Cross-sectoral policy impacts in forestry - Examples from within and outside FAO

Public policies promoting development

Environmental

Number

Name

Affiliation

Department

Tomas Linderman

FAO

SDAR

Country/ies

Area/region

Continent

Other countries with similar policies

Honduras

South and Central America

Income

Forest cover

Policy involved

Main policy area

Low

High

Yes

Public policies promoting development: Environmental

Forest/socio-economic classifications

Lowland forest in the humid tropics with a low population density,

Scale of impact (-3 to +3)

Forest cover

Forest alteration

Management capacity

Forest product processors

Markets & demands

Forest products supply

Soil & water

Socio-economic effects

Summary

Efforts are being made by municipalities in Honduras to acquire funds from the Global Environment Fund for slope management and resource protection, including agroforestry, following hurricane Mitch (1998-99).

Policy name or reference

Supporting references, web sites, etc.

Number

Name

Affiliation

Department

Patrick Durst

FAO

FAORAP

Country/ies

Area/region

Continent

Other countries with similar policies

China

Steep agricultural land

Asia

Income

Forest cover

Policy involved

Main policy area

Low

Yes

Public policies promoting development: Environmental

Forest/socio-economic classifications

Lowland forest in the humid tropics with a high population density, Sub-tropical and temperate mountain, temperate continental and sub-tropical humid

Scale of impact (-3 to +3)

Forest cover

Forest alteration

Management capacity

Forest product processors

Markets & demands

Forest products supply

Soil & water

Socio-economic effects

Summary

China’s recent "Farmland to Forests and Grasslands" policy will potentially take millions of hectares of steep agricultural land out of production and convert it back to forest. Farmers will be encouraged to give up farming steep slopes. Initial compensation will include grain stocks given to farm families (transferred from surplus producing areas). Alternative employment will be provided in forest rehabilitation activities. The policy objective is to reduce erosion and siltation from steep farmland and enhance ecological conditions.

Policy name or reference

Supporting references, web sites, etc.

Ms. Fan Xiaojie, FAO/China. Many reports and references available, although the program is relatively new.

Number

Name

Affiliation

Department

Hassan AbdelNour

FAO

FAORNE

Country/ies

Continent

Other countries with similar policies

Saudi Arabia, Arab Gulf States (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates), Iran, Tunis and Yemen

Asia

Income

Forest cover

Policy involved

Main policy area

High

Low

Yes

Public policies promoting development: Environmental

Forest/socio-economic classifications

Forest and tree vegetation in arid or semi-arid land,

Scale of impact (-3 to +3)

Forest cover

Forest alteration

Management capacity

Forest product processors

Markets & demands

Forest products supply

Soil & water

Socio-economic effects

Summary

One of the rare positive impacts of other sectors on forestry in the Near East Region (NER) relates to the Ministries of Municipal and Village Affairs or their equivalents in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Arab Gulf States, Qatar, Oman, Iran and perhaps Egypt. In these countries, extensive green spaces, road-side plantings and wood lots have been established using treated waste water and particularly Treated Sewage Water (TSW). Diverse collections of date palms, ornamental trees/shrubs and forest trees have been deployed. In view of the water shortages, the use of TSW is emerging as a speciality in NER, being used in urban settings as well as in sand dune stabilisation and establishment of forest plantations. Examples of NER countries utilising TSW in the latter activities include Kuwait, Tunisia and Yemen.

Policy name or reference

Supporting references, web sites, etc.

