Sri Lanka Forest Resources Management Sector Project

At the time of project formulation, Sri Lanka faced the dual challenges of forest loss and degradation plus the consequent impoverishment of communities whose livelihoods depended on forests. Poverty and food insecurity were increasing, especially among people living near traditional forest areas or plantations, and this was leading to mounting encroachment on the forest, forest conversion, and degradation. In the long run, impoverishment and land degradation lead to food deficits that necessitate further extension of agriculture to the adjacent forestlands, thus intensifying land-use conflicts and tension between the Forest Department and local communities. Addressing the food security and livelihood needs of these communities while involving them in developing alternative forest use strategies and practices were considered prerequisites to institutionalizing sustainable forest management.

The project was to increase the value and sustainability of Sri Lanka's forests. The goal was to be achieved by creating a policy and governance framework enabling local communities and the private sector to participate in forest resource development and management. As per the report and recommendation of the President (RRP), the project’s design and monitoring framework identified the following performance targets: (i) natural forest areas stabilized in forest divisions covered by the project; (ii) forest stock inventories, wood availability, and state forest sector revenues increased; and (iii) tree cover increased in project areas. No baseline information and targets were provided in the project framework.

The project intended to (i) establish and implement participatory sustainable forest management of demarcated permanent forests to increase their protection and production; and (ii) enhance access of local communities, and particularly of economically disadvantaged people, in order to acquire gainful employment and human resource development opportunities, consequently leading to poverty reduction. To achieve these objectives, the RRP set targets that (i) policy and legal reforms and institutional restructuring would be implemented by 2003; (ii) national forest areas would be delineated and demarcated by 2002; (iii) beneficiary and private sector leaseholds would double from the pre-project levels; and (iv) about 50,000 household incomes would show substantial (about 40% to 100%) improvement as compared to nonbeneficiaries.

The project has three components: (i) participatory forest planning, management, and awareness; (ii) sustainable forest resource development and management; and (iii) institutional strengthening through improving the technical knowledge base of the Forest Department’s professional and extension staff, participating beneficiaries, as well as nongovernment and community-based organizations. The following table summarizes outputs and achievements as reported by the project completion report (PCR, Appendix 10).

Most targets were met or exceeded, though some activities underachieved due to lack of available land. One significant activity could not be implemented due to the government’s failure to pass the required ordinance for the leasing of state forests and plantations to the private sector.

ADB.Reference Number: PCV: SRI 2011-48.Project Number: 30215.Loan Number: 1744-SRI(SF).December 2011

Forest Resources Management Sector Project

For more information about Projects in Sri Lanka see Southern Asia Projects

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Migration, remittances and forests: disentangling the impact of population and economic growth on forests

International migration has increased rapidly in recent decades and this has been accompanied by a remarkable increase in transfers made by migrants to their home countries. This paper investigates the effect of the rural economic growth brought about by migration and remittances on Nepal's Himalayan forests. The authors assemble a unique village-panel dataset combining remote sensing data on land use and forest cover change with data from the census and multiple rounds of living standards surveys to test various inter-relationships between population, economic growth and forests. The results suggest that rural economic growth spurred by remittances has had an overall positive impact on forests.

The paper also finds that remittances caused an increase in rural wages and an increase in income, but a decrease in land prices. Considered together, however, the relationship between forests and remittances is driven largely through the income channel, indicating that the demand for amenities provided by forests in the rural Nepali setting may have been more important than factor prices in influencing land use changes for the period of the study..

World Bank. Author:  Tiwari,Sailesh;Bhattarai, Keshav.Document Date: 2011/12/01.Document Type: Policy Research Working Paper.Report Number: WPS5907.Volume No:1 of 1

Migration, remittances and forests: disentangling the impact of population and economic growth on forests

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Tanzania.Participatory forest management and REDD plus

Tanzania's land, local government and forest laws mean that rural communities have well defined rights to own, manage and benefit from forest and woodland resources within their local areas through the establishment of village forests. This approach, known by practitioners as Community Based Forest Management (CBFM) results in the legal establishment of village land forest reserves, community forest reserves or private forests. By 2008, 1,460 villages on mainland Tanzania1 were involved in establishing or managing village forests covering a total of over 2.345 million hectares.

A further 863 villages are currently involved in Joint Forest Management (JFM) approaches within government forest reserves, in which management responsibilities are shared between government and local communities. 1.78 million hectares of forest reserve under central or local government jurisdiction are now under JFM arrangements. Since 2008, the Tanzanian government has been making preparations for the establishment of systems and structures for REDD Plus (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation).

Tanzania is being supported in its preparations by the World Bank's Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), UN-REDD plus and the Norwegian Forests and Climate Initiative as well as a number of local and international Non Government Organizations (NGOs). This report has been prepared to provide inputs to the development of policy processes currently evolving in Tanzania regarding REDD plus.

This review draws on almost two decades of experience within Tanzania on the development and establishment of Participatory forest management (PFM) an approach which (like REDD plus), aims to achieve the combined objectives of sustainable forest management with secure rights, improved local forest governance and secure livelihoods for forest-dependent communities.

