CHALLENGE
The objective of the national Chain of Custody (CoC) System is to capture the economic potential of the Liberia forest sector and its associated benefits for rural livelihoods and national growth through a comprehensive monitoring system ensuring that wood products and associated revenues are tracked down and accounted for. The CoC allows the tracking of logs harvested in the forestry concessions in Liberia, from the stump to the port. In addition to the tractability of commercial timber, the CoC controls the legality of log export and ensures that all taxes and fees related to the logging concessions are reported and collected.

The CoC is considered a crucial governance and transparency initiative, mandated by law in Liberia, and was a requirement for the lifting of the UN logging ban on Liberia. It provides a foundation for the Liberian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (LEITI) and the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) that has been negotiated and signed with the European Union and is due to be ratified. 

APPROACH
Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS) was hired in October 2007 to build, implement and eventually transfer the CoC system known as LiberFor to the Forestry Development Authority (FDA).

SGS is responsible for the following services:
 

• Control logs and wood products from stump to point of export or domestic market, and develop and maintain a computerized CoC information system;
• Invoice and monitor all forest payments related to log, wood production and trade;
• Issue timber export permits upon confirmation that the shipment originates from registered harvesting area and all relevant forest payments have been made to the Central Bank of Liberia;
• Provide training to FDA counterpart staff and other relevant government staff in the Ministry of Finance, Central Banks and Ports Authority.

In addition to providing support for Liberfor in 2010-2011, PROFOR committed to sharing lessons from the development of this chain of custody system on its website.

RESULTS AND NEXT STEPS

• Between 2009 and end of 2012, almost 370,000 m3 of timber were exported under the CoC system. In 2012, stumpage, export and other fees and taxes collected by the CoC system generated almost $9 million in revenue for the Government of Liberia. Over the 2008-2012 period, the system secured $27 million in net state revenue (gross revenue, minus the CoC management fee).
• FDA personnel have been incorporated into SGS operational teams in field offices and at SGS headquarters.
• The system has been developed to adapt to the requirements of field operations, from the trees’ felling to the export of logs.
• Training of FDA staff and independent block verification and data processing is preparing the ground for a gradual transfer of responsibilities to FDA.

The viability of the CoC system was challenged initially by the slow roll out of concessions -- and resulting slow export of timber -- and insufficient numbers of officers, trainers, monitoring vehicles and offices in the field. A number of daunting forest governance and logitical issues, from controversy surrounding Private Use Permits to rehabilitation of roads and ports, remain ahead.

The system however has been continuously refined to tackle difficulties. For example, Standard Operating Procedures have been added to handle new challenges such as in-country change of ownership or cross border shipments. And the barcode has been reworked from 12-digits to 8-digits to reduce the number of barcodes errors.

Liberia is preparing to transition to a Legality Verification Department that includes LiberFor.

A field note summarizing lessons learned from the establishment of the chain of custody was published by PROFOR in February 2013.

CHALLENGE
The objective of the national Chain of Custody (CoC) System is to capture the economic potential of the Liberia forest sector and its associated benefits for rural livelihoods and national growth through a comprehensive monitoring system ensuring that wood products and associated revenues are tracked down and accounted for. The CoC allows the tracking of logs harvested in the forestry concessions in Liberia, from the stump to the port. In addition to the tractability of commercial timber, the CoC controls the legality of log export and ensures that all taxes and fees related to the logging concessions are reported and collected.

The CoC is considered a crucial governance and transparency initiative, mandated by law in Liberia, and was a requirement for the lifting of the UN logging ban on Liberia. It provides a foundation for the Liberian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (LEITI) and the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) that has been negotiated and signed with the European Union and is due to be ratified. 

APPROACH
Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS) was hired in October 2007 to build, implement and eventually transfer the CoC system known as LiberFor to the Forestry Development Authority (FDA).

SGS is responsible for the following services:
 

• Control logs and wood products from stump to point of export or domestic market, and develop and maintain a computerized CoC information system;
• Invoice and monitor all forest payments related to log, wood production and trade;
• Issue timber export permits upon confirmation that the shipment originates from registered harvesting area and all relevant forest payments have been made to the Central Bank of Liberia;
• Provide training to FDA counterpart staff and other relevant government staff in the Ministry of Finance, Central Banks and Ports Authority.

In addition to providing support for Liberfor in 2010-2011, PROFOR committed to sharing lessons from the development of this chain of custody system on its website.

