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Through strategic research, capacity building and outreach to
develop and promote policy instruments for the sustainable
management and use of forest resources to enhance the wellbeing of
present and future generations.
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Achieving sustainable forest management will continue to be difficult unless existing incentives to degrade or clear forests for other land uses are significantly reduced by an appropriate combination of regulatory instruments and financial incentives to conserve existing forests. This is particularly true for forest rich developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region, many of which experience high rates of both sanctioned and unsanctioned forest clearance and destructive logging.
Incentive instruments are likely to be most effective when constructed upon the foundations of a strong legal and policy framework that includes a fair treatment of customary rights to forest lands and resources, a transparent process of rights allocation, effective forest law enforcement, accountability at local and national level, cross-sectoral planning, and regulations that ensure a transparent flow of legal forest products in global trade. The IGES Forest Conservation Team conducts research on both incentive and regulatory instruments for sustainable forest management, from local to global levels. |
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Local women carrying non-timber forest products, Viet Nam |
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| Trade in forest products |
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Forest conservation objectives will be difficult to achieve unless the international forest products trade is significantly reformed. International trade has contributed to forest loss as traditionally markets have made no distinction between wood from well managed forests and wood from poorly managed forests or illegal forest operations. Inadvertently, consumers in developed countries are driving forest destruction in tropical developing countries.
In the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in China and Viet Nam, there has been a rapid expansion in the volume of wood materials imported for processing into final products that are then re-exported to developed countries. The Teamfs research explores the challenges and opportunities for engaging Chinese and Vietnamese industry on the issues of wood legality and sustainability, and examines the development of regulatory instruments in consumer countries to curb the import of illegal forest products.
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Logs for export, East New Britain, PNG |
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| REDD-plus |
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Parties to the UNFCCC are currently attempting to reach agreement on a decision for enhanced national / international action for developing countries to reduce emissions and enhance carbon stocks in their forest sectors. However, history shows us that slowing or halting deforestation is not a simple task. The research challenge for REDD-plus includes providing direction on how forest management can (i) achieve real, long-term emissions reductions and enhancement of carbon stocks, and (ii) ensure that forests committed for REDD-plus serve a broad range of environmental, social and economic functions. The Team aims to contribute to the development of such models through:
* REDD: Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries
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- Action research and capacity building workshops to involve local communities in forest management and the estimation and monitoring of forest carbon stocks (Papua New Guinea, Cambodia and Indonesia)
- Monitoring and assessment of REDD demonstration activities and national REDD readiness activities
- REDD+ database.
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Peat land, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia |
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The Forest Conservation Team is developing a public online database containing profiles of REDD-plus demonstration activities and national REDD-plus systems. Its purpose is to make information on REDD-plus preparedness activities and projects available in a succinct manner to forest stakeholders and other interested groups. The project profiles are constructed using a common template and information from publically available project documents. Each profile includes links to further sources of information, commentary and analysis.
REDD+ database website |
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