Bajouri, I. H. M.(2001). The Integrated technologies to Maximise the Return from the Water Unit. (Arabic). Paper presented at joint Workshop on the Rational Management of Water Resources through the Use of Modern Technologies. Ismailia- Egypt, 7-9 may,2001

Number

Name

Affiliation

Department

Adrian Whiteman

FAO

FONS

Country/ies

Area/region

Continent

Other countries with similar policies

Australia

New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, Northern Territory

Oceania

Income

Forest cover

Policy involved

Main policy area

High

Yes

Public policies promoting development: Environmental

Forest/socio-economic classifications

Forest and tree vegetation in arid or semi-arid land,

Scale of impact (-3 to +3)

Forest cover

Forest alteration

Management capacity

Forest product processors

Markets & demands

Forest products supply

Soil & water

Socio-economic effects

Summary

Soil salination due to rising water tables in New South Wales has led to a scheme of salt credits whereby land owners are paid for the amount of water transpired per hectare. As trees are able to transpire large quantities of water afforestation is expected to take place. Increasing salinity is one of the most crucial environmental problems facing Australia. Farming practices which replaced native vegetation with shallow-rooted crops and pastures caused groundwater levels to rise, bringing with them dissolved salt. Salt is thus being transported to the root-zones of remnant vegetation, crops, pastures, and into wetlands, streams and river systems. The rising water tables are also affecting rural infrastructure including buildings, roads, pipes and underground cables. The Macquarie River in central western NSW is projected to double in salinity in the next 20 years. In areas with rainfall above 600mm, deep drainage under pasture can be 20 times higher than under native woodland. Under a Memorandum of Understanding with State Forests of NSW, MRFF, which represents more than 600 Macquarie Valley irrigation farmers, will purchase salinity control credits based on the quantity of water transpired from 100 hectares of newly planted forest in the upper Macquarie catchment. The irrigators will benefit from tree plantings by securing water quality, these benefits will then be passed on to the water-using community. The natural groundwater in the Murray Darling Basin is inherently high in salt. State Forests will also plant a range of tree species on 50 trial sites in western NSW in 2001. The trial planting program follows a memorandum of understanding between the Minister for Forestry and Minister for Land and Water Conservation to encourage plantation forestry as a means of addressing the dryland salinity problem. Trees to be planted include salt and drought tolerant species, such as river red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis), and varieties known to be both drought tolerant and to have potential for products like charcoal including red ironbark (Eucalyptus sideoxylon) and black wattle (Acacia mearnsii).

Policy name or reference

Supporting references, web sites, etc.

http://www.forest.nsw.gov.au/business/carbon/investment_info/salinity/media/271099.htm; http://www.forest.nsw.gov.au/bush/feb00/feature/page14.asp; http://www.ea.gov.au/land/salinity/index.html

Number

Name

Affiliation

Department

Adrian Whiteman

FAO

FONS

Country/ies

Area/region

Continent

Other countries with similar policies

Europe

Income

Forest cover

Policy involved

Main policy area

High

Yes

Public policies promoting development: Environmental

Forest/socio-economic classifications

Temperate and boreal forest in an industrialised country with a market economy,

Scale of impact (-3 to +3)

Forest cover

Forest alteration

Management capacity

Forest product processors

Markets & demands

Forest products supply

Soil & water

Socio-economic effects

-1

Summary

The EC packaging directive affected the forestry sector by reducing demand for wood pulp as a result of the increased recycling of packaging that the policy demanded. In Germany the policy was implemented to a higher degree than demanded by the policy and recovered paper production and exports increased dramatically as consumption capacity did not simultaneously increase. The policy has remained with the market absorbing the 'shock'.

Policy name or reference

394L0062

Supporting references, web sites, etc.

European Parliament and Council Directive 94/62/EC of 20 December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste

Number

Name

Affiliation

Department

Adrian Whiteman

FAO

FONS

Country/ies

Area/region

Continent

Other countries with similar policies

All

Europe

Many others including Suriname

Income

Forest cover

Policy involved

Main policy area

High

Low

Yes

Public policies promoting development: Environmental

Forest/socio-economic classifications

Temperate and boreal forest in an industrialised country with a market economy,

Scale of impact (-3 to +3)

Forest cover

Forest alteration

Management capacity

Forest product processors

Markets & demands

Forest products supply

Soil & water

Socio-economic effects

Summary

Legislation concerning the aftercare of mineral workings acts as an encouragement to afforestation, tree-planting being one of the suitable options given the risks associated with human habitation on such sites.

