Tropical forest
New European Commission guidelines for cooperation with developing countries
Tropical forest
New European Commission guidelines for cooperation with developing countries
Source: RAPID (The Spokesman's Service of the European Commission)
http://europa.eu.int/en/comm/spp/rapid.html
The European Commission finalised new guidelines on forest sector development co-operation. The purpose of these guidelines is to contribute to the delivery of better quality tropical forest assistance to developing countries. Social impact analysis and environmental appraisal are major elements of the new approach. The Guidelines are compatible with the findings and recommendations of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests, which took place in New York in February 1997, as part of the follow-up process to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro. The new policy will be presented in a series of workshops in developing countries in the next six months.
The forests situation today
During the 1970s and 1980s a tropical forest area equal to all of Western Europe has been lost. By the early 1990s, almost 40 percent of Earth's land surface had been converted to cropland and permanent pasture, largely at the expense of forests and grasslands. The Amazon, Southeast Asia, Southern and Central Africa account for 80 percent of world deforestation.
The declining quality of forests is also a grave problem. In addition to loss of forest cover, millions of additional hectares are degraded by inappropriate logging practices and fuelwood collection. Forest degradation in the tropics is a significant concern because of the substantial loss of biomass and habitat fragmentation.
The costs of forest conversion include environmental degradation of forest areas, rapid loss of biodiversity, climate change, loss of cultural assets and diversity, loss of livelihood for forest-dependent people, and rising inequality within countries and between countries.
The answer of the European Community
The European Community has responded to this challenge by dramatically increasing its support for the conservation and sustainable management and development of tropical forests; between 1992 and 1995 the Commission spent an average 85 Ecu million a year on tropical forest activities. At the same time, the European Community has also revised its strategic approach for tropical forests with, for example, the Tropical Forest Regulation of 1995, and the Protocol 10 on Sustainable Management of Forest Resources in the revised Lomé IV Convention for African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. A Budget Line of 50 Ecu million/year has been dedicated to Actions in Favour of Tropical Forests since 1992.
General Principles of EC forest sector development cooperation
A number of general principles are integral to the EC's strategic approach to the forest sector. These basic principles need to be considered and addressed constantly when dealing with EC support to the forest sector. They reflect the three dimensions of sustainable development - the economic, social and environmental dimensions - and are completed ;by a set of policy principles:
Policy principles:
· Considering strategic processes and seeking compatibility with National/Regional
Forestry Programmes.
· Considering forests in a broader pattern of land use.
· Respecting customary rights and ownership of land and resources.
Social principles:
· Understanding social and cultural features and responding to perceived needs.
· Encouraging participation of all stakeholders in the development process and seeking to empower local communities.
· Seeking to reach poor and disadvantaged populations and seeking to integrate them into the development process.
· Recognising gender roles and establishing equal participation and benefits.
Economic principles:
· Promoting the private sector.
· Determining and valuating environmental costs and benefits.
Environmental principles:
· Avoiding harmful effects on the environment, including biodiversity.
· Enhancing the environmental resource base and maintaining biodiversity for future generations.
The EC bases its support to the forest sector on nine Themes which are closely interlinked and interdependent. They provide an analytical framework to ensure that the elements of the strategic approach fit with the different types of forests and to the actors involved. The Themes are:
(1) Policy, legal and institutional framework of the forest sector.
(2) Conservation of ecosystems and of biodiversity of tropical forests.
(3) Sustainable management of forest resources.
(4) Creation of forest resources.
(5) Harvesting, processing, marketing and trading of timber and other forest products.
(6) Certification of forest management and forest products.
(7) Forestry education and training.
(8) Forestry-related research.
(9) Forestry information and communication.
Explaining and testing the guidelines
The Guidelines outline first the EC Strategic Approach for tropical forests (Volume I), and then translate this into tools (Volume II) for putting the Strategic Approach into practice.
Both Volumes will be available in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish. Volume I will also be available in German.
The use of the Guidelines will be demonstrated, and their applicability for different purposes will be tested, during the next six months, in fifteen workshops in developing countries through a training and testing programme. Participants from around 100 developing countries have been invited to attend the training. The workshops will also be used as a forum for discussions on tropical forest policy between local stakeholders, European Commission staff and EU Member States representatives.
For further information, please contact
Marjukka Mähönen,
Tropical Forestry Expert, Training and Testing Programme for the Guidelines
for Forest Sector Development Cooperation
European Commission, DGVIII/A/1
200 rue de la Loi, 1049 Brussels,
Fax
number (32 2) 296 64 72.
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