Forest Governance Community Forestry Module 7 5 Forestry

Forest Governance Community Forestry – Module 7. 5 Forestry Training Institute, Liberia

What is governance? • Governance is: the process of decision making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented). • Governance is: the traditions, institutions and processes that determine how power is exercised, how citizens are given a voice, and how decisions are made on issues of public concern • Good governance, several definitions, but for the UN it is: consensus oriented, participatory, follows the rule of law, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive, responsive, transparent and accountable

Key Concepts in Governance Rule of law • Fair legal frameworks that are impartially enforced are needed. Forest managers should obey the law, engage in dialogue about its inconsistencies where necessary, avoid corrupt practices and encourage others with whom they interact to do likewise. Transparency • Decisions need to be taken in accordance with agreed rules. Relevant information must be accessible to those who will be affected. Forest managers can help publicize decision-making processes (such as standards development processes) and communicate information that might affect decisions, in ways that are easily understandable to forest users, neighboring communities, workers and other organizations.

Key Concepts in Governance Equity • All citizens should feel they have a stake in, and are not excluded from, society. This requires that all groups, but particularly the most vulnerable, have opportunities to maintain or improve their wellbeing. Forest managers can ensure that their own objectives are clearly expressed and that people with rights or interests in forest areas under their control receive fair treatment. Efficiency • Citizens and institutions should produce results that meet the needs of society while making the best use of resources at their disposal. Forest managers are key players in ensuring that forest goods and services are used productively and sustainably. Accountability • Governmental institutions, private sector enterprises and civil society organizations should be answerable to those who are affected by their actions. Forest managers should themselves be accountable and press for accountability in the organizations with which they interact.

Forest Governance • Forest governance is about the policy, legal and institutional conditions that affect how people treat forests. It generally refers to the quality of decision-making processes – their transparency, accountability and equity – rather than the formal political structures of government. Good forest governance supports and encourages the implementation of sustainable forest management. • Good governance is about good decisions over matters of public concern. This may sound grand idealistic, but achieving it requires many small practical steps to be taken – and forest managers can take some of them. • Forest managers – linked as they often are to a range of other groups and to significant areas of land resources – can thus play a major role in developing good governance.

Why is Governance important in Community forestry? • Transfer of rights and responsibilities to communities for the management and utilization of forestry resources • This transfer must be carefully managed at all levels to avoid failures, corruption and elite capture • Hence the need for good governance

Governance issues • Government – – – Good governance Transparency Inclusiveness Democracy Decentralization • Community – Responsible leadership – Participation of the broader community – Avoid elite capture/gate keepers • The management of center-local relationships • The need to mainstream gender and youth interests in community forestry

Inter-sectoral Governance Issues must be addressed to ensure effective and productive community forestry management: • Land Tenure: Tenure rights are a serious problem in the emerging community forestry in Liberia due to ambiguity in the legal system. On the one hand, the formal legal system obtaining title deeds for land is required but on the hand, the traditional system under which local people own and govern their forest resources is allowed and recognized. This has resulted in establishment of community forestry without the legal land deeds and the requisite statutory rights to the resources. • Networking: Collaboration amongst the various sectors involved in environmental protection is presently weak. The environmental units proposed by the EPA in the various relevant sectors remain dormant due to the poor networking with the relevant institutions. • Lack of land-use planning: The country faces serious pressures from a number of competing sources for its landscape including forestry, mining, agriculture and human settlement. In order to balance land-use pressures between the sectors, as well as between commercial, community and conservation interests, a comprehensive national land-use plan is required. A national land-use planning process involving all government ministries and key stakeholders should be initiated under the auspices of the Environment Protection Agency. All government ministries, environmental NGOs as well as the local level actors should be part of this participatory planning process.

Inter-sectoral Governance Issues must be addressed to ensure effective and productive community forestry management: • Lack of adequate sustainable forestry management practices: The Government, with the assistance of International Community should provide the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) with policy guidance and training on best practice in sustainable forest management and on how to balance commercial, community and conservation interests in the forestry sector. Other areas that require review in the formulation of a new forestry policy include agroforestry, community forestry management, reforestation and the economic value of non-timber forest productions, including bush-meat. • The need to develop alternatives to slash-and-burn agricultural practices: Slashand- burn agricultural practices have contributed to forest degradation. Recent years have witnessed pressures from huge movements of the population and new logging roads have been constructed improving access to the forests. As a result, traditional shifting agricultural practices have become unsustainable, since forests no longer have the time to regenerate. As part of the rural population is dependent on these methods for their livelihoods, there is a need to develop alternatives, such as inter-cropping, agro-forestry, tree crops, animal husbandry and appropriate use of swamp cultivation.

Inter-sectoral Governance Issues must be addressed to ensure effective and productive community forestry management: • LThe need to build the capacity of the environmental administration: United Nations agencies and other international organizations should train staff of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) on key policy areas such as environmental management and monitoring, Geographical Information Systems (GIS), Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) international environmental conventions and public awareness and participation in decision-making. • Lack of National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP): Although Liberia’s Environmental Protection Policy is in place, it does not have any defined actions for its implementation. It is therefore necessary that a national environmental action plan be developed to implement the policy goals and priorities. • Lack of Environmental Awareness: There is a grave lack of awareness on general environmental issues including community forestry. Efforts need to be made to raise adequate and sustained public awareness at all fronts including community level.