The National Forest Programme Facility (Facility) is a funding mechanism and information unit created in response to recent intergovernmental meetings which recognized the essential role of national forest programmes in addressing forest sector issues. It is governed by a Donor Support Group and a Steering Committee which includes representatives of beneficiary countries, FAO, the World Bank, funding partners, research institutions, non-governmental organizations, foundations and the private sector. The Facility is currently funded by the European Commission, the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands, Finland, France and Norway and hosted by FAO.
For more about the Facility, including support to counties and communities of practice, visit the following web site:
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This web site gives the policy background to nfps and provides an online manual for nfp implementation, links to useful resources and organizations as well as contacts for nfp support.
This site contains country profiles covering the status of the planning process, policy, forestry legislation, government institutions, stakeholders and legislation in a number of countries. These country profiles give a good overview of the national programmes and priorities in the forestry sector of the participating countries.
Available country profiles include: Bangladesh , Benin, Cambodia, China, Colombia, Congo, Dem Republic of, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czech Republic, Côte d'Ivoire, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Lesotho, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal, Slovakia, Swaziland, Syrian Arab Republic, Tanzania, United Rep of, Thailand, Uganda and Vanuatu.
To facilitate the search for specific information related to nfps, the nfp digests provide collections of key electronic documents from experts and various international organizations on topics related to national forest programmes. The nfp digest presents a cross section of various types of material, including subject overviews, best practice guides, case studies and lessons learned and policy analysis.
To date, digests are available on the following themes:
Institutional capacity building - In the context of national forest programmes, institutional capacity building means creating the capability for national and local level government institutions and partners to implement their proposed action plans. This digest covers a range of published resources on the topic, including papers on methods for institutional analysis and institutional strengthening
Cross sectoral planning, coordination and conflict - Realistic and achievable forestry programmes are those which harmonise with policies in other sectors and cross cutting issues and which are consistent with a country’s overall vision for development. This digest highlights areas where policies may interact, provides examples of best practice in policy making and introduces some integrated planning approaches.
Decentralization - A central theme in the forest programmes of many countries, decentralization brings an added dimension to nfp planning and implementation. This digest presents a sample of the extensive available literature on the subject.
Forest finance systems - Adequate financing of national forest programme components is essential in order for implementation to proceed. This digest looks at material devoted to raising funds to enable the realisation of forest programmes.
Forests and poverty - This digest covers Poverty Reduction Strategies and how they relate to the forestry sector. Several papers give an introduction to the subject of how forest products and services can benefit the poor. Further resources cover experiences gained from the implementation of sustainable livelihood projects over the past 10-15 years.
Stakeholder participation - Recognized as an essential ingredient of successful national forest programmes, stakeholder participation in the planning and policy making process is very much in people's minds at present. This digest brings together guides, experiences and theory on stakeholder participation for use by practitioners and other interested groups.
Strategic planning: methods and practice - For sustainable forestry development, long term vision is needed in order to take account of the future effect on forestry of gradual trends in economic, social and ecological factors. This digest covers general concepts and methodologies in strategic planning, including outlook studies,scenario planning and modelling.