RESULTS AND NEXT STEPS

• Between 2009 and end of 2012, almost 370,000 m3 of timber were exported under the CoC system. In 2012, stumpage, export and other fees and taxes collected by the CoC system generated almost $9 million in revenue for the Government of Liberia. Over the 2008-2012 period, the system secured $27 million in net state revenue (gross revenue, minus the CoC management fee).
• FDA personnel have been incorporated into SGS operational teams in field offices and at SGS headquarters.
• The system has been developed to adapt to the requirements of field operations, from the trees’ felling to the export of logs.
• Training of FDA staff and independent block verification and data processing is preparing the ground for a gradual transfer of responsibilities to FDA.

The viability of the CoC system was challenged initially by the slow roll out of concessions -- and resulting slow export of timber -- and insufficient numbers of officers, trainers, monitoring vehicles and offices in the field. A number of daunting forest governance and logitical issues, from controversy surrounding Private Use Permits to rehabilitation of roads and ports, remain ahead.

The system however has been continuously refined to tackle difficulties. For example, Standard Operating Procedures have been added to handle new challenges such as in-country change of ownership or cross border shipments. And the barcode has been reworked from 12-digits to 8-digits to reduce the number of barcodes errors.

Liberia is preparing to transition to a Legality Verification Department that includes LiberFor.

A field note summarizing lessons learned from the establishment of the chain of custody was published by PROFOR in February 2013.

CHALLENGE
The objective of the national Chain of Custody (CoC) System is to capture the economic potential of the Liberia forest sector and its associated benefits for rural livelihoods and national growth through a comprehensive monitoring system ensuring that wood products and associated revenues are tracked down and accounted for. The CoC allows the tracking of logs harvested in the forestry concessions in Liberia, from the stump to the port. In addition to the tractability of commercial timber, the CoC controls the legality of log export and ensures that all taxes and fees related to the logging concessions are reported and collected.

The CoC is considered a crucial governance and transparency initiative, mandated by law in Liberia, and was a requirement for the lifting of the UN logging ban on Liberia. It provides a foundation for the Liberian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (LEITI) and the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) that has been negotiated and signed with the European Union and is due to be ratified. 

APPROACH
Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS) was hired in October 2007 to build, implement and eventually transfer the CoC system known as LiberFor to the Forestry Development Authority (FDA).

SGS is responsible for the following services:
 

• Control logs and wood products from stump to point of export or domestic market, and develop and maintain a computerized CoC information system;
• Invoice and monitor all forest payments related to log, wood production and trade;
• Issue timber export permits upon confirmation that the shipment originates from registered harvesting area and all relevant forest payments have been made to the Central Bank of Liberia;
• Provide training to FDA counterpart staff and other relevant government staff in the Ministry of Finance, Central Banks and Ports Authority.

In addition to providing support for Liberfor in 2010-2011, PROFOR committed to sharing lessons from the development of this chain of custody system on its website.

RESULTS AND NEXT STEPS

• Between 2009 and end of 2012, almost 370,000 m3 of timber were exported under the CoC system. In 2012, stumpage, export and other fees and taxes collected by the CoC system generated almost $9 million in revenue for the Government of Liberia. Over the 2008-2012 period, the system secured $27 million in net state revenue (gross revenue, minus the CoC management fee).
• FDA personnel have been incorporated into SGS operational teams in field offices and at SGS headquarters.
• The system has been developed to adapt to the requirements of field operations, from the trees’ felling to the export of logs.
• Training of FDA staff and independent block verification and data processing is preparing the ground for a gradual transfer of responsibilities to FDA.

The viability of the CoC system was challenged initially by the slow roll out of concessions -- and resulting slow export of timber -- and insufficient numbers of officers, trainers, monitoring vehicles and offices in the field. A number of daunting forest governance and logitical issues, from controversy surrounding Private Use Permits to rehabilitation of roads and ports, remain ahead.

The system however has been continuously refined to tackle difficulties. For example, Standard Operating Procedures have been added to handle new challenges such as in-country change of ownership or cross border shipments. And the barcode has been reworked from 12-digits to 8-digits to reduce the number of barcodes errors.

Liberia is preparing to transition to a Legality Verification Department that includes LiberFor.

A field note summarizing lessons learned from the establishment of the chain of custody was published by PROFOR in February 2013.

CHALLENGE

The Central African forest ecosystem contains remarkable biological diversity that the heads of States of the Central African region would like to preserve. Together they adopted a treaty instituting the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC) in February 2005. Illegal logging and lack of appropriate forest governance are major obstacles to the efforts of the concerned countries to alleviate poverty, develop their natural resources, and protect global and local environmental services and values.

