available at: www.fao.org/
forestry/FODA/Infonote/en/T-CRIT-e.stm.
117PART III INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUE AND INITIATIVES RELATED TO FORESTS
Pan-European Process and the Montreal Process)
as the basis or starting point for their certification
activities.
From the outset, various international
institutions, including FAO, UNEP and ITTO, have
collaborated with these criteria and indicators
processes and initiatives, and have helped promote
compatibility among them. IUFRO and the Center
for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) have
also helped countries review the scientific basis
for action. The most recent effort was the
convening of the Expert Consultation on Criteria
and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management
by FAO, in collaboration with UNEP, ITTO,
CIFOR and IUFRO, in support of ongoing
processes. The meeting, held in Rome in
November 2000, provided a forum for discussing
progress, future plans and options for further
enhancing comparability among processes at the
international level.
The Year 2000 Objective
ITTO adopted the Year 2000 Objective in 1991 as
the strategy by which all of its member countries
would progress towards achieving trade in
tropical timber from sustainably managed forests
by the year 2000. The baseline for assessing
progress was a 1988 ITTO report, which found
that fewer than 1 million ha of tropical rain forest
were under “sustainable” forest management for
timber production.
ITTO has been placing considerable emphasis on
assessing the extent to which the objective has been
achieved, and on identifying how to assist
countries in moving more rapidly towards the
goal. A recent review (ITTO, 2000b) showed that
member countries have come a long way towards
achieving the Year 2000 Objective, although much
more needs to be done. The review, undertaken in
early 2000, found “a very considerable
improvement over the situation recorded in 1988 …
[and] it is possible to affirm that significant
improvement has been made in policy and
legislative reform in almost all producer countries
in all three continents”. Other improvements
include the establishment of a permanent forest
estate in many countries, a greater degree of
consultation with local communities and an
encouraging trend in many countries to produce
more value-added exports. Nevertheless, the
review found that a lack of trained personnel and
finance still impedes progress in the forest sector
and that even the best-performing countries have
not yet fully achieved the objective.
In a statement issued in May 2000, ITTO
affirmed its full commitment to “moving as
rapidly as possible towards achieving exports of
tropical timber and timber products from
sustainably managed sources”. It has established a
set of priority actions that the Organization and
its members must take to continue progressing
towards sustainable forest management, and it is
reviewing the role of the Year 2000 Objective in
encouraging the timely implementation of these
actions.
Model and demonstration forests
Over the past few years, there has been an
increase in the number of model and
demonstration forest initiatives designed to
demonstrate sustainable forest management in
practice and to promote the implementation of
national forest programmes in the field.
The model forest concept was developed in
Canada in the early 1990s. The concept, which is
applicable to all types of forests, promotes the
building of partnerships of stakeholders for the
development, testing, implementation and
demonstration of innovative, sustainable
approaches to the management of forests for a
range of benefits in accordance with UNCED’s
Forest Principles. Model forests are generally
relatively large in size (existing sites range from
60 000 to 2.7 million ha) and forestry is the main,
but not necessarily the only, land use. Important
activities in model forests include defining
sustainable forest management in locally relevant
terms, developing and monitoring local-level
indicators to measure progress towards sustainable
forest management, sharing information and
experiences through demonstrations and
networking, and establishing active feedback
118 STATE OF THE WORLD’S FORESTS 2001
mechanisms between local and national or
subnational policy levels. Individual sites are
linked through national networks and through the
International Model Forest Network.
17
At present, there are 22 model forests, covering
a total of more than 12 million ha in seven
countries (Canada, Chile, China, Japan, Mexico,
the Russian Federation and the United States).
Others are being established in a further six
countries (Argentina, Indonesia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam). In addition,
Australia, Brazil, India, Malawi, Panama, Papua
New Guinea, Paraguay, the Republic of Korea
and Senegal have expressed an interest in
developing model forests. Between 1998 and 2000,
a series of four International Workshops on Model
Forests for Field Level Application of Sustainable
Forest Management was organized and hosted by
Japan in technical collaboration with FAO and the
International Model Forest Network Secretariat.
Two demonstration forest initiatives, with
aims similar to those of model forests, have been
launched in Latin America: the Demonstration
Forest Management Areas in Central America,
supported by CATIE; and the Network of
Demonstration Watersheds in Mountain Areas of
Latin America, established in 2000 by the FAO-
supported Latin American Network of Technical
Cooperation in Watershed Management. The
objectives of this last initiative are to promote
participation in integrated natural resource
management of mountain watersheds through
the demonstration and dissemination of
information, and to strengthen institutions
involved in such work.