World Bank.Document Date: 2011/10/01.Document Type: Working Paper.Report Number:65880.Volume No: 1 of 1

Participatory forest management and REDD plus in Tanzania

Participatory forest management and REDD plus in Tanzania policy note

Tanzania's land, local government and forest laws empower rural communities with well-defined rights to own, manage and benefit from forest and woodland resources within their local areas through the establishment of village forests. This approach, known by practitioners as Community Based Forest Management (CBFM) leads to the legal establishment of Village Land Forest Reserves, Community Forest Reserves or Private Forests.

A second approach called Joint Forest Management (JFM) takes place in government forest reserves, where management responsibilities are shared between local communities and the state. Spread of these two approaches has been relatively rapid over the past 15 years.

By 2008, 1,460 villages on mainland Tanzania were involved in establishing or managing village forests covering over 2.345 million hectares. Additional 863 villages are currently involved in Joint Forest Management (JFM) approaches within government forest reserves, in which management responsibilities are shared by government and local communities. 1.78 million hectares of forest reserve under central or local government jurisdiction are currently under Joint Forest Management.

World Bank.Document Date: 2010/10/01.Document Type: Working Paper.Report Number: 65878.Volume No:  1 of 1

REDD+ benefit sharing in Tanzania

Reduce carbon emissions from deforestation and degradation plus (REDD+) has been developing in Tanzania since 2008 and the government is working on the development of a national strategy and action plan, as well as institutions that will enable it to implement a national REDD+ scheme. A number of studies are currently underway to help inform the detail of a future REDD strategy. Ten pilot projects are in development (REDD strategy 2010). All of these processes are overseen by a National Climate Change Steering Committee, which includes a REDD+ Working Group. The Forestry and Beekeeping Division will play a major role in REDD+ implementation. The framework document (Government of Tanzania, 2009) which has served as an initial basis for REDD+ strategy development, and various scoping studies (Katoomba, 2009) outline criteria for selecting appropriate REDD+ sites and activities.

One of the policy approaches that is emphasized in draft policy strategies is the use of Participatory Forest Management (PFM) applied through Joint Forest Management (JFM) and Community Based Forest Management (CBFM) as one of the main ways to address deforestation and degradation drivers through REDD+ in Tanzania. Although it is not completely clear how this would be managed in practice, the implication is that REDD+ funding will be used to speed up the rate of expansion of land area under PFM (currently only 12.8 percent of the country's forests are under PFM) and as a potentially new finance stream within community forestry systems.

If benefit sharing occurs via the distribution of finance by the government (received in accordance with performance against a national reference level) to local levels, the 'vertical' benefit sharing arrangements (i.e., between government and communities) might be expected to differ between these two community forestry approaches. This is because the government retains forest ownership rights in the case of JFM, whilst in CBFM, communities are the rights holders and duty bearers. Studies on benefit sharing in these systems indicate that there are still challenges in ensuring benefits for the poorer members of communities.

Author:  Peskett, Leo.Document Date:2010/10/01.Document Type:Working Paper.Report Number:65861.Volume No:1 of 1

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Trinidad and Tobago.National Forest Policy

Forest management has been practiced in Trinidad and Tobago since 1765 when the first Forest Reserve in the Western Hemisphere, the Main Ridge of Tobago, was designated. In 1942, while Trinidad and Tobago was still a British colony, the first official forest policy was formulated. In 1979, the Conservator of Forests commissioned a review and updating of the Policy, resulting in a draft Forest Resources Policy in 1981. However, this document was never formally

approved.

In 1998, another draft Forest Policy was prepared by the Conservator of Forests after a comprehensive forest policy review process. This document took into account the forestry sector‟s growing contribution to national development and the Forestry Division‟s role as a provider of goods and services, and as a facilitator to its stakeholders. This Revised Forest Policy of 1998 was presented to Cabinet in 1999 and Cabinet agreed, inter alia, that the draft Forest Policy would be published as a Green Paper for public comment. However, this process was not completed and the policy not formally adopted.

Because subsequent forest policy documents were not formally approved, the country‟s forest resources are still officially governed by the outdated 1942 Forest Policy. Considering the changes that have occurred in the policy environment, the national legal framework and in forest management strategies since 1998, the Cabinet of Ministers agreed that the Forest Policy be comprehensively reviewed and reformulated.

The formulation of this National Forest Policy was guided by a Cabinet-appointed Technical Advisory Committee comprising representatives from public sector agencies, non-governmental organisations, academia and the private sector, with technical assistance from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). All relevant documents were identified and analysed, and several national consultations were held during the drafting of the document, to ensure that the needs and aspirations of all stakeholders were taken into consideration. The present statement is the result of this rigorous process, and it is hoped that its adoption and implementation will contribute to sustainable development through the effective conservation and management of forests and forests resources in Trinidad and Tobago.