In order to coordinate cross-border solutions (by having a monitoring and evaluation system, organizing investments and tax policies, and harmonizing the legal systems of COMIFAC member countries), all countries need to have access to each others' forest and wildlife rules and regulations.

Unfortunately, the legal texts are difficult to access and the institutions responsible for the publication of the laws do not benefit from a modern archiving system, even less a sustainable electronic one.

APPROACH

In response to this need, the World Bank's EU-funded FLEG program (now part of PROFOR) supported the creation of electronic legal databases in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Gabon, using the Global Legal Information Network (GLIN). GLIN is an independent cooperative network that maintains a free and credible online legal database stored in national servers and the central server at the US Library of Congress.

In Gabon, efforts to create a functional GLIN Station meant selecting, organizing and training a team to collect and submit laws, one by one, in the system and at the same time create a local electronic archiving system containing all the official gazettes available in a challenging environment. (Most of the archives are stockpiled in a room at the mercy of rats and dampness.) Each law requires an abstract in English and French according to GLIN norms and keywords for easy research.  

RESULTS

• As of June 2010, GLIN Gabon offered 982 legal and regulatory texts online.
• The network's team is ready to continue working even if it regularly comes up against many obstacles.
• Legal materials from GLIN Gabon have been viewed more than 27,000 times over the course of the year. This high level of interest was achieved without any type of information campaign.
• A unique local database containing all available official gazettes in electronic format will be completed during the next years.
• Access to laws and information does not guarantee good governance but contributes to it and strengthens the modernization of the state. GLIN could become a decisive step that triggers the creation of a real e-government.
• This activity was directly linked to a World Bank project dealing with reforms in the sectors of forestry, mining and fisheries. Transparency, supported by the GLIN instrument, is one of the pillars of reform in these different sectors.
• More and more countries are becoming members of the GLIN initiative: four out of six Congo basin countries are now members.

CHALLENGE

The Central African forest ecosystem contains remarkable biological diversity that the heads of States of the Central African region would like to preserve. Together they adopted a treaty instituting the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC) in February 2005. Illegal logging and lack of appropriate forest governance are major obstacles to the efforts of the concerned countries to alleviate poverty, develop their natural resources, and protect global and local environmental services and values.

In order to coordinate cross-border solutions (by having a monitoring and evaluation system, organizing investments and tax policies, and harmonizing the legal systems of COMIFAC member countries), all countries need to have access to each others' forest and wildlife rules and regulations.

Unfortunately, the legal texts are difficult to access and the institutions responsible for the publication of the laws do not benefit from a modern archiving system, even less a sustainable electronic one.

APPROACH

In response to this need, the World Bank's EU-funded FLEG program (now part of PROFOR) supported the creation of electronic legal databases in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Gabon, using the Global Legal Information Network (GLIN). GLIN is an independent cooperative network that maintains a free and credible online legal database stored in national servers and the central server at the US Library of Congress.

In Gabon, efforts to create a functional GLIN Station meant selecting, organizing and training a team to collect and submit laws, one by one, in the system and at the same time create a local electronic archiving system containing all the official gazettes available in a challenging environment. (Most of the archives are stockpiled in a room at the mercy of rats and dampness.) Each law requires an abstract in English and French according to GLIN norms and keywords for easy research.  

RESULTS

• As of June 2010, GLIN Gabon offered 982 legal and regulatory texts online.
• The network's team is ready to continue working even if it regularly comes up against many obstacles.
• Legal materials from GLIN Gabon have been viewed more than 27,000 times over the course of the year. This high level of interest was achieved without any type of information campaign.
• A unique local database containing all available official gazettes in electronic format will be completed during the next years.
• Access to laws and information does not guarantee good governance but contributes to it and strengthens the modernization of the state. GLIN could become a decisive step that triggers the creation of a real e-government.
• This activity was directly linked to a World Bank project dealing with reforms in the sectors of forestry, mining and fisheries. Transparency, supported by the GLIN instrument, is one of the pillars of reform in these different sectors.
• More and more countries are becoming members of the GLIN initiative: four out of six Congo basin countries are now members.

CHALLENGE

The Central African forest ecosystem contains remarkable biological diversity that the heads of States of the Central African region would like to preserve. Together they adopted a treaty instituting the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC) in February 2005. Illegal logging and lack of appropriate forest governance are major obstacles to the efforts of the concerned countries to alleviate poverty, develop their natural resources, and protect global and local environmental services and values.

