APPROACH
Since 2008 in Guatemala the World Bank's FLEG program has supported the national forest authority (Instituto Nacional de Bosques INAB) by providing assistance in the implementation of the Strategy to Combat Illegal Forest Activities. In its initial phase this assistance aimed to develop the necessary analytical work to understand the institutional, socio-economic and environmental causes of illegal activities.

RESULTS
Outputs included :

• a proposal for policy and legislative changes and adjustments  resulting from analytical work and a technical proposal for institutional changes to improve the implementation of the Strategy to Combat Illegal Forest Activities;
• a technical proposal to improve current forest control and supervision procedures (forest licenses, timber mobilization permits, logging volume control, complaints, etc) and a manual for forest control and supervision;
• a financial and cost effectiveness analysis of forest fees, royalties, other revenues and taxes, and a proposal for consideration of  new forest fees;
• an information system containing baseline data and information related to illegal activities in the forest sector;
• a training program targeting staff from INAB and other government agencies and groups involved in the implementation of the Strategy to Combat Illegal Forest Activities;
• and a national communications and awareness program targeting the general public related to illegal practices in the forest sector.

Available here in Spanish is a cost-benefit analysis of illegal activities in the forests sector and a proposal to strengthen INAB's control of the forests sector. 

NEXT STEPS
In February 2010, INAB’s Board of Directors approved an Action Plan to Prevent and Reduce Illegal Logging. The Action plan includes legislation and regulatory changes to reduce illegal activities, review current forest fees, design forest control and supervision plans and campaigns, develop forest audit protocols and plan and initiate capacity building activities.

The implementation of this plan, developed on the basis of analytical work and technical proposals previously sponsored by the FLEG Program, demands the cooperation of various public administration and law enforcement agencies and stakeholders. PROFOR-FLEG is helping strengthen forest control and supervision through its activity Auditing timber supply to the Guatemala forest industry.

CHALLENGE

Many issues plague the forest sector in Peru -- from ill-conceived forest policy, to limited institutional capacity to prevent and control illegal logging, as well as a lack of transparency and corruption, limited cooperation between stakeholders from producer and consumer countries, and limited indigenous/local community and civil society participation.

As a result of the social unrest related to forest legislation in 2009, the country is revising its forest policy. Civil society could play a particularly critical role in ensuring public administration transparency and accountability.

APPROACH

Building on a previous FLEG program implemented by IUCN/TRAFFIC/VERIFOR ( the Forest Governance and Transparency in the Amazon Region project in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru), PROFOR supported efforts to promote national forest stakeholder networks and boost their participation in policy dialogue and good governance in Peru. 

RESULTS

This activity, completed in August 2010, resulted in:

• dialogue and advocacy work strengthening the participation of local and national forest stakeholders in CONAFOR (National Consultative Council for Forest Policy) as mandated by the forestry law.
• support for forest policy development and legislative changes through participatory development of a national forest policy proposal and amendments of the forestry law and its regulations.
• two training workshops for 40 OSINFOR supervisors aimed at improving capacity for the verification of the legality of forest products based on approved forest management plans, annual operation plans and forest permits and logging authorizations. Workshops also included training in the enforcement of the CITES convention.

Traffic South America is continuing this work with funding from the European Union.

CHALLENGE

Many issues plague the forest sector in Peru -- from ill-conceived forest policy, to limited institutional capacity to prevent and control illegal logging, as well as a lack of transparency and corruption, limited cooperation between stakeholders from producer and consumer countries, and limited indigenous/local community and civil society participation.

As a result of the social unrest related to forest legislation in 2009, the country is revising its forest policy. Civil society could play a particularly critical role in ensuring public administration transparency and accountability.

APPROACH

Building on a previous FLEG program implemented by IUCN/TRAFFIC/VERIFOR ( the Forest Governance and Transparency in the Amazon Region project in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru), PROFOR supported efforts to promote national forest stakeholder networks and boost their participation in policy dialogue and good governance in Peru. 

RESULTS

This activity, completed in August 2010, resulted in:

• dialogue and advocacy work strengthening the participation of local and national forest stakeholders in CONAFOR (National Consultative Council for Forest Policy) as mandated by the forestry law.
• support for forest policy development and legislative changes through participatory development of a national forest policy proposal and amendments of the forestry law and its regulations.
• two training workshops for 40 OSINFOR supervisors aimed at improving capacity for the verification of the legality of forest products based on approved forest management plans, annual operation plans and forest permits and logging authorizations. Workshops also included training in the enforcement of the CITES convention.

Traffic South America is continuing this work with funding from the European Union.

