CHALLENGE
Charcoal is one of the main sources of energy used in the production of pig iron for steel in Brazil. The vast majority of the current charcoal production is from unsustainable and often illegal harvest of native forests, leading to severe environmental degradation and deforestation. However, there have been successful business cases of forest plantation for charcoal production in Brazil, including one Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project financed by the Prototype Carbon Fund in Minas Gerais. Expanding the area of forest plantations for charcoal on idle or degraded pasture land would reduce the pressure on native forests in Brazil.

However, barriers have prevented wide adoption of forest plantations for charcoal. Some of the barriers include:

• lack of credit to finance the initial production costs (first income revenue usually is generated after 7 years of plantation),
• difficult access to credit (forest plantations are often not accepted as collateral for loans),
• higher transaction costs relative to deforestation and coal production (planted forest activity has a cycle of 14-21 years of production, is labor intensive, and results in high costs of land management and environmental licensing),
• inefficient technologies for carbonization process (contributing to the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG), including methane),
• unclear agricultural and environmental regulatory framework to forest production,
• weak institutional arrangements, etc. 

With 62 pig iron mills, the state of Minais Gerais is Brazil's largest producer of steel and iron, responsible for 60% of the national production.  Minas Gerais approved a law which virtually bans the use of charcoal from deforestation by 2018. In order to supply the industry with charcoal from plantations Minais Gerais would need about 1.5 million ha under new plantations.

APPROACH
PROFOR and the BioCarbon Fund co-financed a study designed to identify institutional and financial arrangements required to mainstream forest plantation business models and promote the potential development of CDM projects aimed at reducing GHG emissions in the forestry and iron supply chains in the state of Minas Gerais.

The displacement of non-renewable charcoal by renewable charcoal by 2017 and the use of charcoal to produce up to 46% of the pig iron and steel by 2030, would potentially mitigate 62 Mt of CO2 between 2010 and 2030. This would represent 31% of all emissions reductions expected from the steel industry and contribute to Brazil's overall effort to reduce its GHG emissions by 39% by 2020.

RESULTS
The study's methodology and preliminary results were presented during a workshop "Identifying Financial and Institutional Arrangements for Scaling Up Renewable Charcoal Production" in Belo Horinzonte, Minas Gerais, in December 5, 2011. (A presentation from that workshop is available in Portuguese on this page). At completion, final reports with the technical work, datasets, and related links were shared with key counterparts within the government, private sector, and financial institutions.

The analytical work supported by this project was a key building block in the World Bank’s strategy for supporting Brazil’s move toward a low carbon economy as stated in the Brazil Country Partnership Strategy for 2012-2015, under Objective 4: Improving sustainable natural resource management and climate resilience. ("Helping the Federal government and the private sector to implement Brazil’s National Climate Change Plan, including through developing programs and financial mechanisms to promote sustainable land use, decrease deforestation, and increase energy efficiency and renewable energy.")

The Minas Gerais Development Policy Loan III ( P121590), to which this study contributed, is one of the deliverables of the new country strategy. The State has adopted measures to encourage forest plantation within its territory to supply raw input to industries within its territory.

CHALLENGE

Vietnam’s national commitment to using forests for sustainable and resilient growth is clearly articulated in the government’s Target Program for Sustainable Forest Development. Furthermore, the government has also shown its commitment to sustainable forest sector use by prioritizing policy actions related to the spatial planning of coastal forests in the ongoing development policy in financing climate change and green growth in the country. Vietnam is also revising its forest law that covers key issues such as collaborative management, restoration of coastal forest areas, and monitoring forest financing in the forest sector. As the forest law is being revised, it will be important to ensure that the legal framework for the sector facilitates involvement of private individuals, enterprises and communities in sustainable resource use and management. The World Bank is well positioned to bring the technical expertise needed to inform such ongoing and upcoming engagements, which includes informing the development of policy financing on Climate Change and Green Growth, the implementation of the Forest Sector Modernization and Coastal Forest Enhancement Project and the ongoing engagement on Emission Reduction (via the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility).