In order to coordinate cross-border solutions (by having a monitoring and evaluation system, organizing investments and tax policies, and harmonizing the legal systems of COMIFAC member countries), all countries need to have access to each others' forest and wildlife rules and regulations.

Unfortunately, the legal texts are difficult to access and the institutions responsible for the publication of the laws do not benefit from a modern archiving system, even less a sustainable electronic one.

APPROACH

In response to this need, the World Bank's EU-funded FLEG program (now part of PROFOR) supported the creation of electronic legal databases in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Gabon, using the Global Legal Information Network (GLIN). GLIN is an independent cooperative network that maintains a free and credible online legal database stored in national servers and the central server at the US Library of Congress.

In Gabon, efforts to create a functional GLIN Station meant selecting, organizing and training a team to collect and submit laws, one by one, in the system and at the same time create a local electronic archiving system containing all the official gazettes available in a challenging environment. (Most of the archives are stockpiled in a room at the mercy of rats and dampness.) Each law requires an abstract in English and French according to GLIN norms and keywords for easy research.  

RESULTS

• As of June 2010, GLIN Gabon offered 982 legal and regulatory texts online.
• The network's team is ready to continue working even if it regularly comes up against many obstacles.
• Legal materials from GLIN Gabon have been viewed more than 27,000 times over the course of the year. This high level of interest was achieved without any type of information campaign.
• A unique local database containing all available official gazettes in electronic format will be completed during the next years.
• Access to laws and information does not guarantee good governance but contributes to it and strengthens the modernization of the state. GLIN could become a decisive step that triggers the creation of a real e-government.
• This activity was directly linked to a World Bank project dealing with reforms in the sectors of forestry, mining and fisheries. Transparency, supported by the GLIN instrument, is one of the pillars of reform in these different sectors.
• More and more countries are becoming members of the GLIN initiative: four out of six Congo basin countries are now members.

CHALLENGE

Lao PDR has 9.5 million ha of forest cover, representing about 40% of land area. Deforestation rates are very high and as much as 80 percent of the country’s forests are now degraded. Despite government efforts to reverse these negative trends by reducing illegal logging and aggressively prosecuting forest crimes and corruption, considerable damage has already been done. Under this context, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) and the Department of Forestry (DOF) are working to institute stronger measures to foster Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) and to restore deforested areas or highly degraded forests, which incorporates SFM certification, timber legality assurance systems, and reforestation. 

SFM certification in Laos and its border countries is still in its infancy. Altogether, only around 135,000 ha are certified as sustainably managed—80 percent which are in plantations in Vietnam and Thailand. In Lao PDR, only 10,949 ha of natural forests and 2,606 ha of plantations were certified as sustainably managed (as of January 2017). Cambodia has only 7,000 ha certified and Myanmar has none. 

Barriers to forest certification in Laos include (i) an inadequate enabling environment to foster certification of a significant level for protected forest areas (PFAs) and associated forest products; (ii) lack of perceived benefits; (iii) complex, unclear and prohibitive costs for village plantation group certification; and (iv) lack of a Lao unified group certification system. There is, therefore, a need to develop and disseminate state-of-the-art knowledge in Lao PDR that can demonstrate that forests managed in sustainable ways can provide long-term economic and financial returns for the country, industry and rural communities while generating positive environmental and social benefits.

APPROACH

This activity aims to strengthen understanding of issues, lessons learned and key actions to: i) review forest implementing policies, legal instruments and institutional frames for participatory SFM, forest restoration and reforestation; ii) increase role of certification (sustainability) and verification (legality); and iii) better understanding of the contribution that forests make towards sustainable livelihoods and mitigation of climate change. These outcomes are closely aligned with the Lao PDR Green Growth Development Policy Financing (DPF) operations, which aim to increase Production Forest Area (PFA) Certification to around 230,000 ha from the current 10,949 ha.

The work is being organized into six sub-studies, one final synthesis report, and two validation workshops. The studies will focus on: sustainable forest management; certified wood products; policy support for SFM, chain of custody, and a timber legality assurance scheme; public-private partnerships for forest restoration; economics of certified sustainable forest management; and a retrospective on forest sector development.