CHALLENGE

Many issues plague the forest sector in Peru -- from ill-conceived forest policy, to limited institutional capacity to prevent and control illegal logging, as well as a lack of transparency and corruption, limited cooperation between stakeholders from producer and consumer countries, and limited indigenous/local community and civil society participation.

As a result of the social unrest related to forest legislation in 2009, the country is revising its forest policy. Civil society could play a particularly critical role in ensuring public administration transparency and accountability.

APPROACH

Building on a previous FLEG program implemented by IUCN/TRAFFIC/VERIFOR ( the Forest Governance and Transparency in the Amazon Region project in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru), PROFOR supported efforts to promote national forest stakeholder networks and boost their participation in policy dialogue and good governance in Peru. 

RESULTS

This activity, completed in August 2010, resulted in:

• dialogue and advocacy work strengthening the participation of local and national forest stakeholders in CONAFOR (National Consultative Council for Forest Policy) as mandated by the forestry law.
• support for forest policy development and legislative changes through participatory development of a national forest policy proposal and amendments of the forestry law and its regulations.
• two training workshops for 40 OSINFOR supervisors aimed at improving capacity for the verification of the legality of forest products based on approved forest management plans, annual operation plans and forest permits and logging authorizations. Workshops also included training in the enforcement of the CITES convention.

Traffic South America is continuing this work with funding from the European Union.

PROGRAM SUMMARY

The objective of this activity is to strengthen the capacity of Governments in Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama) to develop strategies for a low-carbon emission economy in line with the commitments made at COP21 (also called the Paris Climate Conference) through a broad based regional policy and technical dialogue. The activities supported by PROFOR will specifically target the land-use, land-use change, and forest sector and will create synergies with other sectors identified in the countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), such as agriculture, water, transport, and energy. In addition, the proposed activities will support regional dialogue and exchange at high policy levels, technical exchanges through field visits and targeted workshops (South-South Knowledge Exchange), and analytical work responding to knowledge demand as identified by the countries.

CHALLENGE

Central America is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and natural disasters. Given the mountainous terrain and distinct coast lines, the sustainable management of forests, including mangroves, is a core element in enhancing the countries’ resilience to climate change and natural disasters. The importance of sustainable management of forests and trees is confirmed by the fact that all Central American countries have identified forestry as a key sector in their NDCs and are REDD+ countries.

However, Central American countries continue to struggle with the implementation of their NDC commitments. While the mobilization of financial resources is commonly seen as the most challenging aspect for NDC implementation, developing implementation plans and associated monitoring systems, establishing functioning institutional arrangements, and strengthening the capacity for economic analyses for decision making are similarly challenging. Although Central American countries share this common set of challenges in a broad sense, there are many differences between the institutional and technical capacities of these countries for managing forest resources and addressing NDC targets. The spectrum ranges from countries like Costa Rica that have achieved worldwide recognition for their massive reforestation achievements over the past decades, to countries like El Salvador and Guatemala that are still characterized by large-scale deforestation and land degradation.

APPROACH

The activity was organized into three pillars: Regional Dialogue, Strengthening Institutional Capacity, and Developing Strategies and Plans. They were accomplished through Technical South-South Exchange and Analytical work. The activity was fully integrated into the World Bank’s programmatic approach on “Supporting Central American Countries in Implementing COP 21 Commitments,” which addressed the needs of Central American countries for implementing their NDCs and providing a platform for regional exchange and dialogue, technical and financial assistance, learning and capacity building initiatives in support of NDC implementation. The activities supported by PROFOR targeted LULUCF and created create synergies with activities in other sectors that were supported through complementary funding sources.

RESULTS

This project has been completed.

Main Outputs:

• Regional workshop
• Analytical Framework, completed by each country
• A roadmap for each country, including the prioritized forest actions to be implemented to achieve their NDC commitments, highlighting countries’ assistance needs. 

Main Outcomes

• Improved understanding of national and regional challenges to implement NDCs.
• Enhanced inter-institutional capacity to assess potential interventions in the forestry sector derived from COP21 commitments.
• Improved capacity of countries to prioritize activities and identify complementary sources of funding to support LULUCF related activities.
• Enhanced national capacities to formulate forest related NDC frameworks.
• Improved ability of countries to implement forest related activities that contribute to NDC goals.
• Improved regional cooperation on LULUCF, including an established collaboration platform.
• Identification of specific commitments in the forest sector.