APPROACH

The scope of this activity will involve the following three sub activities:

1.  Confirm and prioritize the intervention areas for which technical expertise will be obtained;

2. Bring international expertise to:

• Assist with the characterization of the forest users and understand what current demographic and socioeconomic characteristics means regarding who will be forest users and how they will use forests in the next 5 to 10 years.
• Inform policy discussions on the intervention areas (for example, on how to track use of forest financing).
• Assist with the piloting of approaches in the intervention areas (e.g., payments for ecosystem services in coastal forests, co-management arrangements, or citizen engagement in integrated planning of coastal forests) and learning from these efforts.
• Develop implementation guidance in the selected intervention areas (e.g., guidelines on how to operationalize payments for ecosystem services in coastal forests from aquaculture).

3. Assist with transferring international expertise to the provincial, district and commune-level. 

The main audience of this work will be the Forestry Department within the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The activity will provide them with insights on how to technically and financially support these key areas.

RESULTS

This project has been completed and partly achieved its objective. It is informing implementation of investments in coastal forest management – ranging from stakeholder involvement, and mobilizing financing through PFES. The findings from the activity are still being used to inform the Government of Vietnam  forest strategy that is under preparation and the PFES decree that will be issued after pilot work is completed, so the activity, to date, has not informed policies to the extent envisaged.  

The work has offered relevant lessons from international and national practices to the stakeholder group that is mandated to implement sustainable forest management activities. The activity has also involved engaging closely with VNForest (the Agency within Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) mandated with policy and planning dimensions of forest management in Vietnam). 

At the VNForest level, the objective of informing policy is ongoing as VNForest regards local stakeholder involvement (via co-management) in management of coastal forests, and on PFES to inform the design of a pilot for carbon PFES in coastal forest areas. In addition to producing reports that synthesized the main findings, the activity involved workshops and trainings at the technical level and for Department of Agriculture and Rural Development leaders (i.e. leaders of province level agency responsible for Agriculture and Rural Development who are responsible for forestry and also have the mandate to submit the sustainable forest management plans to the provincial government).   

The work on co-management and on sustainable seedling supply to enable effective forest restoration is influencing the implementation of activities in the Forest Modernization and Coastal Resilience Project. The lessons and insights from the work on payments for ecosystem services (PFES) has informed the effort to pilot this approach in the same project and is being positioned to be one of the experiences from which lessons will be extracted in the development of the decree on PFES for carbon. (In Vietnam, decrees follow laws and provide more operational detail on how to implement specific elements of the law).

CHALLENGE

Vietnam’s national commitment to using forests for sustainable and resilient growth is clearly articulated in the government’s Target Program for Sustainable Forest Development. Furthermore, the government has also shown its commitment to sustainable forest sector use by prioritizing policy actions related to the spatial planning of coastal forests in the ongoing development policy in financing climate change and green growth in the country. Vietnam is also revising its forest law that covers key issues such as collaborative management, restoration of coastal forest areas, and monitoring forest financing in the forest sector. As the forest law is being revised, it will be important to ensure that the legal framework for the sector facilitates involvement of private individuals, enterprises and communities in sustainable resource use and management. The World Bank is well positioned to bring the technical expertise needed to inform such ongoing and upcoming engagements, which includes informing the development of policy financing on Climate Change and Green Growth, the implementation of the Forest Sector Modernization and Coastal Forest Enhancement Project and the ongoing engagement on Emission Reduction (via the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility).

APPROACH

The scope of this activity will involve the following three sub activities:

1.  Confirm and prioritize the intervention areas for which technical expertise will be obtained;

2. Bring international expertise to:

• Assist with the characterization of the forest users and understand what current demographic and socioeconomic characteristics means regarding who will be forest users and how they will use forests in the next 5 to 10 years.
• Inform policy discussions on the intervention areas (for example, on how to track use of forest financing).
• Assist with the piloting of approaches in the intervention areas (e.g., payments for ecosystem services in coastal forests, co-management arrangements, or citizen engagement in integrated planning of coastal forests) and learning from these efforts.
• Develop implementation guidance in the selected intervention areas (e.g., guidelines on how to operationalize payments for ecosystem services in coastal forests from aquaculture).

3. Assist with transferring international expertise to the provincial, district and commune-level. 

The main audience of this work will be the Forestry Department within the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The activity will provide them with insights on how to technically and financially support these key areas.

