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China’s Forest Tenure Reforms Jintao Xu, Peking University et al
Publications and Reports
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Forests, Conflict and Climate Change Rights and Resources Group Staff, Liz Alden Wily, David Rhodes, Madhu Sarin, Mina Setra, Phil Shearman - Rights and Resources, The Centre for People and Forests, Forest Peoples Programme, World Agroforestry Centre
Forests have long been a hinterland: remote, “backward” areas largely controlled by external, often urban, actors and seen to be of little use to national development or the world except as a supply of low-valued natural resources. 2009 marks the beginning of the end of this era: Forest lands are booming in value for the production of food, fuel, fiber and now carbon. New global satellite and communications technology allow the world to peer into, assess the value of, and potentially control forests from anywhere in the world. More than ever, forests are bargaining chips in global climate negotiations and markets. This unprecedented exposure and pressure, and risk to local people and their forests, is being met by unprecedented levels of local organization and political influence, providing nations and the world at large tremendous opportunity to right historic wrongs, advance rural development and save forests. But the chaos in Copenhagen at COP15 laid bare the looming crises that the world will face if the longer-term trends of ignored rights, hunger, and climate change remain inadequately addressed in 2010. While the era of the hinterland is ending, the future of forest areas is not yet clear. There will be unparalleled national and global attention and investment in forests in 2010—but who will drive the agenda and who will make the decisions? Will forest areas remain controlled from beyond? On whose terms will the hinterland be integrated into global markets and politics? This report takes stock of the current status of forest rights and tenure globally, assesses the key issues and trends of 2009, and identifies key questions and challenges that we will face in 2010. |
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A report commissioned by Green Advocates, Monrovia, Liberia P. L. Shearman - Remote Sensing Centre, Univeristy of Papua New Guinea, Green Advocates, Rights and Resources
This report provides an overview of the history of overestimation of extractable timber volumes and forest areas and its implications for the management of the Liberian forestry sector. |
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From simple rules to systems to promote best practices and compliance Hans Gregersen, Arnoldo Contreras - Rights and Resources
This paper returns to the particular issue of regulatory frameworks: the rules and systems put in place to encourage best practice and compliance with the official rules. It argues that in many countries the regulatory framework needs to be rethought, and rethought on the basis of today’s political, social and market contexts; recognizing that today’s world is much different than when the forest regulations were designed decades, or in some cases, centuries before. Fortunately, there are examples of redesigned, and successful regulatory approaches that are combined with incentives and partnering approaches to create coherent systems for guiding and controlling forest activity. We can learn a lot from looking at the experiences gained with these systems. |
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Impacts and implications for choice, conservation, and climate change Jintao Xu, Andy White, Uma Lele - Peking University, Rights and Resources
Global concern with climate change has brought new focus to the problem of unclear land tenure both as a driver of deforestation and a prerequisite for effective forest protection and restoration. In this report, China’s recent forest land reforms provide a valuable case study for this global challenge. The reforms have increased forestry’s contribution to household income and reforestation. As such, they have improved China’s ability to mitigate and adapt to climate change. More reforms are necessary to establish adequate protection for household and community land rights and the regulation of the emerging land market.
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Getting to the Crux of the Natural Resources Crisis Liz Alden Wily - Rights and Resources
As the world's governments and international enterprise become increasingly interested in land acquisition for food production, the importance of legal customary tenure recognition becomes more apparent. This presentation was given to a Public Meeting at the Overseas Development Institute, London, 26 November 2009, to launch Uncharted Territory: Land, Conflict and Humanitarian Action, ed. Sara Pantuliano, Practical Action Publishing, 2009. |
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Lessons learned from the application of rights based approaches to natural resource governance in Ghana, Uganda and Nepal Tom Blomley, Phil Franks, Maksha Ram Maharjan - CARE Danmark, FECOFUN, Forest Watch Ghana, Rights and Resources
This paper provides a retrospective review of a new RBA-centred approach that has been applied in practice, particularly in three countries: namely Uganda, Ghana and Nepal. In contrast to many international NGOs working with RBA, CARE has chosen to focus on the application of procedural rights—rather than a more confrontational approach to the adoption of substantive rights. An approach that promotes procedural rights is seen as a useful entry point to issues of power, governance and equity, within the broader framework of sustainable natural resources management. |
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Redressing ‘historical injustice’ through the Indian Forest Rights Act 2006 A Historical Institutional analysis of contemporary forest rights reform Oliver Springate-Baginski, Madhu Sarin, Soumitra Ghosh, Purnamita Dasgupta, Indranil Bose, Ajit Banerjee, Kailas Sarap, Pradeep Misra, Sricharan Behera, M. Gopinath Reddy, P.Trinadh Rao - Reserach Programme Consortium for Improving Institutions for Pro-Poor Growth, School of Environment & Development University of Manchester
The issue of forest rights in India is a major concern by any measure. It affects forested landscapes that cover over 23% of the country, and the livelihoods of perhaps 200 million citizens, as many as 20% of the population in a democratic polity. Forest landscape dwelling populations, located mainly in a tribal belt across central and eastern areas of the country, are amongst the poorest of the poor. Their poverty reflects a history of institutionalised disenfranchisement; having their customary forest land expropriated, and use rights negated by feudal states, by the colonial state and subsequently by the independent Indian government. The issue of forest rights has been highly contentious for at least a century and a half, and has intensified in recent years. This paper analyses the historical origins of forest rights deprivation and contemporary processes through which local people are seeking to restore their forest rights, taking the case of the Indian Forest Rights Act 2006 (FRA hereafter) as an example to illustrate wider issues in historical institutional theory. The paper explores how the colonial state’s decision to ‘territorialise’ forest landscapes in 1864 through formation of the Imperial Forestry Service represented a critical juncture establishing institutional structures depriving forest people of their customary rights which have shown remarkable persistent ‘path dependency’ despite 50 years of Independence, until the present time. Although the FRA appears to be a fundamental reform, indeed perhaps a new ‘critical juncture’ in the relationship between forest peoples and the state - the depth and durability of this reform remains uncertain, due primarily to the ‘path dependent’ behaviour of the powerful existing state forest bureaucracies, which remain a major obstacle to realising the pro-poor potentials. |
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Key Recommendations of State Level Consultation on Forest Rights Act Community Forest Rights: Scope, Challenges & Prospects - VASUNDHARA
This document summarizes the key recommendations which emerged from a State Level Workshop on Forest Rights Act with a specific focus on the recognition of community forest rights, organized by Vasundhara at DRTC, Bhubaneswar, India from 1st to 3rd September 2009. |
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International Conference on Community Rights, Forests and Climate Change Final Report - Teri, Rights and Resources, Defra
This Final Report presents the key messages, points and recommendations from the International Conference on Community Rights, Forests and Climate Change which was held in New Delhi, India from 17-18 August 2009. |
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Rights, forests and climate briefing series – October 2009 - Forest Peoples Programme
This analytical brief focuses on accountability issues relating to the World Bank's Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF). |
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The World Bank’s Forest Investment Programme (FIP): core elements and critical issues Rights, forests and climate briefing series – October 2009 - Forest Peoples Programme
This analytical brief focuses on the future structure and operation of the Forest Investment Programme (FIP). |
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Indonesia: indigenous peoples and the Kampar Peninsula Rights, forests and climate briefing series – October 2009 - Forest Peoples Programme
This analytical brief focuses on land-use plans concerning indigenous lands of the Kampar Peninsula. |
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NSCFP Discussion Paper No. 7 Dr. Bharat K. Pokharel, Sarah Byrne - Intercooperation
This paper outlines options for rural communities to participate in climate change mitigation and adaptation activities in the forest sector in Nepal. It looks at the various institutional barriers that would need to be overcome, as well as the existing institutional opportunities, particularly in relation to tenure rights. |
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Forests, landscapes and governance multiple actors, multiple roles Jane Carter, Kaspar Schmidt, Patrick Robinson, Thomas Stadtmüller, Arjumand Nizami - Intercooperation
This report comes out of a series of meetings organized by Intercooperation and Helvetas on Forests, Landscapes and Governance. It brings together the views and experiences of practitioners working in many different countries. |
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Rights Contestations through Community Mapping in Cameroon Peter Mbile - ICRAF
A look at the role and types of community mapping in the analysis of community rights in Cameroon.
