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RRI report highlights huge gap in forestry laws and their application

News from the RECOFTC-RRI International Conference on Poverty Reduction and Forests: Tenure, Market and Policy Reforms, 4-7 September 2007, Bangkok

Bangkok, September 7, 2007

Huge Gap in Forestry Laws and Their Application

A startling new report released today at an international conference in Bangkok on Poverty Reduction and Forests reveals the precarious situation of millions of people whose lives depend on the fast-depleting forests of SE Asia.

With over one billion of the world's poorest people living in and near areas classified as forests, urgent reforms need to be implemented to give them secure rights on which to rebuild their lives.

The report, Land, Forest and People: Facing the Challenges in South-East Asia, was compiled by a coalition of local, national and international agencies. It shows that a huge gap remains between legal options and realities on the ground. It is part of the Listening, Learning Sharing Launch (LLSL) - a scoping exercise to launch the Rights and Resources Initiative, and is co-authored by RECOFTC, ICRAF, and Forest Peoples Programme.

Launching the report, the Executive Director of the Bangkok-based Regional Community Forestry Training Centre (RECOFTC), Dr Yam Malla, said that “while some countries lag behind others in drafting new laws, the most glaring gap we have found is between the law and its application on the ground.

“Most people’s lives in forests remain insecure and even illegal. The result is increasing poverty, continuing marginalisation and, at times, violence,” he said.

Read the press release | Read the report

Posted By Megan Liddle at 11:04am on September 07, 2007

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