RESULTS

1. More holistic approaches to SFM, including participatory forest management, restoration and reforestation options and trade-offs;
2. Differentiation between participatory SFM in natural forests, especially village forestry, and private sector investments in plantation forests (including through outgrower schemes or smallholder plantations), including fiscal incentives and/or tax exemptions for plantation investors certifying their plantations and/or adopting socially and environmentally responsible approaches;
3. The use of certification for proof of sustainability from production forest areas (PFAs) and plantation forests and verification for proof of legality for forest conversion areas for future unimpeded access to the increasing number of countries with public procurement policies requiring these SFM tools;
4. Clarifying, streamlining and strengthening the wood products supply and value chains to improve returns to producers and growers;
5. Investment into innovative new forest industries technologies to increase utilization efficiency, outturn, conversion factors and added value;
6. New modalities for land-use rights, social and environmental standards and benefit sharing for public-private-people (community) partnerships for cooperation to up-scale restoration and reforestation; and vii)  application of financial and economic analyses of production forest models, with and without certification and with/without carbon credits to make informed natural and planted forest management policy and investment decisions.  

• PMO 9 on use of PFA lands for private industrial plantation forests + MAF Instruction on implementation (2018); 
• MAF Ministerial Instruction on Development of TLAS (2018); 
• Forestry Law (TLAS implementation; forest management and chain of custody (CoC) certification; PSFM; Plantation forestry in PFAs; Promoting and streamlining smallholder plantation forestry; Promoting private industrial plantation forestry; and village forestry) (2019);  
• Decree 96 on Promotion of Commercial Plantation Forests (2019); 
• MOIC draft Decision use of CoC certification in the supply chain; 
• MOIC draft Regulation of Sale and Purchase of Timber (2nd Log Landing); 
• SUFORD-SU satellite assessment of severely degraded forest lands in PFAs suitable for industrial plantation forests (2018); 
• Process for enabling private sector for reforestation and restoration in PFAs commenced; and 
• Certification process ongoing (FSC FM 85,000 ha; FSC CW 90,000 ha). 

• Regular and open dialogue has been established with particularly Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Ministry of Planning and Investment and Department of Forestry; and the private sector (forest plantation and wood industries sectors), NGOs and CBOs; 
• A high level national seminar in March 2018 chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister and attended by MAF representatives from 18 provinces and key ministries, the private sector and other key stakeholders. The Seminar outcomes has set stage for potential public-private-people partnerships opportunities in PFAs for forest restoration and reforestation. 

• AF-SUPSFM (P170810) (IDA 5m) which was appraised in October 2019, to be negotiated on December 17, 2019. 
• Lao Landscapes and Livelihoods (P170559) (IDA 50m + GEF 7.3m), PCN review meeting scheduled for December 16, 2019. 
• Green Growth DPO2 (P171431), negotiated and approved in May 2019. 
• Performance and Learning Review of the CPF, decision meeting on December 9, 2019. 

CHALLENGE

Lao PDR has 9.5 million ha of forest cover, representing about 40% of land area. Deforestation rates are very high and as much as 80 percent of the country’s forests are now degraded. Despite government efforts to reverse these negative trends by reducing illegal logging and aggressively prosecuting forest crimes and corruption, considerable damage has already been done. Under this context, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) and the Department of Forestry (DOF) are working to institute stronger measures to foster Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) and to restore deforested areas or highly degraded forests, which incorporates SFM certification, timber legality assurance systems, and reforestation. 

SFM certification in Laos and its border countries is still in its infancy. Altogether, only around 135,000 ha are certified as sustainably managed—80 percent which are in plantations in Vietnam and Thailand. In Lao PDR, only 10,949 ha of natural forests and 2,606 ha of plantations were certified as sustainably managed (as of January 2017). Cambodia has only 7,000 ha certified and Myanmar has none. 

Barriers to forest certification in Laos include (i) an inadequate enabling environment to foster certification of a significant level for protected forest areas (PFAs) and associated forest products; (ii) lack of perceived benefits; (iii) complex, unclear and prohibitive costs for village plantation group certification; and (iv) lack of a Lao unified group certification system. There is, therefore, a need to develop and disseminate state-of-the-art knowledge in Lao PDR that can demonstrate that forests managed in sustainable ways can provide long-term economic and financial returns for the country, industry and rural communities while generating positive environmental and social benefits.

APPROACH

This activity aims to strengthen understanding of issues, lessons learned and key actions to: i) review forest implementing policies, legal instruments and institutional frames for participatory SFM, forest restoration and reforestation; ii) increase role of certification (sustainability) and verification (legality); and iii) better understanding of the contribution that forests make towards sustainable livelihoods and mitigation of climate change. These outcomes are closely aligned with the Lao PDR Green Growth Development Policy Financing (DPF) operations, which aim to increase Production Forest Area (PFA) Certification to around 230,000 ha from the current 10,949 ha.