RESULTS

This project has been completed and partly achieved its objective. It is informing implementation of investments in coastal forest management – ranging from stakeholder involvement, and mobilizing financing through PFES. The findings from the activity are still being used to inform the Government of Vietnam  forest strategy that is under preparation and the PFES decree that will be issued after pilot work is completed, so the activity, to date, has not informed policies to the extent envisaged.  

The work has offered relevant lessons from international and national practices to the stakeholder group that is mandated to implement sustainable forest management activities. The activity has also involved engaging closely with VNForest (the Agency within Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) mandated with policy and planning dimensions of forest management in Vietnam). 

At the VNForest level, the objective of informing policy is ongoing as VNForest regards local stakeholder involvement (via co-management) in management of coastal forests, and on PFES to inform the design of a pilot for carbon PFES in coastal forest areas. In addition to producing reports that synthesized the main findings, the activity involved workshops and trainings at the technical level and for Department of Agriculture and Rural Development leaders (i.e. leaders of province level agency responsible for Agriculture and Rural Development who are responsible for forestry and also have the mandate to submit the sustainable forest management plans to the provincial government).   

The work on co-management and on sustainable seedling supply to enable effective forest restoration is influencing the implementation of activities in the Forest Modernization and Coastal Resilience Project. The lessons and insights from the work on payments for ecosystem services (PFES) has informed the effort to pilot this approach in the same project and is being positioned to be one of the experiences from which lessons will be extracted in the development of the decree on PFES for carbon. (In Vietnam, decrees follow laws and provide more operational detail on how to implement specific elements of the law).

CHALLENGE

Vietnam’s national commitment to using forests for sustainable and resilient growth is clearly articulated in the government’s Target Program for Sustainable Forest Development. Furthermore, the government has also shown its commitment to sustainable forest sector use by prioritizing policy actions related to the spatial planning of coastal forests in the ongoing development policy in financing climate change and green growth in the country. Vietnam is also revising its forest law that covers key issues such as collaborative management, restoration of coastal forest areas, and monitoring forest financing in the forest sector. As the forest law is being revised, it will be important to ensure that the legal framework for the sector facilitates involvement of private individuals, enterprises and communities in sustainable resource use and management. The World Bank is well positioned to bring the technical expertise needed to inform such ongoing and upcoming engagements, which includes informing the development of policy financing on Climate Change and Green Growth, the implementation of the Forest Sector Modernization and Coastal Forest Enhancement Project and the ongoing engagement on Emission Reduction (via the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility).

APPROACH

The scope of this activity will involve the following three sub activities:

1.  Confirm and prioritize the intervention areas for which technical expertise will be obtained;

2. Bring international expertise to:

• Assist with the characterization of the forest users and understand what current demographic and socioeconomic characteristics means regarding who will be forest users and how they will use forests in the next 5 to 10 years.
• Inform policy discussions on the intervention areas (for example, on how to track use of forest financing).
• Assist with the piloting of approaches in the intervention areas (e.g., payments for ecosystem services in coastal forests, co-management arrangements, or citizen engagement in integrated planning of coastal forests) and learning from these efforts.
• Develop implementation guidance in the selected intervention areas (e.g., guidelines on how to operationalize payments for ecosystem services in coastal forests from aquaculture).

3. Assist with transferring international expertise to the provincial, district and commune-level. 

The main audience of this work will be the Forestry Department within the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The activity will provide them with insights on how to technically and financially support these key areas.

RESULTS

This project has been completed and partly achieved its objective. It is informing implementation of investments in coastal forest management – ranging from stakeholder involvement, and mobilizing financing through PFES. The findings from the activity are still being used to inform the Government of Vietnam  forest strategy that is under preparation and the PFES decree that will be issued after pilot work is completed, so the activity, to date, has not informed policies to the extent envisaged.  

The work has offered relevant lessons from international and national practices to the stakeholder group that is mandated to implement sustainable forest management activities. The activity has also involved engaging closely with VNForest (the Agency within Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) mandated with policy and planning dimensions of forest management in Vietnam). 