Other initiatives include ITTO’s demonstration
areas and its Model Forest Management Area in
Sarawak, Malaysia; the ITTO/CIFOR/Indonesia
model forest in Bulungan, Indonesia; and China’s
network of eight experimental and demonstration
areas covering the country’s main ecozones. The
Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission’s ad hoc
Working Group on Sustainable Forest Management
is currently drawing up a list of forests under
sustainable forest management in the region that
could potentially serve as demonstration sites.
OTHER INITIATIVES
World Bank forest policy review
Between March 1998 and December 2000, the
World Bank reviewed its 1991 Forest Policy
through its Forest Policy Implementation Review
and Strategy (FPIRS). Not only may the review
lead to significant new directions in World Bank
funding in the forest sector, but it could affect the
Bank’s activities in other sectors that have a major
impact on forests.
The World Bank’s Environmentally and Socially
Sustainable Development Network managed the
review while, in a parallel process, an independent
review of the Bank’s forestry portfolio was carried
out by its Operations Evaluation Department. The
first phase of the FPIRS (May 1998 to June 2000)
consisted of the Operations Evaluation
Department’s review; reviews of the forest policy’s
implementation in projects by the International
Finance Corporation and the Global Environment
Facility; the preparation of thematic studies; and
consultations inside and outside the Bank. In the
second phase (January to May 2000), nine regional
meetings were held to discuss the reviews’
findings and to elicit broad-based stakeholder
input from around the world. The draft strategy,
policy and internal implementation plan were
written during the third phase (June to December
2000) and were due to be presented to the Board
of the World Bank in December 2000.
When this publication was prepared, the draft
strategy was not yet available, but consensus was
emerging in the discussions for major shifts in
direction from the 1991 Forest Policy. Whereas the
objectives of the 1991 policy were combating
deforestation, resource expansion and
intensification, the proposed new objectives were
poverty reduction, sustainable development and
the protection of global values. Shifts in emphasis
from moist tropical forest to all types of forest,
and from biological diversity conservation to
broader objectives (including support to rural
17
For details, refer to www.idrc.ca/imfn/index.html.
119PART III INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUE AND INITIATIVES RELATED TO FORESTS
livelihoods, soil and water conservation, and the
production of forest products) were also being
discussed. The World Bank’s so-called logging
ban in primary tropical moist forests was being
reconsidered in favour of the prevention of
destruction in any forests of high protection/
conservation value, but still allowing for the
sustainable use and development of forest
resources. Support was strong for a policy that
went beyond the forest sector to a broad cross-
sectoral focus on “forests”.
The FPIRS process was notable from two
standpoints: first, for the candour with which the
World Bank review addressed the shortcomings
of the implementation of its 1991 Forest Policy
and, second, for the participatory manner in
which the policy review and strategy
development were carried out. A substantial effort
was made to ensure transparency and wide
participation throughout the course of the FPIRS.
The relevant Web site
18
provided updated
information on FPIRS progress and easy access to
the review’s documents. The regional
consultations attempted to garner worldwide
input, and NGOs were invited to – and did –
play a major role by providing opinions and
advice through consultations and the Technical
Advisory Group for the new policy/strategy.
G8 support for sustainable forest management
The Heads of State of the G8 countries (Canada,
France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Russian
Federation, the United Kingdom and the United
States) approved an action programme on forests
at its summit in Birmingham, the United
Kingdom in May 1998. The G8 Action
Programme on Forests has five elements: the
monitoring and assessment of forests, national
forest programmes, protected areas, the private
sector and illegal logging. An initial report on the
implementation of the programme was presented
at the G8 Summit in Miyazaki, Japan on 12 and
18
For an update on the FPIRS, see: http:/wbln0018.worldbank.
org/essd/forestpol-e.nsf/MainView?OpenView.
13 July 2000. A final progress report is to be
provided to the G8 in 2002. At Miyazaki, the
countries reaffirmed their commitment to and
practice of sustainable forest management, agreed
to take initiatives to implement the IPF and IFF
proposals for action, and reaffirmed their
commitment to combating illegal logging.
IUFRO World Congress
Convened every five years, IUFRO congresses
provide scientists from around the world with an
opportunity to present their forestry-related
research activities and findings.
The XXI World Congress of the International
Union of Forestry Research Organizations was
held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 7 to 12
August 2000. Nearly 2 400 delegates from 96
countries participated in what was the largest
forestry meeting ever held in Malaysia. The theme
was Forests and Society: the Role of Research, and
the focus was on the role of research in
addressing the emerging issues in forestry today
and on the close links between forests and society.