The work is being organized into six sub-studies, one final synthesis report, and two validation workshops. The studies will focus on: sustainable forest management; certified wood products; policy support for SFM, chain of custody, and a timber legality assurance scheme; public-private partnerships for forest restoration; economics of certified sustainable forest management; and a retrospective on forest sector development.

RESULTS

1. More holistic approaches to SFM, including participatory forest management, restoration and reforestation options and trade-offs;
2. Differentiation between participatory SFM in natural forests, especially village forestry, and private sector investments in plantation forests (including through outgrower schemes or smallholder plantations), including fiscal incentives and/or tax exemptions for plantation investors certifying their plantations and/or adopting socially and environmentally responsible approaches;
3. The use of certification for proof of sustainability from production forest areas (PFAs) and plantation forests and verification for proof of legality for forest conversion areas for future unimpeded access to the increasing number of countries with public procurement policies requiring these SFM tools;
4. Clarifying, streamlining and strengthening the wood products supply and value chains to improve returns to producers and growers;
5. Investment into innovative new forest industries technologies to increase utilization efficiency, outturn, conversion factors and added value;
6. New modalities for land-use rights, social and environmental standards and benefit sharing for public-private-people (community) partnerships for cooperation to up-scale restoration and reforestation; and vii)  application of financial and economic analyses of production forest models, with and without certification and with/without carbon credits to make informed natural and planted forest management policy and investment decisions.  

• PMO 9 on use of PFA lands for private industrial plantation forests + MAF Instruction on implementation (2018); 
• MAF Ministerial Instruction on Development of TLAS (2018); 
• Forestry Law (TLAS implementation; forest management and chain of custody (CoC) certification; PSFM; Plantation forestry in PFAs; Promoting and streamlining smallholder plantation forestry; Promoting private industrial plantation forestry; and village forestry) (2019);  
• Decree 96 on Promotion of Commercial Plantation Forests (2019); 
• MOIC draft Decision use of CoC certification in the supply chain; 
• MOIC draft Regulation of Sale and Purchase of Timber (2nd Log Landing); 
• SUFORD-SU satellite assessment of severely degraded forest lands in PFAs suitable for industrial plantation forests (2018); 
• Process for enabling private sector for reforestation and restoration in PFAs commenced; and 
• Certification process ongoing (FSC FM 85,000 ha; FSC CW 90,000 ha). 

• Regular and open dialogue has been established with particularly Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Ministry of Planning and Investment and Department of Forestry; and the private sector (forest plantation and wood industries sectors), NGOs and CBOs; 
• A high level national seminar in March 2018 chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister and attended by MAF representatives from 18 provinces and key ministries, the private sector and other key stakeholders. The Seminar outcomes has set stage for potential public-private-people partnerships opportunities in PFAs for forest restoration and reforestation. 

• AF-SUPSFM (P170810) (IDA 5m) which was appraised in October 2019, to be negotiated on December 17, 2019. 
• Lao Landscapes and Livelihoods (P170559) (IDA 50m + GEF 7.3m), PCN review meeting scheduled for December 16, 2019. 
• Green Growth DPO2 (P171431), negotiated and approved in May 2019. 
• Performance and Learning Review of the CPF, decision meeting on December 9, 2019. 

CHALLENGE

Lao PDR has 9.5 million ha of forest cover, representing about 40% of land area. Deforestation rates are very high and as much as 80 percent of the country’s forests are now degraded. Despite government efforts to reverse these negative trends by reducing illegal logging and aggressively prosecuting forest crimes and corruption, considerable damage has already been done. Under this context, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) and the Department of Forestry (DOF) are working to institute stronger measures to foster Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) and to restore deforested areas or highly degraded forests, which incorporates SFM certification, timber legality assurance systems, and reforestation. 

SFM certification in Laos and its border countries is still in its infancy. Altogether, only around 135,000 ha are certified as sustainably managed—80 percent which are in plantations in Vietnam and Thailand. In Lao PDR, only 10,949 ha of natural forests and 2,606 ha of plantations were certified as sustainably managed (as of January 2017). Cambodia has only 7,000 ha certified and Myanmar has none. 

Barriers to forest certification in Laos include (i) an inadequate enabling environment to foster certification of a significant level for protected forest areas (PFAs) and associated forest products; (ii) lack of perceived benefits; (iii) complex, unclear and prohibitive costs for village plantation group certification; and (iv) lack of a Lao unified group certification system. There is, therefore, a need to develop and disseminate state-of-the-art knowledge in Lao PDR that can demonstrate that forests managed in sustainable ways can provide long-term economic and financial returns for the country, industry and rural communities while generating positive environmental and social benefits.