At the VNForest level, the objective of informing policy is ongoing as VNForest regards local stakeholder involvement (via co-management) in management of coastal forests, and on PFES to inform the design of a pilot for carbon PFES in coastal forest areas. In addition to producing reports that synthesized the main findings, the activity involved workshops and trainings at the technical level and for Department of Agriculture and Rural Development leaders (i.e. leaders of province level agency responsible for Agriculture and Rural Development who are responsible for forestry and also have the mandate to submit the sustainable forest management plans to the provincial government).   

The work on co-management and on sustainable seedling supply to enable effective forest restoration is influencing the implementation of activities in the Forest Modernization and Coastal Resilience Project. The lessons and insights from the work on payments for ecosystem services (PFES) has informed the effort to pilot this approach in the same project and is being positioned to be one of the experiences from which lessons will be extracted in the development of the decree on PFES for carbon. (In Vietnam, decrees follow laws and provide more operational detail on how to implement specific elements of the law).

CHALLENGE

Vietnam’s national commitment to using forests for sustainable and resilient growth is clearly articulated in the government’s Target Program for Sustainable Forest Development. Furthermore, the government has also shown its commitment to sustainable forest sector use by prioritizing policy actions related to the spatial planning of coastal forests in the ongoing development policy in financing climate change and green growth in the country. Vietnam is also revising its forest law that covers key issues such as collaborative management, restoration of coastal forest areas, and monitoring forest financing in the forest sector. As the forest law is being revised, it will be important to ensure that the legal framework for the sector facilitates involvement of private individuals, enterprises and communities in sustainable resource use and management. The World Bank is well positioned to bring the technical expertise needed to inform such ongoing and upcoming engagements, which includes informing the development of policy financing on Climate Change and Green Growth, the implementation of the Forest Sector Modernization and Coastal Forest Enhancement Project and the ongoing engagement on Emission Reduction (via the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility).

APPROACH

The scope of this activity will involve the following three sub activities:

1.  Confirm and prioritize the intervention areas for which technical expertise will be obtained;

2. Bring international expertise to:

• Assist with the characterization of the forest users and understand what current demographic and socioeconomic characteristics means regarding who will be forest users and how they will use forests in the next 5 to 10 years.
• Inform policy discussions on the intervention areas (for example, on how to track use of forest financing).
• Assist with the piloting of approaches in the intervention areas (e.g., payments for ecosystem services in coastal forests, co-management arrangements, or citizen engagement in integrated planning of coastal forests) and learning from these efforts.
• Develop implementation guidance in the selected intervention areas (e.g., guidelines on how to operationalize payments for ecosystem services in coastal forests from aquaculture).

3. Assist with transferring international expertise to the provincial, district and commune-level. 

The main audience of this work will be the Forestry Department within the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The activity will provide them with insights on how to technically and financially support these key areas.

RESULTS

This project has been completed and partly achieved its objective. It is informing implementation of investments in coastal forest management – ranging from stakeholder involvement, and mobilizing financing through PFES. The findings from the activity are still being used to inform the Government of Vietnam  forest strategy that is under preparation and the PFES decree that will be issued after pilot work is completed, so the activity, to date, has not informed policies to the extent envisaged.  

The work has offered relevant lessons from international and national practices to the stakeholder group that is mandated to implement sustainable forest management activities. The activity has also involved engaging closely with VNForest (the Agency within Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) mandated with policy and planning dimensions of forest management in Vietnam). 

At the VNForest level, the objective of informing policy is ongoing as VNForest regards local stakeholder involvement (via co-management) in management of coastal forests, and on PFES to inform the design of a pilot for carbon PFES in coastal forest areas. In addition to producing reports that synthesized the main findings, the activity involved workshops and trainings at the technical level and for Department of Agriculture and Rural Development leaders (i.e. leaders of province level agency responsible for Agriculture and Rural Development who are responsible for forestry and also have the mandate to submit the sustainable forest management plans to the provincial government).   

The work on co-management and on sustainable seedling supply to enable effective forest restoration is influencing the implementation of activities in the Forest Modernization and Coastal Resilience Project. The lessons and insights from the work on payments for ecosystem services (PFES) has informed the effort to pilot this approach in the same project and is being positioned to be one of the experiences from which lessons will be extracted in the development of the decree on PFES for carbon. (In Vietnam, decrees follow laws and provide more operational detail on how to implement specific elements of the law).