This National Forest Policy is not an isolated statement, and it builds on the existing policy framework for forest management and it supplements and enhances other public policies and plans, especially the National Environmental Policy (NEP), the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) and the National Action Programme to Combat Land Degradation. It is also envisaged that this Policy will be enabled through existing and proposed policy instruments in the forestry sector, including legislation, strategic plans for key government agencies and other institutional actors, a National Forests Systems Plan, and management plans for specific areas and forest resources.

This National Forest Policy recognises that forests, forest resources and forest uses contribute significantly to national development, livelihoods and human wellbeing.

This National Forest Policy also recognizes that the quality and extent of the forest estate has changed dramatically since the 1940s, and the demands for goods and services from these forests have also greatly intensified. Given that the functions of forests are varied and the relationships between forests and other sectors are complex, this policy statement encompasses all the main dimensions of forest conservation, use and management. The key challenge of this policy is the maintenance of forest ecosystems in light of competing demands for land.

IDB. February 2011. Trinidad and Tobago.National Forest Policy.

Global forest land-use change from 1990 to 2005

FAO. 30 November 2011, Rome.The world lost nearly ten hectares of forest per minute between 1990 and 2005.A new, satellite-based survey released by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) provides a more accurate picture of changes in the world's forests, showing forest land use declined between 1990 and 2005.

The findings of a global remote sensing survey show the world's total forest area in 2005 was 3.69 billion hectares, or 30 percent of the global land area.
 
The new findings suggest that the rate of world deforestation averaged 14.5 million hectares per year between 1990 and 2005, which is consistent with previous estimates. Deforestation largely occurred in the tropics, likely attributable to the conversion of tropical forests to agricultural land.

On the other hand, the survey shows that worldwide, the net loss in forest area between 1990 and 2005 was not as great as previously believed, since gains in forest areas are larger than previously estimated.

Net loss — in which losses of forest cover are partially offset by afforestation or natural expansion — totalled 72.9 million hectares, or 32 percent less than the previous figure of 107.4 million hectares, according to the survey. In other words, the planet lost an average of 4.9 million hectares of forest per year, or nearly 10 hectares of forest per minute over the 15-year period.

The new data also show that the net loss of forests increased  from 4.1 million hectares per year between 1990 and 2000 to 6.4 million hectares between 2000 and 2005.

The figures are based on the most comprehensive use yet of high-resolution satellite data to provide a sample of forests worldwide. They differ from previous FAO findings in the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010 (FRA 2010), which were based on a compilation of country reports that used a wide variety of sources.

"Deforestation is depriving millions of people of forest goods and services that are crucial to rural livelihoods, economic well-being and environmental health," said Eduardo Rojas-Briales, FAO Assistant Director-General for Forestry.

"The new, satellite-based figures give us a more consistent, global picture, over time, of the world's forests. Together with the broad range of information supplied by the country reports, they offer decision-makers at every level more accurate information, and underscore the need for countries and organizations to urgently address and halt the loss of valuable forest ecosystems," Rojas-Briales added.

The remote sensing survey was based on a single source of data for all three points in time — 1990, 2000 and 2005 — and used the same input data and methodology for all countries.

"In terms of change in forest area, the new results update our knowledge for Africa, where previous data for some countries was old or of low quality. Here the remote sensing survey shows a much smaller rate of forest loss than previously estimated based on national reports," Adam Gerrand, an FAO Forestry Officer, said.

Regional losses and gains

There were notable regional differences in forest losses and gains.

Between 1990 and 2005 the loss of forests was highest in the tropics, where just under half of the world's forests are located. Net losses in this region averaged 6.9 million ha/yr between 1990 and 2005. The highest rate of conversion of forest land use to other, unspecified, land uses for both periods was in South America, followed by Africa.

Asia was the only region to show net gains in forest land-use area in both periods.

Deforestation occurred in all regions, including Asia, but the extensive planting that has been reported by several countries in Asia (mainly China) exceeded the forest areas that were lost.

Slight net increases in forest area were registered in subtropical, temperate and boreal zones over the full 15 year period.

Further remote sensing studies are expected to reveal changes occurring since 2005, including any progress which may have been made in the protection of existing forests and the establishment of new forests since 2005.

Global view

The new results provide important input into national and international reporting processes which require information on forest area and land-use change statistics. This includes the Convention for Biodiversity and the emerging initiative for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD+), under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), currently being discussed at the 17th Conference of the Parties being held in Durban, South Africa (28 November-9 December 2011).

To develop the survey, FAO worked over four years with technical partners in the European Commission Joint Research Centre and more than 200 researchers from 102 countries to analyze satellite imagery from the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

Funding for the study was provided by the European Commission, the Heinz Center, the governments of Australia, Finland and France and FAO

Global forest land-use change from 1990 to 2005

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Nicaragua.NI-X1005 : Integral Management of the Apanas and Asturias Watershed

The GEF operation seeks to promote the sustainable management of the land, forest and biodiversity of the Apanas and Asturias watershed. This watershed is of paramount importance for hydroelectric generation and its appropriate management will help reduce CO2 emissions.

Nicaragua.NI-X1005:Integral Management of the Apanas and Asturias Watershed