APPROACH

This activity aims to strengthen understanding of issues, lessons learned and key actions to: i) review forest implementing policies, legal instruments and institutional frames for participatory SFM, forest restoration and reforestation; ii) increase role of certification (sustainability) and verification (legality); and iii) better understanding of the contribution that forests make towards sustainable livelihoods and mitigation of climate change. These outcomes are closely aligned with the Lao PDR Green Growth Development Policy Financing (DPF) operations, which aim to increase Production Forest Area (PFA) Certification to around 230,000 ha from the current 10,949 ha.

The work is being organized into six sub-studies, one final synthesis report, and two validation workshops. The studies will focus on: sustainable forest management; certified wood products; policy support for SFM, chain of custody, and a timber legality assurance scheme; public-private partnerships for forest restoration; economics of certified sustainable forest management; and a retrospective on forest sector development.

RESULTS

1. More holistic approaches to SFM, including participatory forest management, restoration and reforestation options and trade-offs;
2. Differentiation between participatory SFM in natural forests, especially village forestry, and private sector investments in plantation forests (including through outgrower schemes or smallholder plantations), including fiscal incentives and/or tax exemptions for plantation investors certifying their plantations and/or adopting socially and environmentally responsible approaches;
3. The use of certification for proof of sustainability from production forest areas (PFAs) and plantation forests and verification for proof of legality for forest conversion areas for future unimpeded access to the increasing number of countries with public procurement policies requiring these SFM tools;
4. Clarifying, streamlining and strengthening the wood products supply and value chains to improve returns to producers and growers;
5. Investment into innovative new forest industries technologies to increase utilization efficiency, outturn, conversion factors and added value;
6. New modalities for land-use rights, social and environmental standards and benefit sharing for public-private-people (community) partnerships for cooperation to up-scale restoration and reforestation; and vii)  application of financial and economic analyses of production forest models, with and without certification and with/without carbon credits to make informed natural and planted forest management policy and investment decisions.  

• PMO 9 on use of PFA lands for private industrial plantation forests + MAF Instruction on implementation (2018); 
• MAF Ministerial Instruction on Development of TLAS (2018); 
• Forestry Law (TLAS implementation; forest management and chain of custody (CoC) certification; PSFM; Plantation forestry in PFAs; Promoting and streamlining smallholder plantation forestry; Promoting private industrial plantation forestry; and village forestry) (2019);  
• Decree 96 on Promotion of Commercial Plantation Forests (2019); 
• MOIC draft Decision use of CoC certification in the supply chain; 
• MOIC draft Regulation of Sale and Purchase of Timber (2nd Log Landing); 
• SUFORD-SU satellite assessment of severely degraded forest lands in PFAs suitable for industrial plantation forests (2018); 
• Process for enabling private sector for reforestation and restoration in PFAs commenced; and 
• Certification process ongoing (FSC FM 85,000 ha; FSC CW 90,000 ha). 

• Regular and open dialogue has been established with particularly Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Ministry of Planning and Investment and Department of Forestry; and the private sector (forest plantation and wood industries sectors), NGOs and CBOs; 
• A high level national seminar in March 2018 chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister and attended by MAF representatives from 18 provinces and key ministries, the private sector and other key stakeholders. The Seminar outcomes has set stage for potential public-private-people partnerships opportunities in PFAs for forest restoration and reforestation. 

• AF-SUPSFM (P170810) (IDA 5m) which was appraised in October 2019, to be negotiated on December 17, 2019. 
• Lao Landscapes and Livelihoods (P170559) (IDA 50m + GEF 7.3m), PCN review meeting scheduled for December 16, 2019. 
• Green Growth DPO2 (P171431), negotiated and approved in May 2019. 
• Performance and Learning Review of the CPF, decision meeting on December 9, 2019. 

CHALLENGE

Lao PDR has 9.5 million ha of forest cover, representing about 40% of land area. Deforestation rates are very high and as much as 80 percent of the country’s forests are now degraded. Despite government efforts to reverse these negative trends by reducing illegal logging and aggressively prosecuting forest crimes and corruption, considerable damage has already been done. Under this context, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) and the Department of Forestry (DOF) are working to institute stronger measures to foster Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) and to restore deforested areas or highly degraded forests, which incorporates SFM certification, timber legality assurance systems, and reforestation. 