CHALLENGE

Vietnam’s national commitment to using forests for sustainable and resilient growth is clearly articulated in the government’s Target Program for Sustainable Forest Development. Furthermore, the government has also shown its commitment to sustainable forest sector use by prioritizing policy actions related to the spatial planning of coastal forests in the ongoing development policy in financing climate change and green growth in the country. Vietnam is also revising its forest law that covers key issues such as collaborative management, restoration of coastal forest areas, and monitoring forest financing in the forest sector. As the forest law is being revised, it will be important to ensure that the legal framework for the sector facilitates involvement of private individuals, enterprises and communities in sustainable resource use and management. The World Bank is well positioned to bring the technical expertise needed to inform such ongoing and upcoming engagements, which includes informing the development of policy financing on Climate Change and Green Growth, the implementation of the Forest Sector Modernization and Coastal Forest Enhancement Project and the ongoing engagement on Emission Reduction (via the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility).

APPROACH

The scope of this activity will involve the following three sub activities:

1.  Confirm and prioritize the intervention areas for which technical expertise will be obtained;

2. Bring international expertise to:

• Assist with the characterization of the forest users and understand what current demographic and socioeconomic characteristics means regarding who will be forest users and how they will use forests in the next 5 to 10 years.
• Inform policy discussions on the intervention areas (for example, on how to track use of forest financing).
• Assist with the piloting of approaches in the intervention areas (e.g., payments for ecosystem services in coastal forests, co-management arrangements, or citizen engagement in integrated planning of coastal forests) and learning from these efforts.
• Develop implementation guidance in the selected intervention areas (e.g., guidelines on how to operationalize payments for ecosystem services in coastal forests from aquaculture).

3. Assist with transferring international expertise to the provincial, district and commune-level. 

The main audience of this work will be the Forestry Department within the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The activity will provide them with insights on how to technically and financially support these key areas.

RESULTS

This project has been completed and partly achieved its objective. It is informing implementation of investments in coastal forest management – ranging from stakeholder involvement, and mobilizing financing through PFES. The findings from the activity are still being used to inform the Government of Vietnam  forest strategy that is under preparation and the PFES decree that will be issued after pilot work is completed, so the activity, to date, has not informed policies to the extent envisaged.  

The work has offered relevant lessons from international and national practices to the stakeholder group that is mandated to implement sustainable forest management activities. The activity has also involved engaging closely with VNForest (the Agency within Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) mandated with policy and planning dimensions of forest management in Vietnam). 

At the VNForest level, the objective of informing policy is ongoing as VNForest regards local stakeholder involvement (via co-management) in management of coastal forests, and on PFES to inform the design of a pilot for carbon PFES in coastal forest areas. In addition to producing reports that synthesized the main findings, the activity involved workshops and trainings at the technical level and for Department of Agriculture and Rural Development leaders (i.e. leaders of province level agency responsible for Agriculture and Rural Development who are responsible for forestry and also have the mandate to submit the sustainable forest management plans to the provincial government).   

The work on co-management and on sustainable seedling supply to enable effective forest restoration is influencing the implementation of activities in the Forest Modernization and Coastal Resilience Project. The lessons and insights from the work on payments for ecosystem services (PFES) has informed the effort to pilot this approach in the same project and is being positioned to be one of the experiences from which lessons will be extracted in the development of the decree on PFES for carbon. (In Vietnam, decrees follow laws and provide more operational detail on how to implement specific elements of the law).

Building Local Democracy Through Natural Resource Interventions -- An Environmentalist's Responsibility

APPROACH

Through 17 institutional choice case studies funded by PROFOR, the World Resources Institute (WRI) explored the democratizing effects of ‘decentralization’ reforms and projects in forestry in Benin, Botswana, Brazil, China, India, Nicaragua, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Russia, Senegal, South Africa, and Zambia.

