FAO.org

Background and objective

This one-day seminar held in Brussels on the 25 of June 2013 presented the main achievements, results and contributions of the ACP-FLEGT Support Programme to improving forest governance through the perspectives and experiences of ACP-FLEGT projects.

Between 2008 and 2012, the ACP-FLEGT Support Programme supported over 100 pilot initiatives in 33 countries, testing new methodologies and approaches for improving forest governance. By and large, most of these projects boasted successful outcomes which will likely serve as useful lessons for other local stakeholders as they pursue FLEGT-related activities in the years to come.

Despite progress in addressing FLEGT related issues, challenges remain. In light of this, FAO and the European Union are scaling up through the EU FAO FLEGT Programme, a follow-on programme to the ACP-FLEGT Support Programme. The new programme continues to provide support to local stakeholder groups in Africa, but is expanded to support stakeholders in Asia and Latin America to implement the FLEGT Action Plan.