Policy name or reference

Town and Country Planning (minerals act) 1981

Supporting references, web sites, etc.

http://www.dtlr.gov.uk/planning/epamw/

Number		Name				Affiliation				Department
81		Dominique Lantieri/Darmo Suparmo				FAO				SDRN
Country/ies		Area/region		Continent		Other countries with similar policies
Mexico, Chile, China		Arid areas		Several/all		UNCCD lists programmes in: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, China, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Gambia, Greece, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mongolia, Niger, Portugal, Republic of Moldova, Senegal, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Zimbabwe (Latin America and Caribbean omitted)
Income		Forest cover		Policy involved		Main policy area
High		High		Yes		Public policies promoting development: Environmental
Forest/socio-economic classifications
Forest and tree vegetation in arid or semi-arid land,
Scale of impact (-3 to +3)
Forest cover	Forest alteration		Management capacity		Forest product processors		Markets & demands	Forest products supply	Soil & water		Socio-economic effects
3	3		0		0		0	0	3		2
Summary
Desertification control in Mexico, Chile and China. Statements for Chile and Mexico were not available from United Nations Secretariat of the Convention to Combat Desertification. China: Desertified land is mainly in arid, semi- arid and dry sub-humid areas of the west part of Northeast China, Northern China, Northwest China and the north of Tibet. The area of desertified land is approximately 3.327 million sq. km. Objectives of first project phase included (1996-2000): revegetation of 12.15 million ha. of degraded steppe, desert steppe and rangelands; establishment of 6.905 million ha. with plantation; the second phase included (2001-2010): establishment of 6.69 million ha. of forest plantation; Objectives of the third phase (2011-2050) included bringing into control nearly all desertified land. The Convention to Combat Desertification aims to "promote effective action through innovative local programs and supportive international partnerships. Drawing on past lessons, the Convention states that these programmes must adopt a democratic, bottom-up approach. They should emphasise popular participation and the creation of an "enabling environment" and must make politically sensitive changes, such as decentralising authority, improving land-tenure systems, and empowering women, farmers, and pastoralists. They should also permit non-governmental organisations to play a strong role in preparing and implementing the programmes. The programmes must be fully integrated with other national policies for sustainable development. "Developed countries are expected to encourage the mobilisation of substantial funding for the action programmes. They should also promote access to appropriate technologies, knowledge, and know-how."
Policy name or reference
Convention to Combat Desertification
Supporting references, web sites, etc.
http://www.unccd.int/main.php; China National Action Program to Combat Desertification August, 1996 (http://www.unccd.int/actionprogrammes/asia/national/2000/china-eng.pdf); http://www.fao.org/desertification/default.asp?lang=en; http://www.unccd.int/convention/history/agenda21.php; Republica de Chile Informe Nacional para la Implementacion de la Convención de las Naciones Unidas para el Combate de la Desertificación. Santiago de Chile, Mayo de 2000 (http://www.unccd.int/cop/reports/lac/national/2000/chile-spa.pdf); Mexico Informe sobre la Implementacion de la Convencion de las Naciones Unidas de Lucha Contra la Desertificacion México 2000. Liu, T. (2001) Influence of the Convention to Combat Desertification on forestry in China, Unasylva 206, FAO, Rome

Number

Name

Affiliation

Department

Issues raised in Unasylva 206

FAO

FONP

Country/ies

Area/region

Continent

Other countries with similar policies

World-wide

Several/all

Income

Forest cover

Policy involved

Main policy area

All

Yes

Public policies promoting development: Environmental

Forest/socio-economic classifications

Wide ranging effects

Scale of impact (-3 to +3)

