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Numéro du projet : HO1/B76201/IB/1998/0673 |
Direction : D | |
Pays/région : Horizontal ALA |
Intitulé : Slowing Global Forest Decline | |
Ligne budgétaire : B76201 |
Resp. géog. : | |
Numéro direction : 1998/0673 |
Resp. tech. : | |
No SEM/ALA : |
Resp. fin. : |
A. Objectif de l'action envisagée :
I. To promote actively the introduction of legislative and policy reforms to slow forest decline in the 6 major forest production countries by establishing an action-oriented dialogue involving high level parliamentarians and politically influential leaders of these countries.
II. To assist national governments in the politically difficult task of creating consensus and political commitment to the introduction of desirable legislative reforms and improved institutional arrangements for achieving more equitable and sustainable management of forests.
III. To raise awareness among political leaders of the costs to taxpayers, to human welfare, and to the global environment of failing to implement legislative and policy reforms to contain forest decline.
IV. To raise awareness among donors, tropical countries and international financial institutions (IFIs) of the need to continue funding projects that aim to introduce sustainable management of Tropical Forests and protection of their biodiversity.
B. Description :
During the last couple of years, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF) and the World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development (WCFSD) intensively discussed the causes of global forest decline. The broad conclusion was that there was enough knowledge to substantially slow the forest decline process but that effective action required determined government commitment to implement politically difficult reforms. In other words, technical knowledge was not for wanting, but political commitment was. Government reforms face obstacles such as the lack of awareness among the public and political decision-makers of the economic, environmental and social consequences of forest decline. Most fundamentally however, reforms also face the stiff resistance of powerful vested interests that benefit from the status quo.
This project addresses these central issues never properly tackled before in the forest-based sector by international initiatives. It will do so by combining sound technical advice on measures aimed at slowing forest decline, produced by world-renowned experts, with activities designed to increase public and political awareness and promote political action for policy reform. The project aims to increase awareness of the costs of inaction and to establish a highly focused dialogue for action with key political decision-makers and leaders. The project is designed to facilitate actions necessary for slowing forest decline in selected countries of the South. Through the GLOBE network, a dialogue can then develop to target major northern timber consuming countries, in order to make the case for selective import practices that favour sustainable forest management.
C. Justification :
A common problem for the forest sector in many developing countries is that forest issues tend have a relatively low priority on the national political agenda because of the remoteness, sparse population density and simple lack of information about what happens in forest areas. Even in countries where forest cover is still considerable and where the socio-economic importance of forest resources is evident it can be surprising how forests are undervalued, how forest regions stay untouched by the legal regulatory framework and how most people simply hold that forests are not important, considering them instead as a social safety valve or a white space on the map . It is obvious that governments in developing countries must strive to integrate forests in their national development plans by considering them as a link in a chain of interrelated issues. Indeed, policies to protect forests that do not take into account other economic sectors are doomed when set against a growing tide of poor rural people who need arable land to survive. Given that a progressing agricultural frontier and expanding of livestock pasture are primary agents of deforestation in lower income developing countries forest policy must be seen as cross-sectoral with these issues. More specifically, the status of forest issues in national development policies must be significantly raised, taking into account all direct and indirect benefits produced by forests.
D. Modalités d'exécution :
The proposed Project Management Structure is summarised, demonstrating the linkages between the different stakeholders involved :
· Project management will be the responsibility of a GLOBE/WCFSD Management Unit guided by a Project Steering Committee (PSC).
· The Project Steering Committee (PSC) will include 1-2 representatives of GLOBE, 1-2 from the WCFSD, and the 2 from the EC.
· The Project Advisory Committee (PAC) would bring together UNEP, UNDP and major stakeholder groups in producing countries, along with international NGOs and others in the Project Advisory Group. GLOBE already has a Memorandum of Understanding with UNEP to work more closely together.
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