Observations/Lessons Learned:
1. Democratization, decentralization, political and social stability, continuity of staff, good governance, awareness raising and law enforcement are prerequisites for sustainable forest management (SFM), which in turn contributes to reduce poverty.
2. On the other hand, a growing number of international recommendations is overwhelming country implementing agencies. Implementation of the IPF/IFF proposals for action is weak because they are not well known and due to the low level of participation of African governments during the negotiations of these international processes.
3. There is lack of sufficient institutional capacity and financial resources to fully implement IPF/IFF proposals for action and decisions of UNFF. The negative impacts of Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs), inappropriate policy reform programmes and HIV/AIDS pandemic cause further difficulties.
4. However, many countries are struggling to implement them, particularly through their national forest programmes, and are using the proposals to check the compatibility of national activities with international guidance.
Recommendations:
5. Local, national, sub-regional and regional level actors should raise awareness on and make use of the simplified versions of the proposals, which should be made available in hard copies. The Permanent Missions to the UN in New York should pass on material received from UNFF timely.
6. Countries should share experiences on the implementation of the IPF/IFF proposals for action and criteria and indicators, for example, how to prioritize the proposals to concentrate on the most relevant in the context of their specific conditions.
7. The African Forestry and Wildlife Commission (AFWC) should provide a forum for sharing experiences on successes and failures.
8. Members of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) should develop coordinated and simplified approaches for implementation.
9. FAO, in collaboration with other CPF members, should continue to facilitate meetings on implementation.
10. FAO, other members of CPF, the African Forestry Research Network (AFORNET) and the Forestry Research Network for Sub-Saharan Africa (FORNESSA) and other regional and sub-regional organizations should continue to support research capacity building and networking.
11. FAO should strengthen efforts to provide information on forest resources and products and, in collaboration with other CPF members, should facilitate access to information and ease reporting burden to countries.
Observations/Lessons Learned:
12. The African voice is not heard at the international negotiations. Only few countries are able to participate, often with only one person in the delegation.
13. UNEP’s role in helping African countries to prepare for IFF-4 and UNFF’s efforts to support participation were recognized. Regional preparations and building of a common African position in future international forest policy negotiations are crucial.
14. African countries have limited capacity to take advantage of existing opportunities, for instance, the Global Environment Facility’s (GEF) grants on land degradation.
15. Few regional/sub-regional bodies are accredited to the UNFF.
Recommendations:
16. AFWC, in collaboration with sub-regional organizations, should provide a forum for strong regional policy dialogue, including preparations for future global meetings and for a common African position at UNFF-5.
17. Domestic resources from both the public and private sectors should be harnessed to support both participation in and implementation of proposals for action.
18. Countries should improve consultations with stakeholders.
19. Background information should be available well in advance of UNFF sessions.
20. All countries should designate focal institutions/persons.
Observations/Lessons Learned:
21. Regional/sub-regional organizations, including NGOs, are not sufficiently informed of and engaged in the UNFF processes and its outcomes. They should be proactive in requesting for information.
22. Efforts are underway to harmonize policies and strategies in some sub-regions.
Recommendations:
23. The various existing regional and sub-regional organizations dealing with economic issues, regional development and political coordination should incorporate SFM into their mandates and implement it, but they need partners to do so.
Observations/Lessons Learned:
24. Prerequisites for trade are: (i) product availability; (ii) competitiveness; (iii) buyer confidence (quality of product; social management; legality; SFM); (iv) investments.
25. Certification is one tool to promote SFM.
26. Good governance is essential to curbing illegal logging and associated trade.
27. Technical standards and product specifications, especially in Europe, are likely to impair market access to African producers.
28. Non-wood forest products, including medicinal plants and forest foods, are driven by urban demand, informal production and export processes that may hurt communities and the forests. Commercialization is beginning, but export opportunities are informal and undeveloped.
29. The potential of trade in carbon is poorly understood in Africa. Further experiences of application of carbon trading would be valuable.
Recommendations:
30. Countries should strengthen linkages between trade and forest policy, starting by increasing collaboration among ministries and with the private sector.
31. Countries should create an enabling environment to attract foreign investments.
32. ATO should continue to develop the Pan-African Forest Certification Scheme (PAFC).
33. FAO should help strengthen mutual recognition between the certification schemes.
34. Producer associations should be strengthened to better promote products, disseminate information and participate in the national decision-making.
35. Governments, logging companies and international organizations, such as FAO, should collaborate more to understand market opportunities and dynamics.
36. Governments should promote the use of local wood and other forest products.
37. FAO should facilitate the establishment of bi-lateral and sub-regional forest trade agreements, for example, by helping with feasibility studies that identify market opportunities and impediments for trade, including infrastructure problems and export taxes.
38. Technology needs should be specified, especially with regard to appropriate machines and ways to enhance small-scale enterprises. Private sector partnerships are a key to transfer of technology.
39. Governments and private sector entities should collaborate to disseminate and make better use of market information.
40. FAO, ITTO and ATO should collaborate to avoid duplication in the collection and dissemination of information.
41. Countries should improve their recording of information on production, trade and prices of NWFPs in order to improve sustainable forest management and capture the real value of these products and the contribution of forestry to food security and rural development.
42. Countries should replace exports of bushmeat with domesticated production.
43. Countries should design market mechanisms that capture the value of water and other non-market services from forests and ensure that the returns are used back to forest management.
Observations/Lessons Learned:
44. In many countries, sector policies are separate, and many forest problems are a result of policies outside the sector.
45. Since forestry has become marginalized, forestry actions must be addressed through national development strategies and action plans, and strategies of other sectors.
46. Low forest cover countries, many of which are low-income and food-deficit countries as well, are particularly sensitive to land degradation.
Recommendations:
47. Land rehabilitation strategies should be integrated into other sectoral strategies.
48. National forest programmes should include rehabilitation of degraded lands. Countries, in collaboration with international institutions, should establish funds for rehabilitation, replenished partially by forestry activity revenues.
49. Forestry departments and stakeholders should collaborate with other sectors to incorporate minimum standards in their activities affecting forest.
50. Countries should ensure that research is demand driven and considers community and socio-economic conditions.
51. Regional efforts should be strengthened to access GEF assistance in supplementing country resources in rehabilitating degraded lands.
52. Involvement of private sector and communities in rehabilitation should be encouraged.
