Overseas Development Institute - Theme: Forests

ODI Publications - Opinion - Mitigating climate change: what impact on the poor?

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 17:00:00 PDT

The impact of climate change is of vital importance. But, for the worldâs poor, policies to mitigate climate change may, in the short term, have as much impact as climate change itself. This Opinion assesses four mitigation strategies and their possible impacts on the poor: environmental labelling; green growth strategies; biofuel production and food prices; and forest protection. It focuses on sub-Saharan Africa.

ODI Specialist Series - Natural Resource Perspective - Community forestry in the Amazon: The unsolved challenge of forests and the poor

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 17:00:00 PDT

In the Amazon region, efforts to put Community Forestry into practice have achieved only modest results. The international research project ForLive, analysing experiences in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Brazil, revealed that considerable external resources are needed to overcome the technical, legal and financial barriers inherent in the current community forestry framework. As a consequence no spontaneous option takes place. To enable smallholders in effectively using their forests, there is an urgent need to revise this framework. Alternatives should start from existing locally developed practices with emphasis on education and extension. Larger areas of public forests should also be provided to communities, as, with appropriate investments in training, infrastructure and equipment, they have shown themselves able to effectively meet social, economic and environmental goals. Policy needs to distinguish more clearly between these goals. Improved social development skills are needed to support innovation and dissemination of locally appropriate practices and to strengthen local capacity for regulation and control.

ODI Audiovisual - Video blog - Brussels Briefing - Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD)

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 16:00:00 PST

Speaking in the second panel of the Brussels Briefing on 'The climate challenge for ACP agriculture', Leo Peskett (ODI) argues that Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) offers a high potential to further both environment and development. REDD foresees that developing countries would be expected to reduce deforestation and degradation through policies and measures such as agricultural intensification or sustainable forest management in return for payments from industrialized countries. However, as REDD is a market machanism, it presents also risks, among which how to make sure that the financial flows can be be channeled and reach the small farmers.

Source: Euforic.tv - see www.brusselsbriefings.net

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ODI Online - Blog - The view from Davos - Part three: Perspectives on the environmental debate

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 02:46:00 PST

In the third of four blogs, I consider perspectives in three key areas- biofuels, climate change adaptation and water....(read more)...

ODI Audiovisual - Video blog - The Davos Question: Development proofing climate change

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 16:00:00 PST

Leo Peskett, of the Overseas Development Institute, offers his answer to the Davos Question, discussing how to ensure policies for dealing with climate change are 'development-proofed' - that is, they are built with development in mind and driven by developing countries and the poor.

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ODI Specialist Series - Natural Resource Perspective - Rethinking approaches to tree management by farmers

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 16:00:00 PST

This paper examines farm households' tree management strategies and proposes a framework for policy interventions. Farmers plant or retain some trees on their land nearly everywhere. Historically this component of on-farm resources has attracted little interest but practical policy measures can be identified, and differ substantially from those relevant to forestry.

ODI Specialist Series - Forestry Briefing - Potential and challenges of payments for ecosystem services from tropical forests

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 16:00:00 PST

This paper summarises current potential and challenges facing the development of payments for ecosystem services (PES) as a means of promoting the sustainable management or conservation of tropical forests, including the challenge of combining equity or poverty reduction objectives with environmental objectives, and the interaction of PES with broader forest sector and âextra-sectoralâ policies.

ODI Specialist Series - Forestry Briefing - Risk and responsibility in Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 16:00:00 PST

Investment in reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) in developing countries relies on the ability to guarantee effective maintenance of forest cover over long timeframes, while also avoiding negative social and environmental repercussions. Given the complex and often unpredictable drivers of deforestation in developing countries, risk reduction is therefore of paramount importance. This paper looks at how REDD transaction mechanisms between buyers and sellers might be established and the implications that risk reduction mechanisms might have for different stakeholders in developing countries. It focuses on the likely implications for the interests and welfare of the forest-dependent poor.

ODI Specialist Series - Forestry Briefing - The implications of carbon financing for pro-poor community forestry

Sun, 02 Dec 2007 16:00:00 PST

The emergence of new financing mechanisms associated with the rise of carbon markets brings potential for increased investment in forestry. This paper explores the implications of these mechanisms for community forestry and suggests ways in which such finance may contribute to the pro-poor outcomes of community forestry. The paper also provides an opportunity for those working on the design of carbon financing mechanisms to draw on the experience of community forestry in structuring appropriate benefit systems. The main focus of the discussion is on 'Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation'(REDD).

