7 Governments and Institutions

Government administration efficiency and collaboration between institutions and civil society (social participation) are key issues for the development of forestry in the region. Government efficiency is crucial for the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of government policies and consequently, for the environment for private investments and development projects. In this respect, judicial procedures, efficiency, central government, the banking system, the time and different procedures to get a concession permit, level of corruption and governance in general are key areas that should be analysed in the country Forestry Outlook studies.

The stakeholders’ capacities for participation, collaboration and coordination should be analysed in the context of the Forestry Country Outlook studies. The stakeholder analysis should include: national and local governments, NGOs, international financing organizations, research and development institutions, extentionists, the private sector, (including large industries and SMEs) and the social sector, including indigenous and other communities.

The capability of private and national institutions for intersectoral coordination is a main area for the development of forestry in the region. It is worth to remind that much seemingly irrational activity in forest is explained by absent or faulty coordination among different government agencies and programs (J.Laarman, 1999).

Finally, the obligations and rights that a country have obtained by being signatory of international agreements and conventions on forest management, biodiversity protection, respect for the rights of indigenous people and trade set the framework of institutional forestry development. Some of them are reviewed in the following section.

7.1 Multilateral and regional agreements

It is important for each country in the context of their own Forestry Outlook study to analyse the implications of being signatory each treaty or agreement or being part of an international forum and how they could benefit or not from them (Table 24). For example, although the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) from the Kyoto Protocol has not been implemented yet, potential benefits are foreseen for some Latin American countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Peru and Uruguay which have designated national authorities for the CDM (UNFCCC, 2002).

Integration agreements like the Latin American Integration Association (LAIA/ALADI), the Treaty for Amazonian Cooperation (TCA), the Latin American Economic System (SELA) and the Organization of American States (OAS) have also an impact on the future of forestry, from a technical scope (TCA) to the political and economic scope (OAS and SELA).

The TCA was signed by Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela in 1978. Its purpose is to develop joint actions and efforts to promote the harmonious development of their respective Amazonian territories in such a way that these joint actions produce equitable and mutually beneficial results (TCA, 1978). Some of the areas issued in this treaty relevant to the Forestry sector in the Amazon region are:

• Private investment as mechanism for sustainable development of the forestry sector.

• Regional program on planning and management of protected areas (EU-TCA).

• Proposal of a methodology for ecological and economic zonification (land classification).

• Institutional enforcement and technology transfer.

• Proposal for a strategy for forestry valuation through carbon sequestration studies from natural and artificial regeneration.

• Transport Network for the Amazon Region.

Table 24 International agreements concerning forestry

The SELA is an intergovernmental organism formed by 28 Latin American and Caribbean countries²⁵. Its main objective is to promote consultancy and coordination for the agreement in common positions of LAC in economic matters, in front of groups of nations, fora and international organisms and also to promote the cooperation and integration within LAC countries.

Apart from being a political forum, the OAS plays an important role in advancing the goals for increased trade and economic integration between countries of the North, Central and South American and the Caribbean. The OAS works alongside the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB/BID) and the United Nations Commission on Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC/CEPAL) to support the trade negotiations of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA/ALCA) through its Trade Unit, created in 1995 (OAS, 2002).

Another cooperation organisation of recent creation (1999) which involves LA countries is the East Asia and Latin American Forum (EALAF)²⁶ which objective is to implement programs that increase economic, political and cultural ties between its 27 members mainly through trade and investment and information creation and exchange, taking advantage of existing organizations such as LAIA, MERCOSUR and CAN.

²⁵ SELA members: Argentina, Belize, Bahamas, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, , Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad y Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela.
²⁶ EALAF members: Asia Pacific side: Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Republic of Korea, Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam; on the Latin American side: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.