Title: "Strategy and Possible EU Activities in the Field of Forestry in the Pacific"

Project number: B7-5041/94.12/VIII/FOR

Amount: 176.699 ECU

Contractor: Danagro Adviser a/s (Glostrup-DK)

Field: conservation/sustainable management strategies;

Country: South Pacific (Papua New Guinea, Solomon islands and Vanuatu)

Date of signature: 31/12/94

Duration: 4 months

Objectives:

• Exploration of support possibilities in the framework of an internationally co-ordinated strategy: the field study shall explore and discuss with the major donors (i.e. UNDP, FAO, World Bank, Asian development bank) and the political and technical decision-makers in each country and the region the design for co-ordinated plan of action;
• Identification and preparation of concrete possibilities for short term actions in the Pacific: the consultant shall formulate a concrete proposal for a regional programme and/or proposals for national but regionally harmonised projects.

Activities:

Explore mid- and long-term aid possibilities for an internationally co-ordinated approach which may contain the following steps:

• visit UNDP New York, the World bank Washington, New Zealand and Australia to make contacts with donors. Review their programmes and their future plans for the sector;
• visit Fiji, Vanuatu, the Solomon Island and PNG, review the current situation in the forestry sector with political and technical decision-makers and identify possible opportunities for national EU assistance;
• review regional activities in the sector and discuss them with the donors involved, identifying possible opportunities for regional EU assistance;
• take into consideration, the findings and proposals developed during the seminar on protected areas and the Conservation of Biodiversity in Africa, Caribbean and pacific, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, 13-19 February 1994;
• identify key elements for the conservation and sustainable management of forests in the Melanesian Islands which can serve to draw-up a comprehensive strategy for these countries;
• evaluate objectives and obstacles for the introduction of a certification scheme in order to assure the sustainability in forest management.

Identify and prepare concrete proposals for actions to be taken by the EU which may contain the following steps:

• identify at short, medium and long term level concrete possible operations for funding through EDF (Regional and national Indicative Programmes), the Budget line B7-5041 and eventually through the Budget line B7-5040.
• prepare a concrete proposal for a regional project and/or proposals for national but regionally harmonised projects with a view to funding through the budget line B7-5041 in 1995.
• propose institutions and actors for the execution of these projects.

Results expected:

Report written in English and delivered in 15 copies together with a diskette in WordPerfect.

Beneficiaries:

European commission: Budget Line B7-5041 and 5040; donors.

Implementation strategy:

Consultants (Forester/team leader; regional planner; Socio-economist/Environment and land use; Environment Policy Specialist/Quality Assurance); missions.

Final report is the same that for B7-5041/95.09/VIII/FOR contract. Chapter nine "An overview of the Donors" and Chapter ten "Location and description of major donors assistance concern the contract B7-5041/95.09. The rest of the study is based on the findings of the contract B7-5041/94.12/VIII/FOR.

Conclusions:

Owing to the diverse and extremely dispersed nature of Melanesian ACP states a regional programme is not practical, unless the Forum Secretariat wish to promote an information dissemination programme on such issues as royalties, tax rates, legislation, licence improvements, non timber forest products.

Instead a regionally harmonised array of assistance, within the context of each country, is recommended, some aspects o which may be of regional significance and should be promoted and broadcast regionally in due course.

The main thrust of possible EU assistance should be to augment efforts in each Melanesian ACP state to re-build the capacity of each government forest service such that the core issues of increasing the capture of forest rents will be strengthened. Primarily this will be by way of providing assistance to improve two fundamental aspects of the forest resource sector: forest concession management and log sale monitoring and control

Possible decision criteria for assistance:

• Follow spirit of international protocols (Agenda 21, Convention on Biological diversity, EU/ACP state protocol);
• Follow national policies wherever possible (Assist re-establishment of political will, prepare new legislation and implementation measures);
• Move to programmed assistance undertake an integrated approach, collaborate between donors, support conditionalities);
• Assist "bottom up" approach appropriate in certain respects, especially with regard to community oriented matters (support NGOs for awareness and community orientated campaigns, support NGOs and communities in promotion of nature tourism, promote market connection of non timber forest products, promote nature tourism);
• Support "top down" approach to assist government policies (ensure political, legal and institutional framework functions, privatise non core activities of forest service, assist forest service concentrate on core functions).

Possible strategy of assistance:

• Assist Melanesian ACP states cut back forest operations to sustainable harvesting levels, providing the concomitant political will is in place;
• Increase rent capture in each country and assist in strengthen political resolve;
• Assist in the strengthening of monitoring and control of log sale operations, and significantly decrease under reporting, transfer pricing, smuggling and down grading of logs and lack of payment of letters of Credit;
• Assist in the improvement of forest management and logging practices;
• Assist in the development of law impact logging, the promotion of non timber forest products and nature tourism as a means of conservation of customary held land;
• Promote a more equitable distribution of economic rents via a combination of revised legislation, increased royalties to landowners, stumpage taxes, export taxes.

Short term actions proposed in the Pacific:

• a study on co-financed joint ventures in the forestry sector;
• a study to propose a framework for new legislation and licensing agreements, especially for Vanuatu and Solomon Islands, and the prospect of integrating the reforestation into logging concession;
• a study on the potential of nature tourism, especially for the Solomon Islands, but possibly regionally as well;
• the preparation of an outline for an integrated conservation and development project in Papua New Guinea;
• the preparation of an outline to review current and proposed logging concessions and investments proposals also in Papua New Guinea.