MAIN FINDINGS

The findings concluded that institutional choice shapes local democracy—hence, it could be a local democracy tool. Choices of local partners would influence the formation and consolidation of local democracy by affecting representation, citizenship, and the public domain. Natural resource, including forestry, and management interventions could be structured to build the many facets of local democracy. To support local democracy while conducting local-level environmental interventions, the research recommends the following actions:

• Choose democracy: Choose to place public decisions with decision makers who are accountable and responsive to the local citizens. Where democratic local government does not exist, work to establish and enable local democracy.
• Build the public domain: Work to create a set of public powers directly or indirectly under the jurisdiction of elected local authorities. These powers make elected authorities worth engaging by enabling them to be responsive to local needs and aspirations. They constitute what we call ‘the public domain’, e.g. the space of public interaction that constitutes the space of democracy.
• Build citizenship: Support the right and provide the means for local people to influence the authorities that govern them—channels of communication and recourse. Inform citizens of the powers and obligations their representatives have and of the means available to citizens for holding their leaders accountable.
• Promote equity: Systematically partner with local organizations representing all classes—with an emphasis on organizations of the poor. Level the playing field through policies that affirmatively favor the poor, women and marginalized groups.
• Enable local representatives to exercise their rights as public decision makers: Create safe means for representative local authorities to sanction and demand resources from and take recourse against line ministries and other intervening agencies so they are able to exercise their role as local representatives.
• Help local governments to engage in collective bargaining for laws that favor the populations they govern: Enable local governments to bargain collectively with central government to ensure they are granted the rights they need to manage their forest and to insure that the rights they have been granted in law are transferred to them in practice. Facilitate representation of rural needs and aspirations in national legislatures. 
• Harness elite capture: Elite capture is pervasive if not inevitable. Enable the people to capture the elite who capture power. Assure that elites who rule are systematically held accountable to the majority and to the poor, and marginal populations through all of the above means. This is democracy.

Building Local Democracy Through Natural Resource Interventions -- An Environmentalist's Responsibility

APPROACH

Through 17 institutional choice case studies funded by PROFOR, the World Resources Institute (WRI) explored the democratizing effects of ‘decentralization’ reforms and projects in forestry in Benin, Botswana, Brazil, China, India, Nicaragua, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Russia, Senegal, South Africa, and Zambia.

MAIN FINDINGS

The findings concluded that institutional choice shapes local democracy—hence, it could be a local democracy tool. Choices of local partners would influence the formation and consolidation of local democracy by affecting representation, citizenship, and the public domain. Natural resource, including forestry, and management interventions could be structured to build the many facets of local democracy. To support local democracy while conducting local-level environmental interventions, the research recommends the following actions:

• Choose democracy: Choose to place public decisions with decision makers who are accountable and responsive to the local citizens. Where democratic local government does not exist, work to establish and enable local democracy.
• Build the public domain: Work to create a set of public powers directly or indirectly under the jurisdiction of elected local authorities. These powers make elected authorities worth engaging by enabling them to be responsive to local needs and aspirations. They constitute what we call ‘the public domain’, e.g. the space of public interaction that constitutes the space of democracy.
• Build citizenship: Support the right and provide the means for local people to influence the authorities that govern them—channels of communication and recourse. Inform citizens of the powers and obligations their representatives have and of the means available to citizens for holding their leaders accountable.
• Promote equity: Systematically partner with local organizations representing all classes—with an emphasis on organizations of the poor. Level the playing field through policies that affirmatively favor the poor, women and marginalized groups.
• Enable local representatives to exercise their rights as public decision makers: Create safe means for representative local authorities to sanction and demand resources from and take recourse against line ministries and other intervening agencies so they are able to exercise their role as local representatives.
• Help local governments to engage in collective bargaining for laws that favor the populations they govern: Enable local governments to bargain collectively with central government to ensure they are granted the rights they need to manage their forest and to insure that the rights they have been granted in law are transferred to them in practice. Facilitate representation of rural needs and aspirations in national legislatures. 
• Harness elite capture: Elite capture is pervasive if not inevitable. Enable the people to capture the elite who capture power. Assure that elites who rule are systematically held accountable to the majority and to the poor, and marginal populations through all of the above means. This is democracy.

Building Local Democracy Through Natural Resource Interventions -- An Environmentalist's Responsibility

APPROACH

Through 17 institutional choice case studies funded by PROFOR, the World Resources Institute (WRI) explored the democratizing effects of ‘decentralization’ reforms and projects in forestry in Benin, Botswana, Brazil, China, India, Nicaragua, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Russia, Senegal, South Africa, and Zambia.