Forest cover

Forest alteration

Management capacity

Forest product processors

Markets & demands

Forest products supply

Soil & water

Socio-economic effects

Summary

The Kyoto protocol aims to internalise costs associated with anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide by requiring countries to reduce net emissions. The role of forests although not yet fully established may be of importance if establishment of forest is allowed to count as an offset against emissions. Furthermore carbon trading may allow forests to be established in developing countries, where labour costs are lower, by developed countries wishing to reduce their net contribution to atmospheric carbon dioxide. The ultimate objective of the convention is to limit human-induced disturbances to the global climate system by seeking to achieve a stable level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. In 1997 the COP adopted an additional legally binding commitment, the Kyoto Protocol, which sets out emission reduction targets and methods. This protocol has been signed by 84 States, and as of 25 June 2001 has been ratified by 35, but has not yet entered into force. Thirty-nine developed countries and countries with economies in transition commit themselves to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 5 percent compared to 1990 levels between 2008 and 2012. However, the Kyoto Protocol does not include further operational details that will determine how these cuts are to be achieved and how countries’ efforts are to be measured and assessed.

Policy name or reference

Supporting references, web sites, etc.

Moura-Costa, P (2001) The climate convention and evolution of the market for forest-based carbon offsets; Ruis, B.M.G.S. (2001) No forest convention but ten tree treaties. Unasylva 206, FAO, Rome

Number

Name

Affiliation

Department

Markku Simula

FAO

INDUFOR

Country/ies

Continent

Other countries with similar policies

Europe, Malaysia, Brazil, Ghana, Canada, USA, etc.

Several/all

Income

Forest cover

Policy involved

Main policy area

All

Public policies promoting development: Environmental

Forest/socio-economic classifications

Wide ranging effects

Scale of impact (-3 to +3)

Forest cover

Forest alteration

Management capacity

Forest product processors

Markets & demands

Forest products supply

Soil & water

Socio-economic effects

Summary

Environmental labelling & certification is a soft policy tool through which sustainable forest management may be promoted. The scale of effects is not yet measurable although available markets for certificated products may not constitute a large percentage of global trade.

Policy name or reference

Supporting references, web sites, etc.

There is a large body of literature (e.g. Bass et al. 2001 (IIED), Vogt et al. 2000, ITTO studies on certification, etc.) I. Bourke has a comprehensive biography on this I would guess. Ljungman, C.L.S., R. M. Martin, Whiteman, A. (1999) Beyond Sustainable Forest Management: Opportunities and Challenges for Improving Forest Management in the Next Millennium. FAO, Rome.

Number

Name

Affiliation

Department

Kari Keipi

Inter-American Development Bank

Country/ies

Area/region

Continent

Other countries with similar policies

Latin America

South and Central America

Income

Forest cover

Policy involved

Main policy area

High

Yes

Public policies related to special economic sectors:

Forest/socio-economic classifications

Lowland forest in the humid tropics with a low population density, also temperate oceanic, sub-tropical dry forest, Sub-tropical humid and tropical dry forest

Scale of impact (-3 to +3)

Forest cover

Forest alteration

Management capacity

Forest product processors

Markets & demands

Forest products supply

Soil & water

Socio-economic effects

Summary

Decisions to establish a greater number of protected areas have resulted in the preservation of forest biodiversity and have also therefore contributed to sustainable forest management.

Policy name or reference

Supporting references, web sites, etc.

Nature protection

Number

Name

Affiliation

Department

Mette Loyche Wilkie

FAO

FORM

Country/ies

Area/region

Continent

Other countries with similar policies

World-wide

Several/all

Income

Forest cover

Policy involved

Main policy area

All

Yes

Public policies promoting development: Nature protection

Forest/socio-economic classifications

Wide ranging effects

Scale of impact (-3 to +3)

Forest cover

Forest alteration

Management capacity

Forest product processors

Markets & demands

Forest products supply

Soil & water

Socio-economic effects

Summary

The Convention on Biological Diversity has three goals: 1) the conservation of biological diversity;

3) the sustainable use of the components of biological diversity; 3) the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources. A large part of the world’s terrestrial biological diversity is found in forests; forest ecosystems are estimated to contain 70 percent of the world’s plant and animal species. Since its adoption, CBD has considerably expanded its horizon to include forests within its purview. In 1995, COP-2 adopted a statement on biological diversity and forests and stressed that forests have a crucial role in maintaining global biological diversity. Subsequently, a Work Programme for Forest Biological Diversity was adopted by COP-3 in 1996. The Work Programme focuses on the research, co-operation and development of technologies necessary for the conservation and sustainable use of forest biological diversity of all types of forests. In 1998, COP-4 decided to consider forests one of the three priority themes for COP-6 in 2002. It also established an Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Forest Biological Diversity. Another influential link with forests is provided by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), which provides funding for projects under CBD that support activities related to biological diversity, including forest biological diversity. Further, CBD established in 2000 the Global Taxonomy Initiative, which is also of relevance to forests.