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Customary Practices and Forest Tenure Reforms in Africa - Status, Issues and Lessons Edmund Barrow, Kamugisha-Ruhombe Jones, Isilda Nhantumbo, Rene Oyono, Moumini Savadogo - IUCN
Lessons and findings regarding customary practices and Africa's forest tenure reform process |
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An introduction to the forest tenure transition in Asia, 2002-2008 - Rights and Resources
In recent decades there has been a shift away from government control of forest land towards increasing access and ownership for indigenous groups, communities, individuals, and firms. This brief highlights this transition in statutory forest tenure from 2002-2008 in Asia. The brief focuses on forest land tenure, but tenure over other forest resources (timber, non-timber forest products, carbon, sub-soil mineral ores, etc.) is often just as important. Moreover, although the focus is only on tenure in this analysis, the regulatory framework is also critically important because it specifies the rules regarding land use and who gets access to what resources.
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Alternative Tenure and Enterprises in Ghana Gene Birikorang, Kwesi Bedu Mensah, Yaw Poku, Mercy Owusu Ansah - Hamilton Resources and Consulting
The present Ghana context study is part of a larger body of research on alternative tenure and enterprise models (ATEMs) for Central and West Africa which includes case studies from seven countries and two country context studies. As such, it provides a broader context for the individual case studies, as it analyzes the current status of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) at national level and considers their opportunities in domestic as well as regional or international markets. |
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The Gambia: Alternative Tenure and Enterprise Models Brief Kanimang Camara - National Consultancy on Extension Services and Training
The present Gambia context study brief is part of a larger body of research on alternative tenure and enterprise models (ATEMs) for Central and West Africa which includes case studies from seven countries and two country context studies. As such, it provides a broader context for the individual case studies, as it analyzes the current status of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) at national level and considers their opportunities in domestic as well as regional or international markets. |
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Payments for Environmental Services and Poverty Reduction Risks and Opportunities Erica Lee and Sango Mahanty - RECOFTC
This paper analyzes the linkages between PES, forests, and poverty, defining poverty not only in terms of deprivation and livelihood flows, but also in terms of social and political marginalization, as well as vulnerability to social and environmental risk. Emerging evidence on how PES impacts the livelihoods of the rural poor suggests that livelihoods are not just about securing financial assets but also human, social, and physical assets. Blindness to social welfare could fuel the risk of adverse social outcomes, and could mean foregoing opportunities to improve the circumstances of the rural poor. |
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Patrice Pa'ah, Marike Michel - CAFT, AGFC
Une étude sur l'appui institutionnel sur la foresterie communautaire au Guatemala. |
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Updated Version Tom Griffiths, Francesco Martone - Forest Peoples Programme
Governments will decide by the end of 2009 how developing country forests will be included in global efforts to mitigate climate change as part of a new post-2012 climate regime. Current negotiations seek consensus on the most effective methods and incentives for ‘reducing emissions from deforestation and for degradation’ (REDD), under which Northern countries would pay Southern countries for forestry practices within their national borders. One proposal is to give them aid money for the purpose. Another is for Southern countries to sell the carbon locked up in their forests to the North to allow Northern industries to continue polluting as usual under a global system of carbon trading. Other proposals recommend a combined public fund and market approach. In parallel with the global climate negotiations, agencies like the World Bank and UN as well as donors like Norway have established a series of large international forest and climate initiatives to support governments to design REDD strategies and implement ‘demonstration’ activities. Donors are under pressure to generate early results and developing country governments are scrambling to secure REDD funds. At the same time, there is a rapid proliferation of voluntary REDD initiatives run by conservation NGOs, local governments and carbon finance companies seeking to make profits out of carbon in standing tropical forests. |
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Tropical Forest Tenure Assessment Trends, Challenges and Opportunities - Rights and Resources, International Tropical Timber Organization
The goal of this report is to present and analyze the state of forest tenure in much of the world’s tropical forests. Secure forest tenure is not only important for climate change mitigation – it is a basic building block of economic growth, social cohesion, personal well-being and environmental protection. While this report highlights evolutions in the geographical extent of forest ownership distribution, it also identifies some of the main challenges to the highly qualitative concept of tenure security and points out several opportunities to capitalize on recent transitions to widen the reach of local community tenure and to deepen the exercise of tenure rights.
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Alternative Tenure and Enterprise Models in Ghana A Country-Level Study - Hamilton Resources and Consulting, Accra, Rights and Resources
This research reflects new Terms of Reference (case study and country context protocols) for analyzing the alternate tenure and enterprise models in CWA building on the background analyses and on work that Civil have developed on recognition of alternate tenure rights and civil society institutions. Based on this background work and African policy maker and civil society requests, a detailed work program has been developed to identify and promote alternative tenure and enterprise model (ATEM) alternatives to African livelihoods, economies, and the environment, and engage policy makers and civil society in advancing such pro-poor and rights-based models. |
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Land Rights and the Forest Peoples of Africa Historical, Legal and Anthropological Perspectives Valérie Couillard, Jérémie Gilbert, Justin Kenrick, Christopher Kidd - Forest Peoples Programme, Middlesex University, University of Glasgow
A series of five country studies, plus a broad overview, examining indigenous peoples' land rights in the forested countries of Africa.
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Alternative Tenure and Enterprise Models in Ghana Brief Kwesi Bedu Mensah, Yaw Poku, Mercy Owusu Ansah, Gene Birikorang - Hamilton Resources and Consulting
This Ghana context study brief is part of a larger body of research on alternative tenure and enterprise models (ATEMs) for Central and West Africa which includes case studies from seven countries and two country context studies. As such, it provides a broader context for the individual case studies, as it analyzes the current status of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) at national level and considers their opportunities in domestic as well as regional or international markets. |
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Frances K. Colee - Green Advocates
This Liberia context study brief is part of a larger body of research on alternative tenure and enterprise models (ATEMs) for Central and West Africa which includes case studies from seven countries and two country context studies. As such, it provides a broader context for the individual case studies, as it analyzes the current status of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) at national level and considers their opportunities in domestic as well as regional or international markets. |
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Belmond Tchoumba, Cécile Ndjebet - Centre pour le développement et l'environnement, Ecologie Cameroun
Une introduction aux reformes entreprises par le gouvernement de la Colombie Britannique pour reconnaître les droits des peuples autochtones et pour mieux faciliter la foresterie communautaire. |
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Alternate Tenure and Enterprise Models in Cameroon Community Forests in the Context of Community Rights and Forest Landscapes Peter Mbile, Gilbert Ndzomo-Abanda, Anicet Misouma - World Agroforestry Centre, Ngovayang Forest Project, Cameroon, Regional Delegate Ministry of Forest and Wildlife, Cameroon
The present Cameroon context study brief is part of a larger body of research on alternative tenure and enterprise models (ATEMs) for Central and West Africa which includes case studies from seven countries and two country context studies. As such, it provides a broader context for the individual case studies, as it analyzes the current status of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) at national level and considers their opportunities in domestic as well as regional or international markets. |
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Improving Equity and the Means of Subsistence in Community Forestry in Burkina Faso Bocar Kante - CIFOR
This brief is part of a series of case studies conducted on Alternative Tenure and Enterprise Models.
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- IUCN, CEESP, WXPA, TILCEPA, TGER, WAMP, GTZ, GEF, Genesta, GEM-CON-BIO
Indigenous and community conserved areas (ICCAs) have emerged as a major new phenomenon in formal conservation circles, though their existence is as old as human civilisation itself. International policies and programmes, notably those under the Convention on Biological Diversity, require countries to provide them with recognition and support. There is precious little guidance, however, on how to do this in ways that strengthen the governance of indigenous people and communities, rather than undermining their initiatives. This Briefing Note attempts to provide some tips towards sensitive recognition and support of ICCAs. It addresses governmental and non-governmental organizations, indigenous peoples and local communities willing to engage in exchanges of experiences and mutual learning and active support. |
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Kalpavriksh Newsletter - April 2009 - Issue 7 Tracking the Forest Rights Act Arshiya Bose, Ashish Kothari - Kalpavriksh
This is the 7th issue of the newsletter from Kalpavriksh, which tracks the progress and implementation of the Forest Rights Act in India. |
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Who Owns the Forests of Africa? An introduction to the forest tenure transition in Africa, 2002-2008 - Rights and Resources
In recent decades there has been a shift away from government control of forest land towards increasing access and ownership for indigenous groups, communities, individuals, and firms. This brief highlights this transition in statutory forest tenure from 2002-2008 in Africa. The brief focuses on forest land tenure, but tenure over other forest resources (timber, non-timber forest products, carbon, sub-soil mineral ores, etc.) is often just as important. Moreover, although the focus is only on tenure in this analysis, the regulatory framework is also critically important because it specifies the rules regarding land use and who gets access to what resources.