MAIN FINDINGS

The findings concluded that institutional choice shapes local democracy—hence, it could be a local democracy tool. Choices of local partners would influence the formation and consolidation of local democracy by affecting representation, citizenship, and the public domain. Natural resource, including forestry, and management interventions could be structured to build the many facets of local democracy. To support local democracy while conducting local-level environmental interventions, the research recommends the following actions:

• Choose democracy: Choose to place public decisions with decision makers who are accountable and responsive to the local citizens. Where democratic local government does not exist, work to establish and enable local democracy.
• Build the public domain: Work to create a set of public powers directly or indirectly under the jurisdiction of elected local authorities. These powers make elected authorities worth engaging by enabling them to be responsive to local needs and aspirations. They constitute what we call ‘the public domain’, e.g. the space of public interaction that constitutes the space of democracy.
• Build citizenship: Support the right and provide the means for local people to influence the authorities that govern them—channels of communication and recourse. Inform citizens of the powers and obligations their representatives have and of the means available to citizens for holding their leaders accountable.
• Promote equity: Systematically partner with local organizations representing all classes—with an emphasis on organizations of the poor. Level the playing field through policies that affirmatively favor the poor, women and marginalized groups.
• Enable local representatives to exercise their rights as public decision makers: Create safe means for representative local authorities to sanction and demand resources from and take recourse against line ministries and other intervening agencies so they are able to exercise their role as local representatives.
• Help local governments to engage in collective bargaining for laws that favor the populations they govern: Enable local governments to bargain collectively with central government to ensure they are granted the rights they need to manage their forest and to insure that the rights they have been granted in law are transferred to them in practice. Facilitate representation of rural needs and aspirations in national legislatures. 
• Harness elite capture: Elite capture is pervasive if not inevitable. Enable the people to capture the elite who capture power. Assure that elites who rule are systematically held accountable to the majority and to the poor, and marginal populations through all of the above means. This is democracy.

Building Local Democracy Through Natural Resource Interventions -- An Environmentalist's Responsibility

APPROACH

Through 17 institutional choice case studies funded by PROFOR, the World Resources Institute (WRI) explored the democratizing effects of ‘decentralization’ reforms and projects in forestry in Benin, Botswana, Brazil, China, India, Nicaragua, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Russia, Senegal, South Africa, and Zambia.

MAIN FINDINGS

The findings concluded that institutional choice shapes local democracy—hence, it could be a local democracy tool. Choices of local partners would influence the formation and consolidation of local democracy by affecting representation, citizenship, and the public domain. Natural resource, including forestry, and management interventions could be structured to build the many facets of local democracy. To support local democracy while conducting local-level environmental interventions, the research recommends the following actions:

• Choose democracy: Choose to place public decisions with decision makers who are accountable and responsive to the local citizens. Where democratic local government does not exist, work to establish and enable local democracy.
• Build the public domain: Work to create a set of public powers directly or indirectly under the jurisdiction of elected local authorities. These powers make elected authorities worth engaging by enabling them to be responsive to local needs and aspirations. They constitute what we call ‘the public domain’, e.g. the space of public interaction that constitutes the space of democracy.
• Build citizenship: Support the right and provide the means for local people to influence the authorities that govern them—channels of communication and recourse. Inform citizens of the powers and obligations their representatives have and of the means available to citizens for holding their leaders accountable.
• Promote equity: Systematically partner with local organizations representing all classes—with an emphasis on organizations of the poor. Level the playing field through policies that affirmatively favor the poor, women and marginalized groups.
• Enable local representatives to exercise their rights as public decision makers: Create safe means for representative local authorities to sanction and demand resources from and take recourse against line ministries and other intervening agencies so they are able to exercise their role as local representatives.
• Help local governments to engage in collective bargaining for laws that favor the populations they govern: Enable local governments to bargain collectively with central government to ensure they are granted the rights they need to manage their forest and to insure that the rights they have been granted in law are transferred to them in practice. Facilitate representation of rural needs and aspirations in national legislatures. 
• Harness elite capture: Elite capture is pervasive if not inevitable. Enable the people to capture the elite who capture power. Assure that elites who rule are systematically held accountable to the majority and to the poor, and marginal populations through all of the above means. This is democracy.