Between 2016 and 2022, the FAO-EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Programme worked to provide technical support and resources for activities to further the goals of the European Union’s FLEGT Action Plan, helping tropical timber producing countries establish and implement measures to tackle illegal logging, promoting trade in legal timber products and ultimately contributing to sustainable forest management (SFM) and poverty reduction
Programme support was centred around six key outcomes:
Support to VPA countries: providing technical expertise to partners in tropical timber-producing countries to meet nationally defined timber legality requirements established within the VPAs.
Support to non-VPA countries: extending support to countries not engaged in VPA processes to promote legal timber production and better forest governance.
Private sector capacity building: equipping MSMEs with the business management skills needed to increase market access and the knowledge and competencies necessary to comply with forest sector regulations.
Knowledge sharing: exchanging knowledge and awareness-raising on FLEGT and FLEGT-related issues.
Impact monitoring: documenting progress, achievements, and impacts of the FLEGT Action Plan and making information available through knowledge sharing.
Partner capacity building: increasing the technical and institutional capacities of grantees.
The Programme implemented 352 projects in 27 countries (full list and details available here) and had a total budget of USD 50 584 350. The greatest investment was made in VPA countries, representing 73 percent of the budget, whilst 18 percent of the budget was invested in other tropical timber producing countries, with the remaining supporting global and regional work.
Beneficiaries included governments, primarily through forest authorities, private sector associations, civil society organizations, forest communities, indigenous peoples and gender-based associations.
