Forest tenure assessment

Expert Meeting

“Understanding Forest Tenure: toward supporting forest tenure diversification".

12-14 February 2007 FAO, Rome

Venue and Participants

The technical meeting “Understanding Forest Tenure: toward supporting forest tenure diversification” was organised by FAO Forest Policy Service and took place at FAO Headquarters in Rome, from 12 to 14 February 2007. Over 30 participants from different geographic regions attended the meeting (see annex 1 for the full list of participants). The meeting was targeted at governmental institutions, research and development organisations, UN agencies and other international organisations that have practical experience with issues related to forest tenure and in particular with forest tenure diversification. The focus was on organisations that operate at international level; however the representation of specific national experiences and perspectives of NGOs was an important part of the meeting.

Background

Excessive deforestation and forest degradation resulting from population growth, agricultural expansion, escalating demand for wood products, illegal logging, industrial development, unsustainable commercial trade of Non Wood Forest Products and rapid economic growth have triggered a debate not only on the effectiveness of public sector forest management but also on changes in forest resource tenure and institutional arrangements. Over the last 20 years, the commitment to empowering local communities, to decentralizing decision making to local government units and to increasing private sector involvement in forest management has been growing. However assessment of these past and ongoing efforts points to the tenure issue as one of the root cause of poor performance in the forestry sector. There is therefore a great need to improve understanding of the nature and implications of forest tenure, stimulate national and international debate on the subject, and raise the awareness of policy-makers, providing them with the arguments and evidence that can encourage an in-depth reform of the forest tenure system.

For several years FAO and other organisations (AFP/ TNC/ Tropenbos, Forest Trends*, CIFOR*, ICRAF*, RECOFT*, UNFF, ILC, , WWF and others ) have been interested in the role and the impact of forest tenure, with particular emphasis on major trends and their implications not only for SFM, but also for poverty alleviation and sustainable livelihoods. As the results of these studies become available, they can form the basis for the formulation of policy recommendations.

Objectives

The goal of the two and half day technical meeting was to define strategic ways forward to support a forest tenure diversification which could enhance SFM and support forest based poverty alleviation.

To achieve this, the meeting had the following objectives:

1. Present results of various regional and global studies on major forest tenure trends, and forest tenure diversification;
2. Identify best practices from presented studies;
3. Identify and develop key principles for forest tenure diversification to assist governments;
4. Establish a constructive dialogue among participating organisations; and
5. Propose and share strategies among participating organisations for future action and work including:
• defining priority areas of work and approaches to be taken (partnership agreements, project proposals);
• publishing available information and disseminating it widely; and
• bringing forest tenure on the forestry sector agenda, and specifically for FAO, with particular emphasis on the forthcoming Meeting of the Committee on Forestry in March 2007.