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Forestry and Poverty Data in Viet Nam: Status, Gaps, and Potential Uses Nguyen Ba Ngai, Nguyen Quang Tan, William D. Sunderlin, Yurdi Yasmi - Rights and Resources, RECOFTC, Viet Nam Forestry University
This paper is a key output from the Transforming China’s Forests Impacts in
Southeast Asia: Advancing Pro-Poor Market Reform for Sustainable Livelihoods and Forests project, conducted by RECOFTC and the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI). The project aim is to advance policy and market reforms in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Viet Nam. |
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- Forest Peoples Programme
Given that indigenous peoples are the traditional owners of a large percentage of the world’s remaining forests, to what extent should or must the various proposals for REDD or AD account for and respect indigenous peoples’ rights? As a way of thinking about this question, this note looks at a case decided by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (“the Court” or “the Inter-American Court”) in November 2007, the Saramaka People v. Suriname case. It concludes that attention to indigenous peoples’ rights is not only desirable as a means to improve the effectiveness and sustainability of climate change mitigation measures, but, also, that these rights must be viewed as part of the applicable legal framework for conceiving and implementing such measures. Failure to do so undermines the rule of law and will expose REDD proponents and investors to a series of serious risks. |
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Tenure Rights and Beyond: Community Access to Forest Resources in Latin America Anne M. Larson, Peter Cronkleton, Deborah Barry, Pablo Pacheco - CIFOR
This occasional paper is the result of research carried out from 2006 to 2008 on the effects of new tenure rights for forest-based communities in Latin America on access to forest resources and benefits. |
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The role of informal institutions in the use of forest resources in Latin America Pablo Pacheco, Deborah Barry, Peter Cronkleton, Anne M. Larson - CIFOR
This study adopts an institutional approach to analyze the way in which informal rules, in their interaction with formal rules, shape the use of forest resources by diverse types of smallholders and communities (i.e., indigenous people, agro-extractive and traditional communities) in Latin America. |
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Kalpavriksh Newsletter - Issue 6, February 2009 Tracking the Forest Rights Act Arshiya Bose, Ashish Kothari - Kalpavriksh
This is the 6th issue of the newsletter from Kalpavriksh, which tracks the progress and implementation of the Forest Rights Act in India. |
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Strategy Note Phil René Oyono, Martin Biyong, Iris Flore Bayang, Calvin Sahmo - Cameroon Ecology
This report is a part of a series of studies focused on Alternative Forestry Tenure and Enterprise Models.
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- Rights and Resources, Rainforest Foundation Norway
Moving towards Copenhagen, governments party to the UNFCCC are preparing plans that will include forests in a global framework for addressing climate change mitigation. In this pivotal moment, it is critical to recognize, protect and strengthen the rights of indigenous peoples and forest communities — their full participation will be essential to the success of climate intervention strategies designed here.
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Simone Lovera - CEESP Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policies - IUCN, TGER Theme on Governance Equity and Rights - IUCN, TILCEPA Theme on Governance, Communities, Equity and Livelihoods in relation to Protected Areas - IUCN
This discussion paper is a contribution to the debate about policies and incentives to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD). It focuses on the potential of governance of forests by indigenous peoples and local communities, and discusses implications of envisaged REDD regimes for local rights. The note discusses why equity and community engagement should be a paramount consideration of REDD regime and highlights opportunities as well as potential complications and pitfalls. It argues that crucial links need to be drawn between effective REDD regimes, biodiversity conservation and human rights instruments like the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. |
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Chip Fay - World Agroforestry Centre
The Southeast Asia office of the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) worked with current RRI partners and selected individuals in the Asia region in the development of this regional overview of the main legal and regulatory questions concerning the ownership or access to and management of land-based natural resources. The following eight country studies were carried out as background material for RRI members and others interested in getting a relatively quick picture of the situation in each country. The format was designed to be consistent in order to facilitate information flow and uniformity. |
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Kalpavriksh Newsletter - Issue 5, December 2008 Tracking the Forest Rights Act Arshiya Bose, Ashish Kothari - Kalpavriksh
This is the 5th issue of the newsletter from Kalpavriksh, which tracks the progress and implementation of the Forest Rights Act in India. |
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Peter Leigh Taylor, Peter Cronkleton, Deborah Barry, Samantha Stone-Jovicich, Marianne Schmink - CIFOR, Colorado State University-Fort Collins, University of Florida, Gainsville
Communities are making unprecedented gains worldwide in forest resource access and management rights. A new conservation actor, the forest steward community, is emerging in Central America as an effective collaborator in forest conservation. How best to support and strengthen this community-based conservation actor while minimizing external dependency? This paper discusses an experience with innovative participatory research in Guatemala and Nicaragua that aimed to strengthen community capabilities in natural resource management. The Grassroots Assistance Project trained community members to document and critically reflect upon local experience with forest management and external assistance. Together with regional context studies undertaken by professional researchers, these local ‘autosystematization’ studies made possible comprehensive documentation of the multiple dimensions of communities’ resource management, identification of their strengths and vulnerabilities and discussion of future strategies. Their endeavours also reveal an emerging alternative ‘accompaniment’ approach to technical assistance, which promotes a high level of partnership between communities and external institutions, in contrast to traditional assistance, which often creates dependency. Technical ‘accompaniment’ emphasizes long-term social processes, shared learning, community empowerment, validation of local knowledge and continual strengthening of organizational capabilities. It also suggests organizing assistance to pursue closer proximity to communities and their processes, flattening of technical staff hierarchies, flexible response to community input, more horizontal information exchange, and incorporation of social process indicators into assessment. Employed in combination with more traditional assistance approaches, the technical ‘accompaniment’ approach holds promise for strengthening communities’ capabilities as key allies in protecting and managing the environment for the future.
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Social Policies of Forest Concessionaries in West and Central Africa Alain Karsenty, Chloé Jégou, Benjamin Singer - French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development, Sciences Po Grenoble
This report cites a limited number of companies for their achievements in social relations within the enterprise and with local populations. Those companies operate also in a small number of countries, namely Gabon, Congo-Brazzaville, Ghana, Cameroon and DRC. On one hand, this recurrence reflects the heterogeneity of practices amongst the companies, most of which still have few social achievements to speak of, thus limiting the instances of progressive behaviour deserving to be cited. On the other hand, this report might not be equitable with some companies which may have made genuine efforts on social issues but which are not cited here due to the authors’ inability to contact them at the time of the study – many of the messages sent remain unanswered. |
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Climate Change and Governance in the Forest Sector An overview of the issues on forests and climate change with specific consideration of sector governance, tenure and access for local stakeholders Carmenza Robledo, Jürgen Blaser, Sarah Byrne, Kaspar Schmidt - Intercooperation, Rights and Resources
Using forest options for addressing climate change requires a serious improvement in governance of forest resources that goes beyond traditional notions of governance and that includes issues regarding the public sector, the private sector, and civil society. Good governance of forest resources is critical for addressing climate change. Therefore, major efforts are needed for improving transparency, accountability, and equity within and among the public sector, the private sector, and civil society. For the achievement of good governance, clarification of forest tenure and use rights in favor of local forest-dependent stakeholders is a priority. Because of their nature, climate change options in forestry will always require high standards for implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. Thus, high governance standards are an ultimate requirement. Unless robust and proactive steps are taken to clarify and strengthen the property rights of rural and forest peoples, future climate change initiatives will benefit only a few, primarily wealthy elites and will reinforce existing social and economic disparities.
