Financial and economic forces are major factors affecting the way that forests are managed. FAO's work on forest finance examines the way that forest policies and institutions can use these forces to improve forest management.

News

Unlocking national opportunities: new insights on financing sustainable forest and land management 18 September 2012 This policy brochure, drawn from experience in more than 80 countries worldwide, focuses on the development and implementation of strategies and approaches to enhance financing for sustainable forest and land management (SFM/SLM). It is intended for national and international policymakers and practitioners in both the public and private sectors. [more]

Timberland in institutional investment portfolios: Can significant investment reach emerging markets? 25 June 2012 Forest Policy and Institutions Working Paper 31. Reinhold Glauner, James A. Rinehart, Peter D'Anieri, Marco Boscolo and Herman Savenije (2012), EN [more]

Work on forest finance at FAO
FAO works on the topic of forest finance at a number of levels. At the national level, FAO provides technical guidance, tools and analyses on a wide range of issues, such as: financing mechanisms; forest valuation; economic analysis of forest policies; trends in costs and prices; and forest revenue systems. At the local level, this work includes: development of innovative financing instruments; cost-benefit analysis of forestry projects and policies; training and guidelines for economic appraisal; and the valuation of non-market goods and services from forests. This work is implemented as part of FAO's regular programme of activities as well as through field projects at the regional and country level.

These webpages present the results of two recent projects:

1. An assessment of the Latin America experience with financing mechanisms in support of sustainable forest management;
2. An examination of fiscal policies within the context of sustainable forest management and the implementation of national forest programmes in Africa.

They also present some tools, models, other studies and relevant links on the subject of forest economics and finance that may assist countries in the financial and economic analysis of the forest sector and in the development of financing strategies.