The forest sector is not yet contributing as it should towards sustainable development. Reform efforts must be redoubled to achieve the necessary transformation.
Key findings
Over the last 20 years, a range of measures to tackle illegal logging have been adopted in different countries around the world. These measures have resulted in improvements in many aspects of forest governance and a reduction in illegal practices in some countries.
The introduction of market access regulations and public procurement policies has contributed to changes in business practices in many parts of the world. Furthermore, there has been growing acceptance that companies have a role in ensuring and driving best practice, which is reflected in the increasing adoption of legislation aimed at reducing the environmental and human rights impacts of operating companies.
At the same time, the management and oversight of forest resources within many tropical forest countries have been strengthened as a result of improvements in participation, transparency and accountability. In particular, the engagement of national stakeholders in decision-making has resulted in a transformation of how the sector is governed, with governments increasingly accepting the role that civil society can play – in drafting and implementing policies, and in forest monitoring and law enforcement.
Increased transparency – both in the legal framework and in sectoral data provision – has contributed to more effective monitoring of the sector by both government officials and civil society, while also facilitating compliance by the private sector. These changes have contributed to the reduction in illegal practices that has been seen in some countries and an overall decline in the proportion of illegal products being traded internationally.
The improvements seen in the last two decades are remarkable, particularly given the challenges that have needed to be overcome. However, governance remains weak in many parts of the world, with high levels of corruption and inadequate law enforcement.
Consequently, illegal practices remain widespread and the forest sector is not yet contributing towards sustainable development to the extent that it should. In particular, small-scale producers and enterprises are not yet participating fully in the sector, which limits their role in strengthening rural economies. Furthermore, the collection and disbursement of revenues remains poor in many countries, with the consequence that neither governments nor rural communities are receiving the benefits that are due from the sector.
Future cooperation on forests
The forest sector has undergone transformative change in the last 20 years. Over this period, market dynamics have changed, and demand for forest resources has grown. Production systems for wood-based products have also evolved, with an increase in the proportion of timber coming from forest clearance and from wood plantations, particularly from non-tropical regions. At the same time, competition for forest lands has intensified, primarily due to agricultural expansion, but also because of mining activities and the construction of transport infrastructure. As a result, the loss of forests, particularly natural forests, has been continuing at an alarming rate.
Increased competition for forest lands has also led to social conflict and violence against rights holders in many parts of the world, although at the international level there has been increased recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities. Furthermore, the impacts of climate change on forests are becoming increasingly evident. These impacts include more frequent and intense forest fires, which have implications for wood supply chains and for the integrity and resilience of forest ecosystems.
As a consequence of these changes, priorities for forest governance reform have also shifted. The growing competition for land and resources increases the urgency of establishing equitable processes for the recognition of rights and for land-use planning; while continuing growth in demand for commodities highlights the need for more effective measures to reduce consumption, as well as consideration of how demand can be met while also maintaining ecological functions and adapting to climate change.
Thus, facilitating a transition to sustainable land use will require responses beyond the market-based approaches that have been pursued for tackling illegal logging. As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change highlighted in its 2022 assessment report on the impacts of climate change, policy responses have so far been insufficient to stem the loss and degradation of forests.
However, the achievements of the past two decades should not be minimized, nor must they be overlooked.
As synthesized above, notable progress has been made in some areas of the forest sector. This needs to be further built on and reinforced – especially where the reforms are at the incipient stage or are not yet fully embedded, as shifting attention from these ongoing processes would risk their reversal. Moreover, future efforts will need to be implemented in close alignment with those in other sectors – the interlinked nature of land use, as well as the cross-cutting nature of many challenges to governance (such as corruption and inequality), mean that reforms will be most effective when they are coherent between sectors. The IPCC report also identified cross-sectoral decision-making as one of the priority levers for transforming environmental governance.
Reflecting on where future efforts need to be focused, there are a number of areas that must be prioritized. With respect to demand-side measures, a key lesson from the forest sector is that more concerted efforts are needed to strengthen enforcement. This requires the provision of adequate resources by governments, as well as measures to enable international cooperation at the level of both policymakers and enforcement officials. Cooperation is particularly important for those countries that have recently introduced such measures, to enable sharing of lessons and best practice.
Further engagement is also needed with those countries that have not yet sought to regulate their consumption of illegal or unsustainable products, to make the case as to why they should do so. This will require continued efforts to document the impacts of illegal and unsustainable production as well as evidence of the need for establishing resilient supply chains in light of the climate and biodiversity crises.
With respect to governance reforms, participation has been key to many of the improvements seen, and more inclusive processes have become accepted practice in certain countries. However, multi-stakeholder engagement is always at risk, and more open approaches to governance can quickly be reversed. Therefore, support for inclusive approaches must continue to be prioritized. While this is widely acknowledged – the IPCC report also identified inclusive approaches as one of the priorities for effective environmental governance – there is a risk of this becoming an empty catchphrase, or of processes being inadequately designed or implemented. Sufficient time and resources are needed so that there is genuine collaboration, delegation and co-production of ideas and actions.
Such processes will be of critical importance as countries consider how they should be using their forests and lands, and as they strive to establish the types of land-based economies that meet the needs of their citizens. Finding equitable models to achieve national priorities for sustainable development – including the balance between different land uses and sectors, modes of production, and markets – will require robust and inclusive processes of decision-making.
The role of international trade in reshaping economies and landscapes also merits greater attention, particularly within impact assessments and monitoring, so that it can help drive transformations towards sustainability.
Donors can play an important role in opening up opportunities for such approaches – as has been seen with the VPAs. The multi-stakeholder mechanisms already established must be maintained where they have been functioning well, and ways must be found to adapt or build on these where new international initiatives are being developed – for example, with the broadening of the EU’s approach beyond legal timber to deforestation-free commodities.
The adoption of inclusive approaches also needs to be strengthened and implemented more widely within international relations. This has been taking place within some trade agreements; for example, civil society has been given a greater role in monitoring of some of the EU’s free trade agreements. But there remains scope for much more progress in opening up the negotiation and implementation of these agreements to a broader group of stakeholders, and in particular, to those most at risk of negative impacts. Furthermore, the role of international trade in reshaping economies and landscapes also merits greater attention, particularly within impact assessments and monitoring, so that it can help drive transformations towards sustainability.
Transparency has also underpinned many recent improvements in governance, and this needs continued support. Information systems remain very poor in some countries and the lack of reliable and timely data hinders management of the sector by government officials. Civil society continues to face challenges in accessing data and information, limiting its ability to monitor the sector and to hold their governments and the private sector to account. Strengthening of information systems needs to continue, including through improving public access to the data. Institutional support, both for government agencies and civil society, is also important so that the data can be used to maximum effect in the management and oversight of the sector.
Finally, much greater attention must be paid to the monitoring and evaluation of reform processes and international cooperation initiatives. While national monitoring systems were provided for under the VPAs, they have been delayed and have not been implemented in a uniform way across countries. Priority must be given to enabling national civil society organizations and research institutions to undertake this work. Experience from independent monitoring of the sector has highlighted the valuable role that civil society can play in strengthening management and enforcement in the sector. This body of expertise – as well as that existing within national research institutions – must be utilized to strengthen monitoring and evaluation of reform efforts. This is the next step in giving greater voice and agency to national stakeholders in the forest sector. A significant shift has been seen towards more inclusive approaches in decision-making about forests and land use in the last two decades. But more progress is needed to ensure that national experts and stakeholders are the ones who are shaping national and international reform efforts.