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Local Rights and Tenure for Forests Opportunity or Threat for Conservation? Jeffrey Sayer, Jeffrey McNeely, Stewart Maginnis, Into Boedhihartono, Gill Shepherd, Bob Fisher - IUCN, Rights and Resources
Conservation organizations are becoming increasingly aware of the need to deal equitably with local peoples’ rights to forest land and forest resources. “Rights-based” approaches to conservation are being widely promoted.1 In many situations these “Rights-based Approaches” are evolving alongside major forest governance reform initiatives. These two trends might be expected to seek similar goals – greater equity and certainty over who can use forests and for what purpose. The reality is that the processes of governance and rights reform are revealing underlying tensions between the needs to husband the local values of forests versus the need to conserve the so-called public goods values that accrue to society at large. Reconciling the trade-offs between local and public goods values will be a major challenge for resource managers in coming decades.
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Beyond Timber: Certification and Management of Non-Timber Forest Products Patricia Shanley, Alan Pierce, Sarah Laird, Dawn Robinson - CIFOR, Forest Trends
Forest certification is a market-based instrument that aims to encourage sustainable forest management for the multiple values of the forest beyond timber, to include non-timber forest products (NTFPs) and services, social and cultural values and future options. To date, there are over fifty commercial NTFPs for which certification standards have been approved and on-going evaluations of original products in new countries and forest types. Thus far, the share of certified timber in the marketplace makes up less than 1 percent of the total forest area and less than 3 percent of the total timber trade value, although it is growing significantly. The share of the commercial value of certified NTFPs is even smaller, as NTFP certification is still in its infancy. |
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Kalpavriksh Newsletter - Issue 4, October 2008 Arshiya Bose, Ashish Kothari - Kalpavriksh
Issue 4 of the monthly newsletter from Kalpavriksh which tracks the progress and implementation of the Forest Rights Act in India. |
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The African Human Rights System A Guide for Indigenous Peoples Treva Braun, Lucy Mulvagh - Forest Peoples Programme
This guide provides an overview of the African system for the promotion and protection of human and peoples’ rights, as developed under the umbrella of the African Union (AU). Established in 2001, the AU is an inter-governmental organisation of which all African countries except Morocco are members. It replaced the former Organisation of African Unity (OAU). In addition to its broad mandate on economic issues, socio-political development, and peace and security, the AU has as one of its objectives “To promote and protect human and peoples’ rights in accordance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other relevant human rights instruments”. While still in its infancy in terms of the promotion and protection of indigenous peoples’ rights, the African system is comprised of a number of legal norms and mechanisms that may be of use to indigenous peoples and organisations in Africa. This guide is intended to be used as a reference tool by indigenous peoples and organisations working to defend the rights of indigenous peoples in Africa, but should not be considered as a complete explanation of the relevant law or processes. |
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Impacts, Links and Measures to Mitigate Ruben de Koning, Doris Capistrano, Yurdi Yasmi, Paolo Cerutti - CIFOR, RECOFTC, Rights and Resources
Forest-based conflict is one of the major global challenges for the international forestry agenda together with poverty, climate change, conservation, and biofuels. In this paper, we will estimate the scope of the problem for people and forests, identify the role of forest rights and tenure as part of the cause of and solution to conflict, and project future challenges. We will recommend a set of actions that donors, govern¬ments, and civil society organizations should embark on to fight corruption, to tackle power imbalances, to clarify rights, to improve corporate responsibility, and to engage communities in resource management.
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Carmenza Robledo, Jürgen Blaser - Intercooperation, UNDP
This paper introduces the key issues and challenges arising from the discussions on Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol. It provides: • An overview of LULUCF activities, including challenges in the past and present negotiations; • A review of data and information on the key mitigation options in the LULUCF sector, with particular reference to forestry; • A summary of the main LULUCF issues currently under negotiation. |
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Forest Tenure Reform in Vietnam Case Studies from the Northern Upland and Central Highlands Regions Nguyen Quang Tan, Nguyen Ba Ngai, Tran Ngoc Thanh, William Sunderlin, Yurdi Yasmi - RECOFTC, Rights and Resources
This paper is part of a study by RECOFTC that aims to acquire a better understanding of the situation of forest tenure and the implementation of Vietnam's forest tenure policies. |
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People, Forests and Human Well-Being Managing Forests for People in a Period of Rapid Change Mary Hobley - RECOFTC
A synthesis report on the outcomes of the Asia Pacific Forestry Week’s Social Session, organized by RECOFTC with support from AFN and FAO. |
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- Rights and Resources
Forest areas have an integral role in the development agenda of the next several decades because of the myriad challenges that converge within their landscapes. Donor agencies and policy-makers can change historical patterns of forest governance and management as a first and critical step toward addressing the impending global challenges of climate change, ongoing conflict and persistent poverty.
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From Exclusion to Ownership? Challenges and Opportunities in Advancing Forest Tenure Reform William D. Sunderlin, Jeffrey Hatcher, Megan Liddle - Rights and Resources
In 2002 "Who Owns the World’s Forests?: Forest Tenure and Forests in Transition" reported that in recent decades governments had begun to reduce their legal ownership and control of the world’s forests. The aim of this report is to measure whether this forest tenure transition continued in the 2002 – 2008 period, and to assess the implications of statutory forest tenure change for forest peoples, governments, and the global community.
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Kalpavriksh Newsletter - Issue 3, July 2008 Tracking the Forest Rights Act Arshiya Bose - Kalpavriksh
Issue 3 of the monthly newsletter from Kalpavriksh which tracks the progress and implementation of the Forest Rights Act in India. |
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Beyond Tenure: Rights-Based Approaches to People and Forests Some lessons from the Forest Peoples Programme Marcus Colchester - Forest Peoples Programme, Rights and Resources
This analysis from Forest Peoples Programme and RRI concludes that forest tenure reforms must take into account a wide range of human rights beyond solely security of property rights. Effective forest tenure reforms must include respect for the broad range of social, political and economic rights protected in international human rights treaties but frequently absent from narrow sectoral decision-making about forests.
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Whose Land Is It? Commons and Conflict States Why the Ownership of the Commons Matters in Making and Keeping Peace Liz Alden Wily - Rights and Resources
This paper addresses the tenure fate of three commons: the 30 million hectares of pasturelands of Afghanistan which represent 45 percent of the total land area and are key to livelihood and water catchment in that exceedingly dry country; the 5.7 million hectares of timber-rich tropical forests in Liberia, 59 percent of the total land area; and the 125 million hectares of savannah in Sudan, half the area of that largest state of Africa. All three resources have an uncountably long history as customary properties of local communities. They also share a 20th century history as the property of the state. Of course there is nothing unusual in this contradiction. Between one and two billion people on the planet today are tenants of the State (CLEP, 2008, Alden Wily, forthcoming (b)). They live on and use traditional properties on which, in the eyes of the national laws of those countries, they are no more than lawful occupants and users. When their expansive collectively-owned forest, pastoral and swamp lands are taken into account, up to five billion hectares are involved, potentially one third of the world’s total land area. |
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Free, Prior and Informed Consent and Sustainable Forest Management in the Congo Basin A feasability study conducted in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo and Gabon regarding the operationalisation of FSC Principles 2 and 3 in the Congo Basin Jerome Lewis, Luke Freeman, Sophie Borreil - Intercooperation, Society for Threatened Poeples, Anthroscape
This document is the result of a study into how the notion of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) can be put into practice in forestry concessions in the Congo Basin. FPIC is a concept that is gaining acceptance as a way of defining and regulating contractual relationships. It is applied in contexts such as medical intervention, social welfare, and, in this case, resource management. |
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Kalpavriksh Newsletter - Issue 2, June 2008 Tracking the Forest Rights Act Kothari - Kalpavriksh
Issue 2 of the Kalpavriksh newsletter on the Forest Rights Act implementation in India. |
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Pro-Poor Land Tenure Reform and Democratic Governance Discussion Paper 3 - Oslo Governance Centre Ruth Meinzen-Dick, Monica di Gregorio, Stephan Dohrn - CAPRi, UNDP
This discussion paper provides a review of how different forms of land tenure reform relate to decentralization and local governance, in theory and practice. It will guide readers who are familiar with decentralization and local governance approaches to understand the main issues and challenges posed by land tenure reforms to achieve pro-poor impact. Because land tenure reform assigns control over resources that are critical for both identity and livelihood, it will be contentious. It is, therefore, important to distinguish among four different types of land tenure reform and critically assess the political economy context and the type of decentralization as well as national-local governance relationships in which land tenure reform will be implemented. It is equally important to understand the implications of various land tenure reform types for democratic governance and social inclusion / cohesion. |
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Kalpavriksh Newsletter - Issue 1, May 2008 Arshiya Bose, Ashish Kothari - Kalpavriksh
Issue 1 of the monthly newsletter from Kalpavriksh which tracks the progress and implementation of the Forest Rights Act in India. |
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Whose Forest Tenure Reform Is It? Lessons from Case Studies in Vietnam Nguyen Quang Tan, Nguyen Ba Ngai, Tran Ngoc Thanh - RECOFTC, Rights and Resources
This Policy Brief presents some of the major findings of a study conducted to determine how forest tenure reform in Vietnam has worked in practice and how it has affected local people's livelihoods. The policy brief focuses on four issues: actual control over forest resources; local people's confusion about their rights; impacts of forest tenure reform on poverty alleviation; and the ability of local people to manage forests. |
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Collective Forest Tenure Reform in Southwest China- English Experiences and Challenges Su Yufang, Zhao Yaqiao, Gan Tingyu, Xu Wei, Ren Xiaodong - World Agroforestry Centre-China
This research aims to provide policy guidance on the ongoing implementation of collective forest tenure reforms in southwest China.