PROGRAM SUMMARY

The objective of this activity is to strengthen the capacity of Governments in Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama) to develop strategies for a low-carbon emission economy in line with the commitments made at COP21 (also called the Paris Climate Conference) through a broad based regional policy and technical dialogue. The activities supported by PROFOR will specifically target the land-use, land-use change, and forest sector and will create synergies with other sectors identified in the countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), such as agriculture, water, transport, and energy. In addition, the proposed activities will support regional dialogue and exchange at high policy levels, technical exchanges through field visits and targeted workshops (South-South Knowledge Exchange), and analytical work responding to knowledge demand as identified by the countries.

CHALLENGE

Central America is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and natural disasters. Given the mountainous terrain and distinct coast lines, the sustainable management of forests, including mangroves, is a core element in enhancing the countries’ resilience to climate change and natural disasters. The importance of sustainable management of forests and trees is confirmed by the fact that all Central American countries have identified forestry as a key sector in their NDCs and are REDD+ countries.

However, Central American countries continue to struggle with the implementation of their NDC commitments. While the mobilization of financial resources is commonly seen as the most challenging aspect for NDC implementation, developing implementation plans and associated monitoring systems, establishing functioning institutional arrangements, and strengthening the capacity for economic analyses for decision making are similarly challenging. Although Central American countries share this common set of challenges in a broad sense, there are many differences between the institutional and technical capacities of these countries for managing forest resources and addressing NDC targets. The spectrum ranges from countries like Costa Rica that have achieved worldwide recognition for their massive reforestation achievements over the past decades, to countries like El Salvador and Guatemala that are still characterized by large-scale deforestation and land degradation.

APPROACH

The activity was organized into three pillars: Regional Dialogue, Strengthening Institutional Capacity, and Developing Strategies and Plans. They were accomplished through Technical South-South Exchange and Analytical work. The activity was fully integrated into the World Bank’s programmatic approach on “Supporting Central American Countries in Implementing COP 21 Commitments,” which addressed the needs of Central American countries for implementing their NDCs and providing a platform for regional exchange and dialogue, technical and financial assistance, learning and capacity building initiatives in support of NDC implementation. The activities supported by PROFOR targeted LULUCF and created create synergies with activities in other sectors that were supported through complementary funding sources.

RESULTS

This project has been completed.

Main Outputs:

• Regional workshop
• Analytical Framework, completed by each country
• A roadmap for each country, including the prioritized forest actions to be implemented to achieve their NDC commitments, highlighting countries’ assistance needs. 

Main Outcomes

• Improved understanding of national and regional challenges to implement NDCs.
• Enhanced inter-institutional capacity to assess potential interventions in the forestry sector derived from COP21 commitments.
• Improved capacity of countries to prioritize activities and identify complementary sources of funding to support LULUCF related activities.
• Enhanced national capacities to formulate forest related NDC frameworks.
• Improved ability of countries to implement forest related activities that contribute to NDC goals.
• Improved regional cooperation on LULUCF, including an established collaboration platform.
• Identification of specific commitments in the forest sector.

PROGRAM SUMMARY

The objective of this activity is to strengthen the capacity of Governments in Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama) to develop strategies for a low-carbon emission economy in line with the commitments made at COP21 (also called the Paris Climate Conference) through a broad based regional policy and technical dialogue. The activities supported by PROFOR will specifically target the land-use, land-use change, and forest sector and will create synergies with other sectors identified in the countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), such as agriculture, water, transport, and energy. In addition, the proposed activities will support regional dialogue and exchange at high policy levels, technical exchanges through field visits and targeted workshops (South-South Knowledge Exchange), and analytical work responding to knowledge demand as identified by the countries.

CHALLENGE

Central America is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and natural disasters. Given the mountainous terrain and distinct coast lines, the sustainable management of forests, including mangroves, is a core element in enhancing the countries’ resilience to climate change and natural disasters. The importance of sustainable management of forests and trees is confirmed by the fact that all Central American countries have identified forestry as a key sector in their NDCs and are REDD+ countries.

However, Central American countries continue to struggle with the implementation of their NDC commitments. While the mobilization of financial resources is commonly seen as the most challenging aspect for NDC implementation, developing implementation plans and associated monitoring systems, establishing functioning institutional arrangements, and strengthening the capacity for economic analyses for decision making are similarly challenging. Although Central American countries share this common set of challenges in a broad sense, there are many differences between the institutional and technical capacities of these countries for managing forest resources and addressing NDC targets. The spectrum ranges from countries like Costa Rica that have achieved worldwide recognition for their massive reforestation achievements over the past decades, to countries like El Salvador and Guatemala that are still characterized by large-scale deforestation and land degradation.