Nearly 600 papers were presented and 500
posters displayed. The Congress passed
resolutions on current forestry issues, including:
the role of forests and trees in human welfare; the
need for policy-makers to enhance the interface
between science, policy and industry; the role of
IUFRO in intergovernmental processes;
networking and an interdisciplinary approach to
research; information supply and access; and the
enhancement of research capacity through the
encouragement of women and disadvantaged
researchers to engage in forest science.
The Pilot Analysis of Global Ecosystems and
the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
The Pilot Analysis of Global Ecosystems (PAGE),
carried out from 1999 to 2000, is an evaluation of
the global condition of five major ecosystems:
agro-ecosystems, coastal areas, forests, freshwater
systems and grasslands. In September 2000, the
partners in the study – the World Resources
Institute (WRI), UNDP, UNEP and the World Bank
– presented the results at various international
120 STATE OF THE WORLD’S FORESTS 2001
venues and published their findings in the Guide
to world resources 2000-2001. People and ecosystems:
the fraying web of life (Rosen, 2000). PAGE serves as
the foundation for a more comprehensive
assessment of the world’s ecosystems, called the
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Planning for
this assessment has been under way since 1998,
and substantive operations were due to begin in
early 2001. Endorsed by the UN Secretary-General,
Kofi Annan, in his “Millennium Report” in April
2000, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment has
been authorized as a joint assessment by the
secretariats or parties to the Ramsar Convention,
the Convention to Combat Desertification and the
Convention on Biological Diversity. It will be
conducted under a partnership arrangement
between several UN agencies, the conventions
mentioned above, the World Bank, WRI and
several other institutions. It is expected to
generate new information, integrate current
knowledge, develop methodological tools, build
human and institutional capacity for undertaking
integrated ecosystem assessments, and increase
public awareness about the condition of
ecosystems globally.
19
The role of NGOs in international discussions
and initiatives on forests
20
Non-governmental organizations – including
environmental NGOs, indigenous peoples’
organizations and some industry groups – are
playing a variety of roles in decision-making and
implementation of action concerning forests.
Active participation by NGOs gives
intergovernmental processes added credibility and
a higher political profile, and the substantive
expertise and experience of NGOs help to link
policy to practice and to highlight practical
solutions to real world problems. NGOs also play
an important role in focusing public attention on
threats and opportunities related to forests.
NGOs have been particularly active in
international discussions and initiatives on forests.
In the past year, for example, they have
contributed to important decisions on
conservation and protected area issues in IFF and
to the decision of the Conference of the Parties to
the Convention on Biological Diversity to consider
a more action-oriented programme of work on
forest biological diversity in the future. In
addition, NGOs were effective in informing and
reflecting public concern about a possible forest
products agreement during the Seattle ministerial
meeting of the World Trade Organization in
November 1999 and about International Monetary
Fund policies during the Fund’s Washington, DC
meeting in April 2000.
However, there have been disappointments.
Despite NGOs’ efforts, the implementation of
commitments under Agenda 21 and of the
proposals for action of IPF, IFF, the Convention on
Biological Diversity and the FCCC has not
reached the level needed. Furthermore, in
their home countries, NGOs find that they
are underutilized as implementers of
forest action.
While it would be unrealistic to expect a broad
and diverse group of NGOs to arrive at common
positions on key forest issues, there has been
some convergence of opinion among those active
in international forest discussions. For example,
almost all of those NGOs have opposed a
proposed global forest convention, partly because
they lack confidence in the willingness of
governments to implement their forest-related
commitments under existing agreements,
particularly the Convention on Biological
Diversity, the FCCC and its Kyoto Protocol,
Agenda 21 and the IPF proposals for action.
The negotiations on the establishment of UNFF
have been conducted without any formal
opportunity for NGOs or other parts of civil
society to provide input. NGOs will not be
included in the Technical Expert Group on
Forests established under the Convention on
Biological Diversity and may not even secure
observer status.
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Additional information is available on the Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment Web site at: www.ma-secretariat.org.
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This section was provided by IUCN and WWF International.
121PART III INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUE AND INITIATIVES RELATED TO FORESTS
Frustration with the intergovernmental process
is pushing NGOs to take alternative approaches.
One encouraging sign is the increasing interest of
forest NGOs in forming innovative partnerships
with other sectors of society. For example, the
Alliance between the World Bank and WWF has
been followed by formal collaboration between
the World Bank and IUCN in the World Bank’s
FPIRS.
NGOs are playing an active and important role
in providing useful information for international
discussions and action concerning forests. For
example, a group of NGOs from several countries
came together in 2000 to produce a status report
on the implementation of the IPF proposals for
action, and IUCN is currently working with its
partners to produce the first Temperate and
Boreal Forest Atlas.
These types of multistakeholder and action-
oriented partnerships and initiatives make an
important, if not essential, contribution to
international efforts on forests. ◆