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Indigenous and Traditional Peoples and Climate Change Issues Paper Mirjam Macchi, Gonzalo Oviedo, Sarah Gotheil, Katharine Cross, Agni Boedhihartono, Caterina Wolfangel, Matthew Howell - IUCN
Indigenous peoples around the world will bear the brunt of climate change – but they are also armed with the traditional knowledge to survive its effects. |
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Supporting Small Forest Enterprises - A Cross-sectoral Review of Best Practice Duncan Macqueen - IIED
This report reviews the growing consensus on best practice in small enterprise support, both within and outside the forest sector. It describes how a framework known as ‘market system development’ unites attempts to: strengthen enterprise associations, facilitate better provision of financial and business development services, and improve the business environment. It concludes with specific recommendations for support to SMFEs. |
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Duncan Macqueen, Annie Dufey, Ana Patrícia Cota Gomes, Nelda Sanchez Hidalgo, Maria Regina Nouer, Ruben Pasos, Luis Alfonso Argüelles Suárez, Vaithehi Subendranathan, Zazil Ha García Trujillo, Sonja Vermeulen, Mauricio de Almeida Voivodic, Emma Wilson - IIED
This report assesses demand for a mechanism that brings together forest certification and fair trade in the timber market. Timber buyers from 21 countries were surveyed as part of this study - with more detailed value chain analysis in 4 country case studies. The report concludes that there is indeed both demand and practical options to do more for community forest producers. A historic opportunity exists to bring together forest certification and fair trade in the interests both of communities and the forests on which they depend. |
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The Forest Carbon Partnership Facility Facilitating the weakening of indigenous peoples' rights to lands and resources - Forest Peoples Programme
There are key shortcomings in the draft Charter and background documents for the World Bank's Forest Carbon Partnership Facility, including failure to provide for full participation from indigenous peoples, lack of consultation to-date, and failure to include commitments to upholding human rights.
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Environmental Governance and the Emergence of Forest-Based Social Movements Peter Cronkleton, Peter Leigh Taylor, Deborah Barry, Samantha Stone-Jovicich, Marianne Schmink - CIFOR
This occasional paper is based on the results of a three-year project examining the emergence of forest-based grassroots movements in Latin America. The project focused on four noteworthy cases in Central America and Brazil, each representing ‘successful’ broad-based collective action to defend local control and use of forest lands. |
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Forest Governance in Countries with Federal Systems of Government Lessons and implications for decentralization Arnoldo Contreras-Hermosilla, Hans M. Gregersen, Andy White - CIFOR, Forest Trends, Rights and Resources
This study examines the experience of federal countries in managing their decentralized systems of forest governance.
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An Ear to the Ground: Tenure Changes and Challenges for Forest Communities in Latin America Deborah Barry, Peter Leigh Taylor - Rights and Resources, CIFOR
The Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) “Listening, Learning and Sharing Launch” (LLSL) was designed as an “ear to the ground” for hearing the assessments and concerns of NGOs, community organizations,
politicians, scholars, and governments in lowland tropical forest countries around the world. With limited financial and human resources dedicated to this, the exercise attempted to gather these inputs, concerns and perspectives to help shape the unique effort ‘under construction’ in RRI to bring the voices, experiences and current issues of communities and social movements to planning ways to break the logjam that is
impeding progress in improving management of the worlds forests. We realize the sense of urgency, as we are at a time when the world is faced with global climate change and needs to maintain and expand forest coverage while protecting the local livelihoods that also contribute to protecting global ones.
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The Boomerang - When Will the Global Forest Sector Reallocate from the South to the North? Sten Nilsson - IIASA
This paper examines the commonly held notion that the forest sector in the south will dominate in the future by addressing issues such as climate change, increasing demands for food as global development accelerates, and the pursuit of alternative fuel sources. |
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A Field Report Keith Barney
This report documents the contemporary ecological, social and economic transformations occurring in one village in Lao PDR’s central Khammouane province under multiple sources of development-induced displacement. Rural development policy in Laos is focused on promoting rapid rural modernisation, to be achieved through foreign direct investments in two key resource sectors: hydropower and plantations. Laos’ land reform program is also a key component of the changes underway in the countryside, as swidden (or shifting) upland cultivation is targeted for stabilisation and elimination. |
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Alain Karsenty - CIRAD
Concessions in Africa have a long history and mixed records. From the 1980-90’s onwards, concessions were gradually requested to bear new responsibilities, previously carried out by governments, such as the management of production forests and the oversight of some parts of the territories where forest concessions are prominent. The concessions sector is still dominated by the Europeans, but with an increasing prominence of Asian companies, which are already dominant in Equatorial Guinea, CAR and South-Congo. There is, however, a room and a need for diversification of forest tenure models, which might be seen as complementary rather, at least for the foreseeable future, than alternatives competing with the current system. |
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Small and Medium Forest Enterprises: Instruments of Change in the Developing World Robert Kozak - University of British Columbia, Rights and Resources
Small and medium forest enterprises (SMFEs) are seen important elements of strategies aimed at pro-poor economic growth in developing regions. They are characterized by a diverse range of stakeholders, actors, businesses, structures, networks, products, and services. Unfortunately, little has been done in the way of quantifying the contributions of these enterprises to economic growth and employment. This report recommends that concerted research efforts be undertaken to better understand the size, scope, characteristics, and dynamics of this sector and that this information be used to inform civil society, development agencies, and governments on devising and implementing appropriate interventions and policy reforms aimed at reducing poverty in the forest dependent communities of the developing world. |
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An investigation into forest ownership and customary land rights in Liberia Liz Alden Wily - SDI Liberia, FERN
This landmark study sets out the confusions and conundrums of forest tenure in Liberia today and develops clear recommendations towards solving potential conflicts over natural resources. |
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Community-Based Forest Enterprises in Tropical Forest Countries: Status and Potential Augusta Molnar, Megan Liddle, Carina Bracer, Arvind Khare, Andy White, Justin Bull - ITTO, Rights and Resources, Forest Trends
Like all forest enterprises, community forestry enterprises (CFEs) have a mixed record, with numerous cases of successes as well as failures. As the experience in developed countries attest, SMEs can emerge and flourish where the tenure and policy frameworks allow them to exist legally and compete fairly with large-scale enterprises. Unfortunately, only a few tropical countries have had favourable conditions in place for a sufficiently long time to enable their development or viability. This study identifies some shared trends for the emergence and development of CFEs in a range of different tropical countries that indicate a high level of promise overall.
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Transitions in Forest Tenure and Governance: Drivers, Projected Patterns and Implications - Rights and Resources
Major shifts in the global economy, as well as in social, political and ecological systems are affecting forests and forest livelihoods such that future challenges in the forest sector will be quite distinct from those faced in the past. The forest sector is now more embedded in the global economy than ever before, and the influence of other sectors on forests, forest peoples and forest industry will similarly be much greater in the future than in the past. This paper briefly presents our perspectives on: (1) major drivers shaping forest tenure and governance, (2) projected patterns by 2020 and (3) the implications of these transitions for those concerned with forest livelihoods and conservation today.
