Sustainable Development Success Stories
|
CSD-8: Sustainable Development Success Stories |
| Location |
Global |
| Responsible Organization |
World Rainforest Movement (Uruguay), the Netherlands Committee for IUCN (1997-1999), Sobrevivencia/Friends of the Earth-Paraguay, the International Alliance of Tribal-Indigenous Peoples of the Tropical Forests (Panama), the International Research Institute for Indigenous and Maori Education (New Zealand), Fundacion Ecotropico (Colombia, 1997 1999), Codeff/Friends of the Earth-Chile, Bionet-US, Forest Peoples Program (UK), FERN (UK), Friends of the Siberian Forests (Russian Federation), the Institute for Cultural Affairs (Ghana), RMI (Indonesia), IGES (Japan), Pacific Bioweb (Australia, 1997 - 1999), ELC (Papua New Guinea), UNEP, the Government of Costa Rica, Fundacion Ambio (Costa Rica), in cooperation with a Steering Committee consisting of Governments, the IFF-secretariat and many other Intergovernmental agencies, farmer's organizations, Indigenous Peoples' Organizations (IPOs) and NGOs. |
| Description |
In October 1997, at the first session of the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests, a group of NGOs and IPOs offered to take the lead in the implementation the main Proposals for Action of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests relating to the underlying causes of forest loss, in particular the proposal to organize a global workshop on this issue. In cooperation with the Government of Costa Rica, UNEP, and a Steering Committee consisting of a large number of governments, intergovernmental organizations and other stakeholders, they initiated an extensive participatory process - a process which was founded upon more than forty case studies from all over the world, using the diagnostic framework proposed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests as a basis, and numerous additional submissions. These analytical case studies were subsequently analysed and discussed at seven regional workshops and one Indigenous Peoples' workshop. The results of these regional and IPO workshops formed the basis for the Global Workshop to Address the Underlying Causes of Deforestation and Forest Degradation, which took place from 18 - 22 January 1999 and was organized in cooperation with the Government of Costa Rica and Fundacion Ambio. A diverse group of participants from governments, international organizations, farmer's groups, non-governmental organizations, local communities, Indigenous Peoples, academia, trade unions and the private sector joined hands in an effort to formulate actions that can halt alarming trends of global forest loss. The global workshop produced over 100 concrete action proposals and recommendations to address the underlying causes of forest loss. At the global workshop, the organizers were mandated to develop a concrete follow-up proposal to support the implementation of the actions proposed. The main objective of this second phase of the initiative, which started in August 1999, is to expand and strengthen partnerships between a broad variety of stakeholders at local, national, regional and international levels. The Underlying Causes Initiative has been made possible through the financial contributions of a large number of donors, including the Governments of the Netherlands, the UK, Finland, Portugal, Switzerland, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, the US, UNEP, the European Commission, WWF-International and the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation. |
| Issues Addressed |
Forests, but it should be emphasized that the impact of land use, agriculture, and financial flows upon forests and forest peoples were amongst the main themes analysed by the UC Initiative. |
| Results Achieved |
|
| Lessons Learned |
The overwhelming amount of information, analysis and views gathered on the underlying causes of forest loss provided a large number of new insights on the real causes of the global forest crisis. Moreover, the process itself delivered a number of important lessons. It should be mentioned in this respect that one of the most important conclusions from the process was that the lack of genuine participation of local and other stakeholders in the development and implementation of forest policies forms a major underlying cause of forest loss. Meanwhile, the Underlying Causes Initiative itself learned that a truly participatory process in which all stakeholders, governmental as well as non-governmental/Indigenous, global as well as local, have an equal voice, is possible, provided NGOs, IPOs and community groups have a central role in the process from the very beginning. It was also learned that a global process in which groups from all regions have an equal say is possible, provided regional and IPO autonomy is respected and partners are committed to a truly decentralized process. Considering the workshop conclusion mentioned above, these lessons are not only extremely relevant for other sustainable development initiatives, but also for the very challenge of participatory forest policy itself. |
| Contacts |
Global Secretariat to the Underlying Causes
Initiative: Ricardo Carrere, Regional and IPO Focal Points: Indigenous Peoples: Marcial Arias, International Alliance of
Tribal-Indigenous Peoples of the Tropical Forests, Panama Murray Gauntlett, Indigenous Research
Institute, New Zealand Latin America: Elias Diaz Pena, Sobrevivencia,
Paraguay Hernan Verscheure, Codeff-Chile, North America: Europe: Saskia Ozinga, FERN, UK, CIS: Africa: Asia: Oceania and Pacific: |