Making knowledge work for forests and people. Guyana and Suriname. Tropenbos International s support

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1 Making knowledge work for forests and people Guyana and Suriname Tropenbos International s support Marieke Wit Amsterdam 16 December 2014

2 Outline Tropenbos International Supporting producing countries Legality requirements: EU FLEGT Action Plan TBI s support in Guyana and Suriname

3 Tropenbos International To improve tropical forest governance and management in order to support conservation and sustainable development

4 Our themes Local governance and community management of forests Forests as part of productive landscapes Sustainable timber trade for domestic and international markets Innovative financing mechanisms for SFM

5 Initiatives influencing international markets 1992: Forest Principles Certification schemes (FSC, PEFC, Legal production) National Public Procurement Policies Responsible Purchasing policies MDGs REDD+ Legality verification: US Lacey Act Australian Timber Bill EU Timber Regulation (part of EU FLEGT Action Plan)

6 Legality requirements US Lacey Act Australian Timber Bill To ban the import, trade and transport of illegal timber on their internal market EUTR

7 EU FLEGT Action Plan EUTR one of 2 key elements of the FLEGT Action Plan, EU's policy to fight illegal logging and ass. trade: 1. EU Timber Regulation (EUTR): an overarching measure to prohibit placing of illegal timber and timber products on the internal market. 2. FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPA): a mutual commitment between the EU and a producing country to reduce illegal logging through facilitating trade in legal timber and improving forest governance. Legally binding bilateral agreement (not voluntary once agreed). Linking trade with governance: setting government regulations to influence the market with a mix of supply and demand side measures: 1. Providing a level playing field on the EU market (EUTR) 2. Supporting production countries in legal trade (FLEGT VPAs) Involvement of all stakeholders, both at the production and demand side

8 Guyana Highly forested country, app. 80 percent forest cover, low deforestation rate Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) since 2009, supported by Norway through REDD+ mechanism MoU with Norway includes starting formal negotiations with the EU (March 2012) with the aim of signing a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) in 2015 to support the improvement of forest governance in Guyana.

9 TBI s support to Guyana : TBI research programme i.c.w. Utrecht University 2007 to date: EU-funded project that supports the implementation of the FLEGT VPA in Guyana (also implemented in Ghana): focus on small-scale logging Partners: Forestry Training Centre Inc. and Iwokrama Activities: Research, capacity building, facilitation of dialogue among all stakeholders, outreach activities to other countries (Suriname, Liberia, DRC, Cameroon)

10 Facilitation targeted towards Consensus building throughout the process Intervention logic EU-project A multistakeholder dialogue (MSD) is the main strategy by which the project seeks to address small scale logging issues. Information through (action) research MSD management team Technical Subcommittee Consensus Action Plan: Policy & Practice MSD National District Community Prep. activities: Feedback to stakeholder constituencies Stakeholder capacity building Communicating the outcomes of the MSD process nationally and internationally Stakeholder analysis Sensitisation meetings Focus group meetings District meetings Prep. MSD meeting

11 Sharing Experiences on the FLEGT VPA process Regional seminar in Georgetown on November 2014 i.c.w. GFC, FTCI, Iwokrama, FAO, EFI, IUCN, EC, theidlgroup. Some findings: Good and constant communication is crucial: sharing of relevant information throughout the implementing stage of the VPA process is important for all stakeholders (incl. EU-based stakeholders) Guyana has an advanced log tracking system Democratic representation of stakeholder groups in the FLEGT VPA process is important Importers from EU actively looking for trusted sources (Due Diligence) Other issues that need to be addressed to promote timber trade from Guyana: dredging of the port (deep harbor)

12 Suriname Highly forested country: 90% forest cover, low deforestation rate Forest distribution: Total: 14,8 M ha forest 100% Reserve 57 Protected 13 Production 30 No timber concessions below 4 N latitude REDD+ process since 2009, no FLEGT VPA process

13 TBI s support to Suriname Country programme since 2003 aiming at wise use of the forest (funding from Dutch government): Maintaining the high forest and low deforestation status and improving livelihoods Partnerships with: Locally: Ministry of Physical Planning, Land and Forest Management (ROGB), the Foundation for Forest Management and Production Control (SBB), the Anton de Kom University of Suriname (AdeKUS), and the Centre for Agricultural Research in Suriname (CELOS). Internationally: Wageningen University, Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences.

14 Activities Event in November 2013 Emerging legality requirements in the timber sector of Suriname : Suriname is in a good position to address emerging timber legality requirements because of Suriname s commitment to SFM and its adequate forest control system For trading with legally/sustainably sensitive markets: Certification schemes used as a tool to assess and mitigate the risk that timber has been logged illegally Cooperation with IDH in guiding logging companies towards FSC-certification. Depending on the aftermaths of an information workshop in November 2014, continued collaboration in a capacity building programme.

15 Concluding remarks Tropical timber is a beautiful, durable and renewable product A stable demand for sustainable (legal) tropical timber will contribute to the conservation of tropical rainforests and will provide tropical countries with a sustainable income opportunity that can support local economic development.

16 THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION