Governance and forest monitoring: A shift in approach

Governance is becoming a central theme in efforts to strengthen national forest monitoring systems under the Country-Led Planning (CLP) programme of the Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI), a partnership for assisting tropical countries to monitor their forest and carbon resources.

“After years of technical support to tropical forest countries to develop national forest monitoring systems, it became evident that long-term sustainability requires addressing institutional and functional issues, not just technical ones. It is crucial to apply a stronger focus on the governance of these monitoring systems,” argues Marco Mezzera, CLP Governance Specialist with the GFOI.

In this video presentation, Mezzera traces the concept of governance back to the late 1980s and early 1990s when international development began linking democratization, institutions and development outcomes. Organizations such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) helped expand the concept, defining governance as the system through which governments, civil society and the private sector manage economic, political and social affairs.

Building on this evolution, Mezzera notes that the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) started developing its own governance framework in 2013, adopting an analytical approach focused on understanding power relations, institutions and decision-making processes within specific sectors and countries. This process culminated in the Focus on governance for more effective policy and technical support, a reference publication for governance analysis in agrifood systems.

“It is about the manner power is exercised and those formal and informal rules that govern people's behavior, especially collective action in fields like food security and nutrition, climate resilience and the sustainable management of natural resources,” highlights Mezzera.

In the context of forestry, he continues, this governance perspective helps explain why national forest monitoring systems often face challenges that are not primarily technical. By identifying institutional gaps, such as overlapping mandates and weak coordination, Mezzera points out, governance-focused approaches aim to ensure that forest monitoring systems become durable, integrated functions of government rather than isolated projects.

Watch the full video