Policy name or reference

Supporting references, web sites, etc.

Technology

Number

Name

Affiliation

Department

CIFOR

FAO

CIFOR

Country/ies

Area/region

Continent

Other countries with similar policies

Developing countries

Several/all

Developing countries

Income

Forest cover

Policy involved

Main policy area

Low

High

Yes

Public policies promoting development: Technology

Forest/socio-economic classifications

Wide ranging effects

Scale of impact (-3 to +3)

Forest cover

Forest alteration

Management capacity

Forest product processors

Markets & demands

Forest products supply

Soil & water

Socio-economic effects

-2

-1

Summary

Introduction/encouragement/subsidy for new agricultural technologies. Trade offs and win-lose between forest conservation and technological progress in agriculture in areas near forests appear to be the rule rather than the exception. However, win-win opportunities exist. By promoting appropriate technologies and modifying the economic and political environment in which farmers operate, policy makers and other stakeholders can foster them. New technologies are more likely to encourage deforestation when they involve products with elastic demand (supply increases do not depress prices much). This typically applies to export commodities. The stories of commodity booms and deforestation are almost always about export crops. On the contrary, higher supplies typically depress the price of products sold only in local or regionalised markets rather rapidly. That dampens the expansionary impact of the technological change and may even override it. But it also dampens the growth in farmer’s income. It is not a case of slowing down agricultural intensification but of identifying technologies and intensification strategies that come as near to win-win as possible.

Policy name or reference

Supporting references, web sites, etc.

Angelsen, A. and Kaimowitz, D. (2001) Agricultural technologies and tropical deforestation

International development

International development

Number

Name

Affiliation

Department

Lennart Ljungman/Adrian Whiteman

FAO

FON

Country/ies

Area/region

Continent

Other countries with similar policies

Developing countries

Several/all

Income

Forest cover

Policy involved

Main policy area

Low

All

Yes

International development

Forest/socio-economic classifications

Wide ranging effects

Scale of impact (-3 to +3)

Forest cover

Forest alteration

Management capacity

Forest product processors

Markets & demands

Forest products supply

Soil & water

Socio-economic effects

-1

Summary

Development projects remove the best in country staff from doing necessary work and development aid has been shown to reduce the effectiveness of governance. Analyses of cross-country data provide evidence that higher aid levels erode the quality of governance, as measured by indexes of bureaucratic quality, corruption, and the rule of law. This negative relationship strengthens when instruments for aid are used to correct for potential reverse causality, and is robust to changes in the sample and to several alternative forms of estimation. Foreign aid can also weaken the state bureaucracies of recipient governments. This can occur most directly by siphoning away scarce talent from the civil service, as donor organisations often hire away the most skilled public officials at salaries many times greater than those offered by the recipient-nation government match (Brautigam, 2000: 40-41; Brautigam and Botchwey, 1998; Dollar and Pritchett, 1998: 88-89).

Policy name or reference

Supporting references, web sites, etc.

Knack, S (2000) Aid Dependence and the Quality of Governance: A Cross-Country Empirical Analysis. World Bank. Brautigam, D. and Botchwey, K (1998). The Institutional Impact of Aid dependence on Recipients in Africa. American University School of International Service; Brautigam, D (2000). Aid Dependence and Governance. Almqvist & Wiksell International, Stockholm; Dollar, D and Pritchett, L. (1998). Assessing Aid: What Works, What Doesn't, and Why. Oxford University Press. New York