ODI Specialist Series - Forestry Briefing - Can standards for voluntary carbon offsets ensure development benefits?

Sat, 21 Jul 2007 17:00:00 PDT

Increasing concerns about climate change are fuelling growth in the market for carbon offsets. Carbon offsets are purchased by individuals and organisations from schemes that claim to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the atmosphere. This paper explores how emerging standards covering the voluntary carbon markets can address multiple aims of carbon offsetting and sustainable development and how they might be best designed to bring benefits for developing countries.

VERIFOR Briefing Paper - New technologies in support of improved forest governance: factors influencing success

Mon, 26 Feb 2007 16:00:00 PST

Th is paper examines how new technologies are being introduced as a means to strengthen national forest governance systems, taking the example of Brazil where their uptake is advancing rapidly. Some key elements to consider when contemplating the introduction of new technologies are described. Th ese include: the management required to oversee the transition between the old regulatory system and the new, technology-supported system; the institutional reforms triggered by this technological change; and the impacts of the new technologies in terms of changes in the detection of forest crime, the level of illegality and tolerance of corruption. Th e safeguards and mechanisms of public oversight that have been introduced with these changes are also examined.

ODI Project Papers - Report - Papua New Guinea, Paper Three - Issues and opportunities for the Forestry Sector

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 16:00:00 PST

Looks at the economic case for forestry in Papua New Guinea. In broad societal terms the importance of the sector lies in its development potential of bringing incomes, jobs, infrastructure and services to remote rural areas.

ODI Project Papers - Report - Papua New Guinea, Paper Two - The current legal and institutional framework of the sector

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 16:00:00 PST

Reviews the current legal and institutional framework governing the administration of the forest sector in Papua New Guinea. From the evidence examined, the review concludes that the main requirements for reform at this stage concern fulfilment by the state of its responsibilities.

ODI Project Papers - Report - Papua New Guinea, Paper One - History of the Forestry Sector

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 16:00:00 PST

Examines the development of the forest sector from Independence (in 1975) to the present. It explores the way the sector has evolved, and identifies a tension between the customary ownership of forests and the Stateâs view of forests as a national resource.

ODI Online - Blog - How did forests fare in Nairobi?

Fri, 15 Dec 2006 09:27:00 PST

The issue of avoided deforestation hit the headlines at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP) 11 in Montreal in November 2005. This was the result of a proposal by Papua New Guinea for developed countries to pay tropical dev...

ODI Specialist Series - Natural Resource Perspective - The business side of sustainable forest management: Small and medium forest enterprise development for poverty reduction

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 16:00:00 PST

Indigenous peoples and peasant communities have long been managing tropical forests and have increasingly gained legal access to the resource base. Only recently, however, have they started to form small and medium forest enterprises (SMFEs) to add value to their timber and non-timber forest products (NTFPs). SMFEs represent a promising option for poverty reduction and forest conservation through sustainable forest management. Their development into economically viable businesses requires an enabling environment, in terms of laws and policies that promote legal access to the resource base, provide incentives for sound forest management, support increased value adding, and promote the formation of human, social, physical and financial capital for sustainable production of timber and NTFPs. This paper argues that there
are still significant challenges to the development of viable SMFEs and that government and non-governmental agencies, as well as the SMFEs themselves and their business partners, have important roles to play in the process.

ODI Online - Blog - The challenge of putting Stern’s prescriptions into practice

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 08:03:00 PST

By David Brown and Leo Peskett

The recently published Stern Review on the economics of climate change offers a rounded and informative picture of the underlying issues and interests relating to forestry with regards to the economics of climate change. It underlines the significant financial...

Article in Arbor Vitae newsletter - Verification of legality in the forest sector

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 16:00:00 PST

Will the verification of legal timber provide a way to address the severe governance problems that beset the forest sector while also securing the public interest and the livelihoods of the forest-dependent poor?