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Convergence of the Fuel, Food and Fiber Markets - Summary A Forest Sector Perspective Don G. Roberts - CIBC World Markets, Rights and Resources
The biofuels sector will continue to experience significant growth over the coming decades, and over time its development will lead to a convergence of the markets for fuel, food and fiber (e.g. wood). This is a summary of the full paper prepared for the conference "Towards a New Global Forest Agenda", held in Stockholm in October 2007. |
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The Poverty of Forestry Policy Double standards on an uneven playing field Jesse Ribot, Anne M. Larson
This article examines how forestry policy and implementation maintain double standards in a manner that excludes the rural poor from the natural wealth around them. |
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The Impact of Regulatory Takings by the Chinese State on Rural Land Tenure and Property Rights Li Ping - Rural Development Institute
This paper will introduce and discuss regulatory takings laws in the US and some European countries. It makes a series of recommendations on legislative reforms in China’s regulatory takings regime taking into account the unique characteristics of China’s property rights institution. |
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Poverty, Rights and Tenure on Forest Lands Priority Actions for Achieving Solutions William D. Sunderlin - Rights and Resources
A background paper for the conference "Towards a New Global Forest Agenda", held in Stockholm in October 2007. |
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The Dispute Resolution Process in Relation to Logging Permits in China Li Ping - Rural Development Institute
This paper examines the dispute resolution experiences in the US, UK and Ireland with respect to denial of applications for logging permits, and its possible application to China. |
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Community-Based Forest Enterprises in Tropical Forest Countries - Full Report with Annexes Augusta Molnar, Megan Liddle, Carina Bracer, Arvind Khare, Andy White, Justin Bull - ITTO, Rights and Resources, Forest Trends
Like all forest enterprises, community forestry enterprises (CFEs) have a mixed record, with numerous cases of successes as well as failures. As the experience in developed countries attest, SMEs can emerge and flourish where the tenure and policy frameworks allow them to exist legally and compete fairly with large-scale enterprises. Unfortunately, only a few tropical countries have had favorable conditions in place for a sufficiently long time to enable their development or viability. This study identifies some shared trends for the emergence and development of CFEs in a range of different tropical countries that indicate a high level of promise overall.
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Land, Forest and People: Facing the Challenges in South-East Asia Listening, Learning and Sharing Asia Final Report Marcus Colchester, Chip Fay - Forest Peoples Programme, World Agroforestry Centre
Over the past 20 years, the region reviewed in this report - South East Asia stretching from Laos across to Indonesia - has experienced major changes in forest cover, social development and forest policy. Natural forests have shrunk dramatically and continue to be degraded and cleared at startling rates. Forest areas set aside for protection have increased. At the same time large areas of land and forest have been ‘converted’ to timber plantations and estate crops. During the same period, both for better and for worse, the forest peoples who inhabit these areas have also been through tumultuous changes. |
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07 Poverty Reduction and Forests: Tenure, Market and Policy Reforms Proceedings of an International Conference Bob Fisher, Sango Mahanty, Cor Veer - RECOFTC, Rights and Resources
A great deal of discussion in recent years has focused on the role of conservation, and more specifically, sustainable forest management, in contributing to poverty reduction. A number of conferences and workshops have picked up on this theme including the International Conference on Poverty Reduction and Forests: Tenure, Market and Policy Reforms. The importance of policies that support rights to forest resources and reforms to markets has been recognized as essential to enabling more effective contributions from forests to poverty reduction. Recognition of the need for such policy reforms led to the establishment of the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), a coalition of organizations working together to encourage greater global action on forest policy and market reforms, with the aim of increasing household and community ownership, control, and benefits from forests. RECOFTC and other RRI partners proposed this Conference because we recognize the need for exploring real experiences in connecting forest policy reforms and poverty reduction, both by giving positive examples and examining the constraints. The Conference provided a valuable opportunity to share the experiences from practitioners throughout the world, with cases from Asia and the Pacific, Africa, and Latin America. These proceedings contain selected papers from the Conference and convey much of the richness of the discussions in Bangkok. On behalf of RECOFTC and the RRI partners, we would like to congratulate the authors on their thoughtful contributions. We are sure that these proceedings will contribute to further discussion, policy reform, and other necessary action to ensure sustainable forest management reaches its potential to contribute to poverty reduction. |
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Li Ping, Zhu Keliang - Rural Development Institute, Rights and Resources
Based on extensive desk research and fieldwork in three provinces, this paper reviews and analyzes the development of the Chinese regulatory frameworks that govern forest tenure. Special attention is paid to farmers’ rights to collective forestland and forest products, and a particular focus is given to the current legal regime on farmers’ tenure rights to forestland. |
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Conservation’s engagement with human rights: “traction”, “slippage”, or avoidance? Janis Bristol Alcorn, Antoinette G. Royo
Human rights (HR) have become a smoking-gun issue threatening conservation’s public legitimacy and long-term funding. Globally there are rising frustrations that large conservation non-governmental organizations (NGOs) do not seem to be collaborating with civil society movements promoting democratization. They rather appear to associate closely with governments and other actors with poor HR records. HR abuses or allegations of abuse that arise in conservation contexts include violation of due process, massive forcible resettlements, destruction of property and farms, torture, and extrajudicial killings. In addition, conservation agents are increasingly perceived as HR ‘duty bearers’ that do not fulfil their responsibilities. Many biodiversity hotspots overlap with poverty hotspots where HR abuses occur, and in such areas conservation organizations have an excellent opportunity to act towards addressing such abuses. Their responsibilities are guided by international and domestic law, yet their record of action is uneven. In some local cases, conservation agencies have demonstrated ‘traction’ in supporting HR. Evidence of ‘slippage’ and avoidance in assuming HR responsibilities, however, suggest that the biodiversity conservation community has yet to mature towards a commitment to HR, which would require systematic changes at multiple levels. This paper places unspoken issues on the table and encourages their open discussion, hoping to promote the positive changes essential for sustainable conservation. |
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Organization and Governance for Fostering Pro-Poor Compensation for Environmental Services Carina Bracer, Sara Scherr, Augusta Molnar, Madhushree Sekher, Benson Owuor Ochieng, Gaya Sriskanthan - Forest Trends, Ecoagriculture Partners, Rights and Resources, Centre for Ecological Economics & Natural Resources, African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS), IUCN
To increase potential for pro-poor outcomes of CRES, the opportunity for local conditions to define the supporting institutional structures and norms that surround CRES is critical. There are a wide range of institutional models of CRES that can benefit the poor, and these tend to include features such as: building upon and strengthening existing institutions of the poor, allowing flexibility in land use options and in the timeframe for adoption and adaptation of land use, simplification of monitoring and reporting to fit local capacity, and orientation and training of intermediary organizations who serve as brokers to the poor and help them to aggregate supply of CRES services. |
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Where in the world is there pro-poor forest policy and tenure reform? Mary Hobley
The purpose of this paper is to provide the Rights and Resources Initiative with an analysis of the opportunities and threats to increasing pro-poor tenure and policy reforms in the global forest sector over the next decade. The analysis examines the international, national and local arenas and the drivers of change at these different levels. It questions the extent to which there is already pro-poor policy in place. It examines critically the nature of poverty as a basis from which to assess the extent to which changing ownership and access patterns are bringing greater livelihood security to the rural poor. It uses poverty as the starting point for looking at forest policy rather than looking at forestry and seeing how it can be made to accommodate a more pro-poor approach. |
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Local forest-based enterprises Supporting the livelihoods of the poor? - Info Resources
The development of local forest-based enterprises represents an opportunity for strengthening the livelihoods of poor, forest-dependent people, at the same time providing an economic incentive to conserve forests through sustainable management. Is this potential being put into practice? |
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Where in the world is there pro-poor forest policy and tenure reform? Mary Hobley
Many countries are now recognizing community ownership and devolving forest responsibilities to local jurisdictions. This transition in ownership is both a response to rights-based movements to increase local ownership and access to forest resources and a strategic policy shift responding to the widespread failure of governments to avoid deforestation, control illegal activities or generate the desired equity of benefits under systems of state forest ownership and control. This transition varies from one country to another based on the biophysical, economic, social or historical reality. Yet there is much that one country and citizenry can learn from the experience of others regarding policy choices and the pace or strategy of reform. |
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- The Rainforests Foundation, Forests Monitor
This report addresses the issues surrounding sustainability and the impacts of the industrial logging concession system in several Central African countries and elsewhere. Based on the contributions of experts from various backgrounds (NGOs, research bodies, government organizations), the report aims to bring these issues to the attention of national decision-makers and international community representatives, highlighting the system’s pitfalls as well as the policy options available that could avert or remedy some of these problems. |
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Duncan Macqueen, Annie Dufey, Bindi Patel - IIED
The great expansion in community ownership and management of forests presents a historic opportunity. Communities now own or manage one fourth of the forests in developing countries. Certification, eco-labelling and social auditing have all been set up to improve the forest sector. High hopes for forest livelihoods and poverty reduction have surrounded their use but each has had its limitations. It is now time to examine other complementary instruments. Fair trade may be one such instrument. An alliance of institutions interested in promoting fair trade timber is beginning to form. This report outlines some of the options for building on this momentum and enhancing local returns from responsible forestry. |
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Towards Wellbeing in Forest Communities a source book for local government - CIFOR
Governments in many countries are decentralizing to give more control over decision-making and budgets to local administrators. Decentralization is especially significant to forest communities, which have historically benefited little from government services and poverty reduction programs. This source book was written for local governments and their partners who hope to respond to the needs of forest communities and improve their wellbeing. |
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Multi-country analysis of spatial association and proposed policy solutions William D. Sunderlin, Sonya Dewi, Atie Puntodewo - CIFOR, World Agroforestry Centre, Rights and Resources
This paper examines poverty and deforestation in developing countries as linked problems and focuses on policies that can favour poverty alleviation in forested regions. The paper encompasses two elements: analysis of the spatial coincidence between poverty and forests, and proposed policy options for reducing poverty in forested areas.