APPROACH

The activity was organized into three pillars: Regional Dialogue, Strengthening Institutional Capacity, and Developing Strategies and Plans. They were accomplished through Technical South-South Exchange and Analytical work. The activity was fully integrated into the World Bank’s programmatic approach on “Supporting Central American Countries in Implementing COP 21 Commitments,” which addressed the needs of Central American countries for implementing their NDCs and providing a platform for regional exchange and dialogue, technical and financial assistance, learning and capacity building initiatives in support of NDC implementation. The activities supported by PROFOR targeted LULUCF and created create synergies with activities in other sectors that were supported through complementary funding sources.

RESULTS

This project has been completed.

Main Outputs:

• Regional workshop
• Analytical Framework, completed by each country
• A roadmap for each country, including the prioritized forest actions to be implemented to achieve their NDC commitments, highlighting countries’ assistance needs. 

Main Outcomes

• Improved understanding of national and regional challenges to implement NDCs.
• Enhanced inter-institutional capacity to assess potential interventions in the forestry sector derived from COP21 commitments.
• Improved capacity of countries to prioritize activities and identify complementary sources of funding to support LULUCF related activities.
• Enhanced national capacities to formulate forest related NDC frameworks.
• Improved ability of countries to implement forest related activities that contribute to NDC goals.
• Improved regional cooperation on LULUCF, including an established collaboration platform.
• Identification of specific commitments in the forest sector.

PROGRAM SUMMARY

The objective of this activity is to strengthen the capacity of Governments in Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama) to develop strategies for a low-carbon emission economy in line with the commitments made at COP21 (also called the Paris Climate Conference) through a broad based regional policy and technical dialogue. The activities supported by PROFOR will specifically target the land-use, land-use change, and forest sector and will create synergies with other sectors identified in the countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), such as agriculture, water, transport, and energy. In addition, the proposed activities will support regional dialogue and exchange at high policy levels, technical exchanges through field visits and targeted workshops (South-South Knowledge Exchange), and analytical work responding to knowledge demand as identified by the countries.

CHALLENGE

Central America is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and natural disasters. Given the mountainous terrain and distinct coast lines, the sustainable management of forests, including mangroves, is a core element in enhancing the countries’ resilience to climate change and natural disasters. The importance of sustainable management of forests and trees is confirmed by the fact that all Central American countries have identified forestry as a key sector in their NDCs and are REDD+ countries.

However, Central American countries continue to struggle with the implementation of their NDC commitments. While the mobilization of financial resources is commonly seen as the most challenging aspect for NDC implementation, developing implementation plans and associated monitoring systems, establishing functioning institutional arrangements, and strengthening the capacity for economic analyses for decision making are similarly challenging. Although Central American countries share this common set of challenges in a broad sense, there are many differences between the institutional and technical capacities of these countries for managing forest resources and addressing NDC targets. The spectrum ranges from countries like Costa Rica that have achieved worldwide recognition for their massive reforestation achievements over the past decades, to countries like El Salvador and Guatemala that are still characterized by large-scale deforestation and land degradation.

APPROACH

The activity was organized into three pillars: Regional Dialogue, Strengthening Institutional Capacity, and Developing Strategies and Plans. They were accomplished through Technical South-South Exchange and Analytical work. The activity was fully integrated into the World Bank’s programmatic approach on “Supporting Central American Countries in Implementing COP 21 Commitments,” which addressed the needs of Central American countries for implementing their NDCs and providing a platform for regional exchange and dialogue, technical and financial assistance, learning and capacity building initiatives in support of NDC implementation. The activities supported by PROFOR targeted LULUCF and created create synergies with activities in other sectors that were supported through complementary funding sources.

RESULTS

This project has been completed.

Main Outputs:

• Regional workshop
• Analytical Framework, completed by each country
• A roadmap for each country, including the prioritized forest actions to be implemented to achieve their NDC commitments, highlighting countries’ assistance needs. 

Main Outcomes

• Improved understanding of national and regional challenges to implement NDCs.
• Enhanced inter-institutional capacity to assess potential interventions in the forestry sector derived from COP21 commitments.
• Improved capacity of countries to prioritize activities and identify complementary sources of funding to support LULUCF related activities.
• Enhanced national capacities to formulate forest related NDC frameworks.
• Improved ability of countries to implement forest related activities that contribute to NDC goals.
• Improved regional cooperation on LULUCF, including an established collaboration platform.
• Identification of specific commitments in the forest sector.

Strengthening the value chain for indigenous and community forestry operations through increased investment and use of technical assistance

CHALLENGE

The link between sustainable forest management practices and community benefits has not been well documented. Likewise, the connection between the sale of certified products and conservation outcomes is sometimes lost amid general skepticism. Part of the reason investments in community forestry operations are not well understood is that studies tend to rely on anecdotal evidence rather than income and productivity data.