SFM certification in Laos and its border countries is still in its infancy. Altogether, only around 135,000 ha are certified as sustainably managed—80 percent which are in plantations in Vietnam and Thailand. In Lao PDR, only 10,949 ha of natural forests and 2,606 ha of plantations were certified as sustainably managed (as of January 2017). Cambodia has only 7,000 ha certified and Myanmar has none. 

Barriers to forest certification in Laos include (i) an inadequate enabling environment to foster certification of a significant level for protected forest areas (PFAs) and associated forest products; (ii) lack of perceived benefits; (iii) complex, unclear and prohibitive costs for village plantation group certification; and (iv) lack of a Lao unified group certification system. There is, therefore, a need to develop and disseminate state-of-the-art knowledge in Lao PDR that can demonstrate that forests managed in sustainable ways can provide long-term economic and financial returns for the country, industry and rural communities while generating positive environmental and social benefits.

APPROACH

This activity aims to strengthen understanding of issues, lessons learned and key actions to: i) review forest implementing policies, legal instruments and institutional frames for participatory SFM, forest restoration and reforestation; ii) increase role of certification (sustainability) and verification (legality); and iii) better understanding of the contribution that forests make towards sustainable livelihoods and mitigation of climate change. These outcomes are closely aligned with the Lao PDR Green Growth Development Policy Financing (DPF) operations, which aim to increase Production Forest Area (PFA) Certification to around 230,000 ha from the current 10,949 ha.

The work is being organized into six sub-studies, one final synthesis report, and two validation workshops. The studies will focus on: sustainable forest management; certified wood products; policy support for SFM, chain of custody, and a timber legality assurance scheme; public-private partnerships for forest restoration; economics of certified sustainable forest management; and a retrospective on forest sector development.

RESULTS

1. More holistic approaches to SFM, including participatory forest management, restoration and reforestation options and trade-offs;
2. Differentiation between participatory SFM in natural forests, especially village forestry, and private sector investments in plantation forests (including through outgrower schemes or smallholder plantations), including fiscal incentives and/or tax exemptions for plantation investors certifying their plantations and/or adopting socially and environmentally responsible approaches;
3. The use of certification for proof of sustainability from production forest areas (PFAs) and plantation forests and verification for proof of legality for forest conversion areas for future unimpeded access to the increasing number of countries with public procurement policies requiring these SFM tools;
4. Clarifying, streamlining and strengthening the wood products supply and value chains to improve returns to producers and growers;
5. Investment into innovative new forest industries technologies to increase utilization efficiency, outturn, conversion factors and added value;
6. New modalities for land-use rights, social and environmental standards and benefit sharing for public-private-people (community) partnerships for cooperation to up-scale restoration and reforestation; and vii)  application of financial and economic analyses of production forest models, with and without certification and with/without carbon credits to make informed natural and planted forest management policy and investment decisions.  

• PMO 9 on use of PFA lands for private industrial plantation forests + MAF Instruction on implementation (2018); 
• MAF Ministerial Instruction on Development of TLAS (2018); 
• Forestry Law (TLAS implementation; forest management and chain of custody (CoC) certification; PSFM; Plantation forestry in PFAs; Promoting and streamlining smallholder plantation forestry; Promoting private industrial plantation forestry; and village forestry) (2019);  
• Decree 96 on Promotion of Commercial Plantation Forests (2019); 
• MOIC draft Decision use of CoC certification in the supply chain; 
• MOIC draft Regulation of Sale and Purchase of Timber (2nd Log Landing); 
• SUFORD-SU satellite assessment of severely degraded forest lands in PFAs suitable for industrial plantation forests (2018); 
• Process for enabling private sector for reforestation and restoration in PFAs commenced; and 
• Certification process ongoing (FSC FM 85,000 ha; FSC CW 90,000 ha). 

• Regular and open dialogue has been established with particularly Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Ministry of Planning and Investment and Department of Forestry; and the private sector (forest plantation and wood industries sectors), NGOs and CBOs; 
• A high level national seminar in March 2018 chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister and attended by MAF representatives from 18 provinces and key ministries, the private sector and other key stakeholders. The Seminar outcomes has set stage for potential public-private-people partnerships opportunities in PFAs for forest restoration and reforestation. 

• AF-SUPSFM (P170810) (IDA 5m) which was appraised in October 2019, to be negotiated on December 17, 2019. 
• Lao Landscapes and Livelihoods (P170559) (IDA 50m + GEF 7.3m), PCN review meeting scheduled for December 16, 2019. 
• Green Growth DPO2 (P171431), negotiated and approved in May 2019. 
• Performance and Learning Review of the CPF, decision meeting on December 9, 2019.