Vital Forest Graphics

Are legal instruments sufficient

Global protected forests

J he quality of governance in regard to forests varies widely around the world. When governance is weak, for- ests are frequently subject to unplanned development and illegal logging, which in turn encourages illegal encroach- ment on forest land, illegal trade, crime, corruption and conflict. The World Bank has estimated that the market value of illegal timber from public land is US$10 billion – more than eight times the total official devel- opment assistance given for sustain- able forest management. In addition, governments lose an estimated US$5 billion more in unpaid tax revenue (World Bank 2006a). The issue of illegal logging is increas- ingly recognized as an urgent problemby the world’s governments. The G8 Action Plan on Forests includes actions to com- bat illegal logging. Several international organizations including the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organiza- tion (FAO), The United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), the Internatonal Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) and the World Bank have been actively involved in programmes to combat ille- gal logging and associated trade. them, depends on effective governance, which includes negotiating among public and private stakeholders, and establishing and enforcing binding forest laws and policies (Rametsteiner 2007) The fate of the world’s forests, and of the rights of those who live in and around

Meso-American Biological Corridor (MBC)

BRAZIL

The Amazon Region Protected Area Programme (ARPA)

D

Source: FAO 2001b.

At the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, the issue of forests and deforestation was high on the political agenda. However, a convention on forests or a legally binding agreement similar to those on climate change, biological diversity and desertification, was not agreed (UNFF 2004). Intense negotiations at the Sum- mit resulted in the Forest Principles, a set of non-legally binding targets for management, conservation and the sustainable development of forests. The Principles did not directly address such key issues as illegal logging and how to balance forest use with conservation (Gulbrandsen and Humphries 2006).

In 2007, the UN General Assembly agreed to a non-legally binding agree- ment that sets global standards for sustainable forest management and promotes integration of forest poli- cies with other policies at national level (UN General Assembly 2007). It out- lined future priorities in the form of the four Global Objectives on Forests. These call for reversal of the loss of for- est cover; prevention of forest degrada- tion; enhancing economic, social and environmental benefits from forests; increasing the area of protected forests and mobilizing finance for sustainable forest management. Countries have

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