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Better access and secure rights for poor people - DFID
This paper demonstrates the importance of land tenure in livelihoods and development, and outlines the British Department for International Development's approach to land issues. The document details that if land and property are clear and secure, they can help to boost economic growth, tackle inequality and reduce poverty. |
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- SIDA
This paper outlines Sida’s position on natural resource tenure and provides guidance for activities where tenure issues are at stake. Rather than providing solutions, the paper aims to support Sida staff and partners in their own analysis and dialogue, and in their development and implementation of policies and programmes. |
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Compensation and Rewards for Environmental Services in the Developing World Framing Pan-Tropical Analysis and Comparison Brent Swallow, Mikkel Kallesoe, Usman Iftikhar, Meine van Noordwijk, Carina Bracer, Sara Scherr, K.V. Raju, Susan Poats, Anantha Duraiappah, Benson Ochieng, Hein Mallee, Rachel Rumley - World Agroforestry Centre, IUCN, Forest Trends, Ecoagriculture Partners, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Corporación Grupo Randi Randi, United Nations Environment Programme
This introductory paper begins with a review of the recent historical development of compensation and reward mechanisms within a broader context of changing approaches to conservation and environmental policy. Conservation approaches have moved from a sole focus on protected areas, to integrated conservation and development projects, to landscape management approaches, and now, consideration of conservation contracts. At roughly the same time, there has been a general relaxation of government enforcement of environmental regulations towards more multi-stakeholder forms of governance in which non-governmental and international organizations play roles and a variety of market-based and negotiation approaches have come to the fore. That dynamic context is fostering greater interest in mechanisms for compensation and reward for environmental services in the developing regions of the world. Later sections of the paper clarify key concepts and present a conceptual framework for characterizing different types of mechanisms and the internal and external factors affecting those mechanisms. The penultimate section summarizes experience and perceptions of compensation and reward for environmental services. The concluding section postulates the alternative motivations that are shaping compensation and reward mechanisms in the developing world. |
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The Conditions for Effective Mechanisms of Compensation and Rewards for Environmental Services Brent Swallow, Beria Leimona, Thomas Yatich, Sandra J. Velarde, S. Puttaswamaiah - World Agroforestry Centre
This paper considers the conditions that determine the effectiveness of compensation and reward mechanisms. The paper takes deductive and inductive approaches to addressing the question. A series of 11 hypotheses are derived from theories of institutional change, environmental policy diffusion, and the co-dependence between different types of policy instruments. Eight case studies, all of which were considered at regional workshops on compensation for environmental services, are reviewed in the latter part of the paper. The cases, from Latin America, Africa and Asia, cover a range of environmental services and policy contexts. Overall the results suggest the following conditions to be important in many of the cases: (1) market opportunities and localized scarcity for particular environmental services; (2) international environmental agreements, international organizations, and international networks; (3) government policies and public attitudes toward government environmental responsibility, security of individual and group property rights, and markets; and (4) the strength of the regulatory regime affecting the environment. |
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Sara J. Scherr, Jeffrey C. Milder, Carina Bracer - Ecoagriculture Partners, Cornell University , Forest Trends
The development of Compensation and Rewards for Environmental Services (CRES) will have differential impact on poor resource managers and poor consumers depending upon the characteristics of the resource itself, the financial and other values for different beneficiaries, and the design of payment and market systems. In this early stage of CRES development, there are significant opportunities to shape that development in ways that will have greater benefits for the poor and for poverty reduction. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relative importance of different types of CRES in shaping poverty and ecosystem services across the developing world, as they are likely to evolve over the next two decades. |
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Land and Resource Alienation in Cambodia Shalmali Guttal - Focus on the Global South
Ask any Cambodian what s/he considers to be the foundation of society and life in Cambodia and the answer is likely to be “land.” As in most other places, land is an extremely important economic resource or asset in Cambodia. Land is livelihood. But equally, land is valued as an emblem of rootedness, belonging and stability, and is widely regarded as the very basis of social organisation in the country. Today, at least a third of Cambodia's peoples - rural and urban - are being systematically alienated from their lands, homes and livelihoods. In many instances communities are losing lands and access to natural resources because of economic and demographic pressures. But equally, people are being dispossessed from their lands by those with political power and money. This paper attempts to provide an overview of the growing crisis of land and resource alienation in Cambodia. |
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between poverty alleviation and market forces Jean-Laurent Pfund, Patrick Robinson - Intercooperation
Non Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) are increasingly recognized for their important roles in forest management around the world. While generally associated with protection, biodiversity and recreation in the North, NTFPs play significant roles for local communities in the South and East, including home consumption and production for local or regional markets. These articles draw on experiences from around the world to examine the relationship of NTFPs to development, poverty alleviation and conservation. |
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Strengthening Forest Management in Indonesia through Land Tenure Reform Issues and Framework for Action Arnoldo Contreras-Hermosilla, Chip Fay - Forest Trends, World Agroforestry Centre
The purpose of this analysis is to help policy makers and the many stakeholders in Indonesia develop a vision and a plan to advance tenure reforms and strengthen forest management systems. Its intention is to contribute to ongoing efforts to formulate a new paradigm for forest management in Indonesia. It focuses primarily on the fundamental question of the legal and biophysical rationale upon which the concept of the State Forest Zone is based. This analysis addresses the question of land ownership and sustainable forest resource management. It challenges the widely accepted view that the government, through the Department of Forestry, has jurisdiction over land administration within the Forest Zone. |
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Poverty and Conservation Landscapes, People and Power R.J. Fisher, Stewart Maginnis, W.J. Jackson, Edmund Barrow, Sally Jeanrenaud - IUCN
Integrated approaches to conservation and development cannot promise perfect win-win solutions. Pure conservation-focused interventions seldom deliver perfect conservation outcomes either. It is time to look for the best possible outcomes, bearing in mind principles of equity. This implies genuine shared decision-making and participation by local communities in land-use decisions. Participatory decision-making involves the willingness of outsiders to negotiate land-use objectives and ways to meet those objectives. |
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Forests in Landscapes: Ecosystem Approaches to Sustainability Jeffrey Sayer, Stewart Maginnis - IUCN, Earthscan
Edited by Jeffrey Sayer and Stewart Maginnis. Throughout the world there has been a re-examination of who makes decisions about forests and how these decisions are made. Attempts have been made to establish a global regulatory framework for forests through existing and proposed intergovernmental agreements, principles and broadly-accepted criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management. In parallel there has been a strong tendency towards more participatory, localized decision-making. |
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Recent Experience in Collaborative Forest Management CIFOR Occasional Paper No. 43 Jane Carter, Jane Gronow
Collaborative forest management (CFM) is loosely defined as a working partnership between the key stakeholders in the management of a given forest—key stakeholders being local forest users and state forest departments, as well as parties such as local governments, civic groups and nongovernmental organisations, and the private sector. The paper reviews worldwide experience in CFM to date, considering the forms that it takes in different tenure situations. Overall, mechanisms of CFM are diversifying, reflecting a greater recognition of the need for partnerships in forest management. |
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A Study for Linking Poverty Reduction with Forest Conservation in Lao PDR Jason Morris, Emily Hicks, Andrew Ingles, Sounthone Ketphanh
Recent studies have shown that rural villagers derive nearly half their income from the sale of NTFPs, including rattan, bamboo and yangtree oil. NTFPs also play a vital role in food security, particularly at the end of the dry season and during times of harvest failure. Forest tubers, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, a range of forest plants, fish, turtles and snails are all collected for food. In many parts of the lowland plains, fish and other living aquatic resources provide between 70 and 90 per cent of the animal protein in the diet of local people. |
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A Review of the Global Debate on Tenure Security Lynn Ellsworth - Ford Foundation
This paper illustrates that there is no single form of tenure, no particular pattern of property rights, that is uniquely associated with the most effective management of forest lands. In fact, underlying property ownership regimes have been changing continuously in most countries over long periods of time. Of particular importance is her assertion that the increasingly influential neoliberal property rights school of analysis “over-emphasizes” the virtues of property rights defined in terms of market trading. Effective markets for land are often nonexistent or flawed. |
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Strengthening Community Tenure Security and Community Livelihoods Lynn Ellsworth, Andy White - Ford Foundation
This paper highlights the distinct sets of actors who can become engaged in activities designed to improve tenure security; they include activists and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), public law groups, community development and training organizations, policy groups, and government agencies. The range of actions that they undertake include mapping and demarcating lands, mobilizing around their legalization, bringing suits in support of the residents on the lands, lobbying for legislative changes, and building the capacity of local groups to undertake many of these activities. |
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Who Conserves the World's Forests? Augusta Molnar, Sara J. Scherr, Arvind Khare - Forest Trends
The dramatic and continued shift in forest and landscape boundaries and in tenure and customary rights, combined with emerging new markets for forest products and ecosystem services, creates new challenges as well as new opportunities for people and for forest conservation. Enabling communities to conserve implies new management approaches, new research models, new models of organization and capacity-building and new relations between local people and the state. But creating an enabling environment also has a large payoff, both in conservation and in community well-being.
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A New Agenda for Forest Conservation and Poverty Reduction Making Markets Work for Low-Income Producers Sara J. Scherr, Andy White, David Kaimowitz - IUCN, Forest Trends, CIFOR
The future of the world's forests and the future of millions of the world's poorest people are inextricably linked. The dominant models of forest management and protection are increasingly inappropriate in the face of this reality. A fundamental re-assessment of the role of forests in rural development, and the role of local people in forest conservation, is urgently needed. |
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Andy White, Alejandra Martin - Forest Trends
This growing global recognition of the importance of property rights is mirrored by longstanding preoccupation with rights issues at local levels. The questions of who owns the forests, who claims them, who has access to them and further, who should own them, are hotly contested in many forest regions of the world. These are often the primary concerns of local people most directly dependent on forest resources. |
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A Survey of Indigenous Land Tenure A Report for the Land Tenure Service of the Food and Agricultural Organization Marcus Colchester, Fergus MacKay, Tom Griffiths, John Nelson - Forest Peoples Programme
This study provides a concise overview of the information available on the land rights of indigenous peoples, with a focus on those in developing countries and countries with economies in transition. Successive chapters summarise the rights of indigenous peoples in international law and then examine how these rights are being recognised, or not, in Latin America, Africa and the Asia-Pacific. A final chapter reviews the findings of the survey and identifies key issues to be considered in making policy decisions about indigenous land rights. |
China’s Forest Land Tenure Reforms: Impacts and Implications for Choice, Conservation and Climate Change
Conflits de Droits et Cartographie Communautaire au Cameroun
Siapa pemilik hutan di Asia? 
Key data from “RRI-ITTO Tropical Tenure Assessment”
Land Rights and the Forest Peoples of Africa: Burundi
Land Rights and the Forest Peoples of Africa: Cameroon
Land Rights and the Forest Peoples of Africa: DRC
Land Rights and the Forest Peoples of Africa: Rwanda
Land Rights and the Forest Peoples of Africa: Uganda
Amélioration de l'équité et des moyens de subsistance dans la foresterie communautaire au Burkina Faso
À qui appartiennent les forêts d’Afrique ?
Etat, communautés locales et changement du statut des Forêts. Dualisme légal exclusif dans le littoral camerounais
Bases para la Efectividad
Si lo vieras con mis ojos
Climate Change and Governance in the Forest Sector - Summary
Rights, Tenure, Governance and a More Pro-poor Vision for Conservation - Summary
Forest Related Conflict: Impacts, Links and Measures to Mitigate - Summary
Seeing People Through the Trees - Summary
From Exclusion to Ownership? - Summary
Beyond Tenure: Rights-based Approaches to Peoples and Forests - Summary
Collective Forest Tenure Reform in Southwest China- Chinese
El Fondo cooperativo para el carbono de los bosques (FCPF)
Le Fonds de partenariat pour le carbone forestier
Forest Governance in Countries with Federal Systems of Government - Brief
LLSL Country Case Study: Forest Tenure and Poverty in Bolivia
LLSL Country Case Study: Forest Tenure and Poverty in Colombia
LLSL Country Case Study: Guatemala
LLSL Country Case Study: Honduras
LLSL Country Case Study: Nicaragua
LLSL Country Case Study: Panama
LLSL Country Case Study: Forest Tenure and Poverty in Peru
LLSL Country Case Study: Forest Tenure and Poverty in Venezuela, R.B.
LLSL Country Case Study: Forest Tenure and Poverty in Brazil 
2007 CFE Conference - Case Study Agrofort
2007 CFE Conference - Amani Butterfly Forest-based Enterprise
2007 CFE Conference - Civil Society for Arbol Verde Development
2007 CFE Conference: Including the Excluded
2007 CFE Conference - Case Study of the Agro-forestry Cooperative of the Tri-National
2007 CFE Conference - Community Forest Development in Guatemala
2007 CFE Conference: Supporting Livelihoods through Employment
2007 CFE Conference - A Brief History of the COATLAHL Cooperative
2007 CFE Conference: One Small Peasant Village’s Grand Forest Industry
2007 CFE Conference - Community Forest Enterprises: A Case Study of the Gambia
2007 CFE Conference: Forest Management in the Community Enterprise of Santa Catarina Ixtepeji
2007 CFE Conference - Community Forestry Benefits Customary Landowners
2007 CFE Conference: Payments for environmental services in San Nicolas, Colombia
2007 CFE Conference: Country Case Study, Quintana Roo, Mexico
2007 CFE Conference: PingShang Bamboo Group
2007 CFE Conference - Behind the Fragile Enterprise
2007 CFE Conference - Community Based Forest Enterprises in Cameroon
2007 CFE Conference: From subsistence harvesters to market players
2007 CFE Conference - Case Study of Mamiraua, Brazil
2007 CFE Conference: The New Oil Economy of the Rural Poor
2007 Conferencia ECF: Breve Historia de la Cooperativa COATLAHL 
2007 Conferencia ECF: El ejido El Balcon. El caso de una pequena aldea campesina mexicana duena de una gran industria forestal
2007 Conferencia ECF: El Manejo Forestal de la Empresa Comunitaria de Santa Catarina
Transitions in Forest Tenure and Governance - Summary
Empresas Forestales Comunitarias en Países Forestales Tropicales: Situación Actual y en Potencia
Entreprises forestières communautaires dans les pays forestiers tropicaux: Situation et potentialites
Infobrief: Poverty and Forests
¿Quién Conserva los Bosques del Mundo?