Ecology and Society - Use of a Bayesian Belief Network to Predict the Impacts of Commercializing Non-timber Forest Products on Livelihoods

Sun, 26 Nov 2006 16:00:00 PST

Commercialization of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) has been widely promoted as a means of sustainably developing tropical forest resources, in a way that promotes forest conservation while supporting rural livelihoods. However, in practice, NTFP commercialization has often failed to deliver the expected benefits. Progress in analyzing the causes of such failure has been hindered by the lack of a suitable framework for the analysis of NTFP case studies, and by the lack of predictive theory. We address these needs by developing a probabilistic model based on a livelihood framework, enabling the impact of NTFP commercialization on livelihoods to be predicted. The framework considers five types of capital asset needed to support livelihoods: natural, human, social, physical, and financial. Commercialization of NTFPs is represented in the model as the conversion of one form of capital asset into another, which is influenced by a variety of socio-economic, environmental, and political factors. Impacts on livelihoods are determined by the availability of the five types of assets following commercialization. The model, implemented as a Bayesian Belief Network, was tested using data from participatory research into 19 NTFP case studies undertaken in Mexico and Bolivia. The model provides a novel tool for diagnosing the causes of success and failure in NTFP commercialization, and can be used to explore the potential impacts of policy options and other interventions on livelihoods. The potential value of this approach for the development of NTFP theory is discussed.

VERIFOR Briefing Paper - Developmental Impacts of Verification Systems in the Forest Sector

Sun, 26 Nov 2006 16:00:00 PST

Covers both the direct impacts of the verification process itself and those indirect impacts arising from the use of the products of the verification process. To-date, there has been much less consideration of the developmental impacts of proposed and introduced verification systems than on other design aspects.

ODI Specialist Series - Forestry Briefing - Making Voluntary Carbon Markets Work for the Poor: The case of forestry offsets

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 16:00:00 PST

The volume of private finance flowing through the voluntary carbon market has increased significantly over recent years, with an eight-fold rise from around five million to 43 million dollars between 2004 and 2005 alone. A significant proportion of these funds is destined for the developing world. What is likely to happen to all this money? Will it be used to the benefit of the developing world, providing new opportunities for growth and poverty reduction, or will it be used to satisfy commercial and industrial interests in the north, to the detriment of southern interests?

ODI Specialist Series - Forestry Briefing - Can payments for avoided deforestation to tackle climate change also benefit the poor?

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 16:00:00 PST

There is much to be said for accommodating avoided deforestation within the incentives system of the UNFCCC, including the CDM. Deforestation is a major source of carbon emissions, possibly accounting for 20-25% of total anthropogenic emissions of GHGs, and arguably, therefore, one of the main causes of global environmental change.

ODI Specialist Series - Forestry Briefing - Commercialisation of Non-Timber Forest Products: What Determines Success?

Tue, 28 Feb 2006 16:00:00 PST

Commercialisation of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) has been widely promoted as an approach to rural development in tropical forest areas. However, donor investments in the development of NTFP resources have often failed to deliver the expected benefits in terms of poverty alleviation and improved conservation of natural resources. This briefing paper discusses different conceptions of what constitutes successful commercialisation and examines the key factors that influence the outcome of NTFP commercialisation initiatives.

VERIFOR Briefing Paper - Designing Verification Systems for the Timber Trade: learning from International Processes

Tue, 31 Jan 2006 16:00:00 PST

Timber producer states are coming under increasing pressure to guarantee the legality of their production on international markets. The need to attest to the legality of traded goods demands a system to verify the authenticity of the claim, and it is with this aspect of timber policy development that the present article is concerned.

ODI Specialist Series - Forestry Briefing - Public Goods and Private Rights: the Illegal Logging Debate and the Rights of the Poor

Tue, 31 Jan 2006 16:00:00 PST

This briefing paper applies a rights perspective to understanding legal and institutional reform of the tropical forest sector. The sector is characterised by strongly competing interests, and massive differences in the power of stakeholders to influence the application of the law. The regulatory regime governing the sector often discriminates against the poor. This is of particular concern in the context of donor- and industry-led initiatives to combat illegal logging. Upholding legal frameworks which already fail to accommodate local rights could compound injustices. A rights perspective focuses attention on the channels by which the poor can contest and uphold their claims in the face of national and international interests in the forest sector.