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Honduras: Securing land rights of local communities and agroforestry cooperatives

The FAO-EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Programme partnered with the Asociación de Municipios de Honduras (AMHON) and the Instituto Nacional de Conservación y Desarrollo Forestal, Áreas Protegidas y Vida Silvestre (ICF) to support municipal authorities in securing the land rights of local communities and agroforestry cooperatives by improving the administration of ejidal (municipal) forests. Formalizing the status of ejidal lands and strengthening the capacities of local authorities to manage them is a key step towards improved forest governance in Honduras, which signed a voluntary partnership agreement (VPA) with the European Union in February 2021.

Regional: South-South cooperation advances transparency objectives in West and Central Africa

Cooperation between national NGOs in West and Central Africa has advanced transparency and legality objectives in the forest sector across the region. The FAO-EUForest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Programme has partnered with local NGOs to expand Independent Forest Monitoring activities by promoting regional cooperation. Independent forest observers are now better equipped to monitor the use of forest resources and participate in related decision-making processes.

Colombia: Building the capacities of MSMEs to supply legal timber to the domestic market

Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) play a crucial role in Colombia’s domestic timber market but lack awareness of legal requirements and the skills to comply with them. The FAO-EU Forest LawEnforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Programme partnered with the Federación de Industriales de la Madera (FEDEMADERAS) to build the capacities of 61 MSMEs on legal, environmental and fiscal requirements and to link small timber operators to legal timber suppliers.

Guyana: Empowering indigenous forest-dependent communities to manage and monitor forest resources

The FAO-EU FLEGT Programme has supported the Amerindian Peoples Association to design and implement Free, Prior, Informed Consent protocols as part of the Programme’s broader objective to ensure participation of forest communities in national forest governance dialogue. Empowering indigenous and forest-dependent communities to play an active role in national forest governance dialogues capitalizes on their unique knowledge of forest resources.

The project saw the successful piloting of the protocols in the village of Bethany, where community members were equipped with the skills and knowledge to negotiate with extractive resource companies and monitor their activity on customary land. The project offers a potential new pathway to regulating the use of resources within customary land in Guyana.

Cameroon: Boosting small timber operators’ market access through improved legal compliance

Within the framework of the EU’s Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan, the FAO-EU FLEGT Programme partnered with Action for Sustainable Development (ASD) to increase legal compliance and the participation of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Cameroon’s domestic legal timber market. Through combined efforts, ASD strengthened the capacity of small timber operators to comply with regulations and facilitated the creation of legal and sustainable market linkages.

Innovative digital approaches to sustaining livelihoods through the production and sale of legal timber

The FAO-EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Programme has supported the development of e-commerce platforms, which helps incentivize legal timber trade on both domestic and export markets, and protect livelihoods. These platforms have become even more relevant in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, encouraging business continuity by reducing the need for face-to-face interactions between buyers and sellers. 

Indonesia: Increasing the scope and reach of independent forest monitoring

The FAO-EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Programme has supported a number of Indonesian Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to train and mentor 550 new independent forest monitors across Indonesia since 2017. Expanding the scope and reach of Independent Forest Monitoring (IFM) contributes to the robustness and credibility of the SVLK and is critical in protecting Indonesia’s forest.

Guatemala: Supporting carpenters to purchase and use legal timber 

Through support from the FAO-EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Programme, the Organization Asociación Balam has connected local carpenters to legal timber producers in the northern Guatemalan department of Petén by building and strengthening cooperatives. Building and strengthening cooperatives producers and buyers, and improving overall forest governance, has significant impacts on livelihoods and the overall sustainability of Guatemala’s timber industry. FAO’s partners also provided dedicated trainings to Municipal Government officials on good forest governance to reduce the rate of illegal logging and oversight of forest management plans.

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Ghana: Targeted trainings allow small and medium forest enterprises (SMFEs) to comply with national legality requirements

Ghana signed a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) with the European Union in 2009, as part of the EU’s Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan to address illegal logging. In this context, the FAO-EU FLEGT Programme partnered with Kumasi Wood Cluster (KWC) through two consecutive projects to assist Small and Medium Forest Enterprises (SMFEs) in complying with forest legality standards. SMFEs were able to identify gaps in operations and received trainings to undertake corrective actions to close these gaps. These trainings equipped operators with new skillsets, leading to increased compliance with the Ghana Timber Legality Assurance System established under the framework of the VPA.