Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) Toolbox

Forest Policy

This module sets out the key elements of public forest policies. It explores how forest managers can assist in developing consensus-based forest policies that balance the interests, priorities and needs related to the conservation and use of forests and the benefits derived from them, and it addresses questions such as: “What is a forest policy?” “Why should countries have a policy on forests?” and “What makes a good forest policy?” The module also examines various forms of forest policies and sets out the steps involved in policy development. 

Forests are host to most of Earth’s terrestrial biodiversity. The conservation of the world’s biodiversity is thus utterly dependent on the way in which we interact with and use the world’s forests. The role of forests in maintaining biodiversity is also explicitly recognized by the United Nations Strategic Plan for...
FAPDA policy database
03 December 2021
The Food and Agriculture Policy Decision Analysis database (FAPDA) is a global and comprehensive database which contains over 18,000 national policy decisions and 3,000 national policy frameworks for over 150 countries around the world. The database makes available original policy documents and offers a brief description of the policy objectives and...
In the 1950s and 1960s, the Republic of Korea was one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world. Deforestation had stripped the country of half its forest cover, contributing to severe erosion, repetitive flood and drought damage and a decrease in agricultural production which threatened national food...
The study is a part of the Joint Initiative of WOCAN, the UN-REDD Programme and USAID-funded LEAF Project to investigate practical entry points for women’s inclusion in Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) policies and practices. It aims to explore the current status and effectiveness of policies and...
This report highlights the key national strategies and international regulations on gender equality and women’s empowerment related to REDD+ and their relationship to the evolving PRAP for Lam Dong. Information has been gathered from a literature review, a gap analysis, and interviews with key members of PRAP formulation team. Preliminary findings...
This study is a part of the Joint Initiative of the USAID-funded LEAF Project, WOCAN, and the UN-REDD Programme to investigate practical entry points for women’s inclusion in Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) policies and practices. It explores the current status and implementation of policies and practices...
Making forest policies that help bridge from the current situation to a sustainable future requires sound scientific information. Too often, scientific information is available, yet policy makers do not use it. At a workshop in Costa Rica, attendees from the Americas reviewed 16 case studies where forest science influenced forest...
In 2007, some noteworthy modifications took place in the Russian forest sector. Almost at the same time as the new Forest Code came into effect, a decree supporting prioritised investments in the forest sector and another decree aimed at ending the export of roundwood through the raising of export duties...
Public forest policies in Canada matter. Canada’s forests cover over 41 percent of the country’s land area (Canadian Forest Service 2007), account for about 8 percent of the world’s forest area (FAO 2005), and are integral to the country’s history, culture, economy, and environment. Forests are the traditional home to...
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) has released a report highlighting the results of a FAO, European Union (EU), and Government of China project on land tenure reform in China. This project supported the reform of forest tenure in China’s collective forests through strengthening policies, laws and...
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