APPROACH

Building on the successful work of the Rainforest Alliance's Sustainable Forestry Division in Mexico and Central America, PROFOR co-financed three case studies documenting changes in income, return on investment and the role of technical assistance in bringing investments to their full potential in Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras.

The case studies are expected to motivate community forestry operations to invest in their operations and strive for improved competitiveness.

MAIN FINDINGS

• In Mexico, with an investment of $1.1 million over three years, the operation increased sawmilling efficiencies and lowered production costs by 43% without sacrificing jobs. A greater focus on secondary processing and investment in their business led to a change in annual profits from minus $561,646 to plus $1.7 million.
• In Guatemala, FSC certified community concessions increased their revenues by 209% to $5.8 million.  Improved saw milling efficiencies and higher grades of mahogany along with FSC certified mahogany price increases drove the increase in revenues as did the addition of a FSC certified non-timber product.  Employment increased for women though value added processing for non-timber products.  Investments by communities themselves have been modest but donor investments in training and technical assistance have probably exceeded $10 million.
   
• In Honduras, cooperatives banded together to provide semi-processed mahogany for export to certified markets, changing their production chain and adopting sustainable forest management practices. With only a 19% increase in volume harvested, revenues have increased by 128% to $579,375. Actual production costs rose 40% from 2006 to 2008, due to increased costs of forest management and taxes, as well as the extra care needed to produce quality mahogany grades.  The cooperatives have invested over $113,000 in simple machinery.

RESULTS

The results of the three case studies were presented at the World Forestry Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina in October 2009. The Mexico case study was presented at the Expo Forestal in Mexico in September 2009. In both cases, the data on production, efficiency and community benefits was well received.

The indicators used in these cases studies will be useful for measuring impact in other communities. A new forestry project with CONAFOR/UNDP/GEF and the Rainforest Alliance will use the same methodology and variables in Mexico to measure community level impacts on wood harvesting, usage and income. The Rainforest Alliance is also starting two new community forestry projects in Ghana and Cameroon which will use a subset of these variables, adapted for West Africa.

Strengthening the value chain for indigenous and community forestry operations through increased investment and use of technical assistance

CHALLENGE

The link between sustainable forest management practices and community benefits has not been well documented. Likewise, the connection between the sale of certified products and conservation outcomes is sometimes lost amid general skepticism. Part of the reason investments in community forestry operations are not well understood is that studies tend to rely on anecdotal evidence rather than income and productivity data.

APPROACH

Building on the successful work of the Rainforest Alliance's Sustainable Forestry Division in Mexico and Central America, PROFOR co-financed three case studies documenting changes in income, return on investment and the role of technical assistance in bringing investments to their full potential in Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras.

The case studies are expected to motivate community forestry operations to invest in their operations and strive for improved competitiveness.

MAIN FINDINGS

• In Mexico, with an investment of $1.1 million over three years, the operation increased sawmilling efficiencies and lowered production costs by 43% without sacrificing jobs. A greater focus on secondary processing and investment in their business led to a change in annual profits from minus $561,646 to plus $1.7 million.
• In Guatemala, FSC certified community concessions increased their revenues by 209% to $5.8 million.  Improved saw milling efficiencies and higher grades of mahogany along with FSC certified mahogany price increases drove the increase in revenues as did the addition of a FSC certified non-timber product.  Employment increased for women though value added processing for non-timber products.  Investments by communities themselves have been modest but donor investments in training and technical assistance have probably exceeded $10 million.
   
• In Honduras, cooperatives banded together to provide semi-processed mahogany for export to certified markets, changing their production chain and adopting sustainable forest management practices. With only a 19% increase in volume harvested, revenues have increased by 128% to $579,375. Actual production costs rose 40% from 2006 to 2008, due to increased costs of forest management and taxes, as well as the extra care needed to produce quality mahogany grades.  The cooperatives have invested over $113,000 in simple machinery.

RESULTS

The results of the three case studies were presented at the World Forestry Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina in October 2009. The Mexico case study was presented at the Expo Forestal in Mexico in September 2009. In both cases, the data on production, efficiency and community benefits was well received.

The indicators used in these cases studies will be useful for measuring impact in other communities. A new forestry project with CONAFOR/UNDP/GEF and the Rainforest Alliance will use the same methodology and variables in Mexico to measure community level impacts on wood harvesting, usage and income. The Rainforest Alliance is also starting two new community forestry projects in Ghana and Cameroon which will use a subset of these variables, adapted for West Africa.