Author Engel, A.

Year of publication 2011

Conflict among stakeholders over access, control or ownership of forest resources is a major impediment to achieving sustainable outcomes in the forest sector. It leads to loss of income, employment, government revenues and environmental services. FAO and the national forest programme facility have developed a training module on collaborative conflict management, in close collaboration with stakeholders in several parts of the world. The training is designed to enhance the implementation of national forest programmes (nfps). This handbook serves as a tool for conflict managers to address forest policy-related conflicts by focusing on collaborative ways of managing public disputes in forest policy making. It offers a practical “road map” for planning, designing or leading collaborative conflict resolution. The handbook also recognizes the great diversity of contexts, objectives and actions of nfps around the globe, as such it does not offer prescriptions or ready-made solutions. It seeks to clarify the overall process of collaborative conflict management and outlines important considerations for conflict management. It is our hope that this handbook will strengthen the understanding of conflict and how it can be systematically managed in order to achieve more effective national forest programmes.