(A Note from the Secretariat Convention on Biological Diversity)19
By
Gijs van Tol
Senior Programme
Officer
Scientific, Technical and Technological Matters
Secretariat of the
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
393 Saint-Jacques Street, Suite
300
Montréal, Quebec, Canada H2Y 1N9
Tel.: (514) 287 8707; Fax: (514) 288
6588
E-mail: [email protected]
Organized by the
Forest Management Bureau
Department of
Environment and Natural Resources
The Philippines
And co-sponsored by FAO
and ITTO
2 - 4 March 2004; Cebu City, the Philippines
In the past decade Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management have been developed by nine different regional initiatives and processes, and 149 countries, representing 85 % of the world’s forest area, are represented in one or more of these nine processes. A comparable set of Principles, Criteria and Indicators has been developed by the Forest Stewardship Council, as a basis for their certification scheme.
In the criteria and Indicator processes countries collect relevant data to measure progress towards SFM, and several processes report to a regional level. The International Conference on the Contribution of Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management20 recognized that this reporting from countries to regional processes is an important tool at national level for communication with a wide range of relevant stakeholders. The national reporting, and the aggregation of information to the regional level is also relevant for international organizations, e.g. for reporting on the implementation of the IPF/IFF proposals for action. The Criteria and Indicators for SFM have also been recognized by the Convention on Biological Diversity, at the sixth Conference of the Parties (decision VI/22 paragraph 34), but the possible benefits of the C&I for reporting on the implementation of the CBD expanded programme of work on forest biological diversity have not yet been elaborated. This paper provides a first attempt for such an elaboration.
The CBD and the expanded programme of work on forest biological diversity
The Convention on Biological Diversity has three broad objectives:
1. The conservation of biological diversity
2. Sustainable use of biological diversity
3. Equitable sharing of the benefits of genetic resources.
The Convention provides a legal frame work for these objectives
Most forest related activities under the CBD are described in the expanded programme of work on forest biological diversity, which was developed by an Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group, and was adopted in 2002 by the 6th Meeting of the Conference of Parties. The work programme has three main programme elements that are elaborated in more specific goals:
- Conservation sustainable use and benefit sharing (5 specific goals);
- Institutional and socio-economic enabling environment (3 specific goals);
- Knowledge, assessment and monitoring (4 specific goals).
Each of the goals is further elaborated into a number of objectives, and each objective is again elaborated into activities (see Annex 1 or website www.biodiv.org/handbook/cbd-hb-10-06-en.pdf, starting at page 152).
When adopting the work programme the COP requested the Executive Secretary to initiate actions towards the implementation. At the national level, individual countries (the Parties to the Convention) are responsible for the implementation of the work programme, and progress is reported in “National Reports” and / or in “thematic reports” submitted by the countries. At an international level the Executive Secretary is invited to collaborate with the United Forum on Forests (UNFF), other members of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) and other international organizations to address issues of relevance to forest biological diversity.
Analyses of possible relevant information from C&I processes for the expanded programme of work on forest biological diversity
Reporting of the regional processes on C&I can be relevant for several of the goals and objectives in the CBD expanded work programme on forest biological diversity (see annex 1).
The information provided by indicators under the Criterion on “biological diversity” will most likely be relevant for programme element 1 of the expanded work programme, and probably also information from indicators under the Criteria on “extent of forest resources”, and “forest health and vitality”. Information from indicators under the Criteria on “legal and institutional framework” and “socio-economic benefits and needs” is likely to be relevant for Programme Element 2.
Further systematic analyses of the information gathered in the different C&I processes (such as the parameters used, the reporting frequency) and the information needed to report on progress towards the implementation of the work programme could contribute to a more harmonized data collection and a reduction of the reporting burden of the countries.
A preliminary list of goals and objectives that could benefit from reporting by C&I processes is elaborated below. The list is by no means exhaustive, and only intends to point at a number of goals and objectives where synergy seems easy to achieve. Goals and objectives that are not mentioned could also benefit from information from C&I processes, but there other sources of information might be more relevant.
Programme element 1. Conservation, sustainable use and benefit sharing
This part of the work programme covers mainly factual and technical information on important aspects of conservation of forest biological diversity and sustainable use of forest resources. It seems to have many close and direct links to the C&I processes, but a further analyses of the reported results would be useful.
Goal 1.2. To reduce the threats and mitigate the impact of threatening processes on forest biological diversity.
For at least five of the six objectives useful information might become available from the reporting on C&I. These include information on the role and observed impacts of:
- Invasive species;
- Air pollution;
- Climate change;
- Forest fires;
- Losses caused by fragmentation and forest conversion.
Goal 1.3. To protect, recover and restore forest biological diversity
For all three of the objectives useful information might become available from the reporting on C&I:
- Restoration of forest biological diversity in degraded ecosystems and plantations;
- Conservation of endemic and threatened species;
- Ensure adequate and effective protected forest area networks.
Goal 1.4. To promote the sustainable use of forest biological diversity
This is a fairly broad field, covered by four objectives grouping a rather diverse array of activities:
- Promote the sustainable use of forest resources to enhance the conservation of forest biological diversity;
- Prevent losses caused by unsustainable harvesting of timber and non timber resources;
- Enable indigenous and local communities to develop and implement community management systems to conserve and sustainably use forest biological diversity;
- In situ and ex situ conservation of forest genetic diversity.
For the first two objectives information is most likely available in the C&I reporting. Regarding the specific genetic information needs, there might be some discrepancy between the information needs for the forestry sector and for conservation interests.
Programme element 2. Institutional and socio-economic enabling environment
The goals and objectives under this programme element are closely linked to the Criteria on “socio-economic benefits and needs” and “policy and institutional framework”, but the variation in the nature and content of the information suggests that the relationship is much more complicated than for the items mentioned under programme element 1. Some examples are cited hereafter, but it seems that further study of the possible interactions between the C&I processes, the national work on national forest programmes and National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAP’s), and the reporting requirements from CBD and UNFF, would be useful.
Goal 2.1. Enhance the institutional enabling environment
Three of the four objectives will probably be covered to some extent by information from the C&I processes:
- Understanding the causes of forest biodiversity loss;
- Development of good governance practices, review and implementation of forest laws, tenure and planning systems;
- Forest law enforcement and related trade.
Goal 2.2 Address socio-economic failures and distortions that lead to decisions that result in loss of forest biological diversity
The only objective under this goal might be covered to some extent by information from C&I processes:
- Mitigation of economic failures and distortions
Programme element 3. Knowledge assessment and monitoring
This part of the work programme is specifically directed to develop common strategies, from a global to a regional scale, to characterize, define and analyze the forest biological diversity, and to improve and make effective use of the existing information. It seems a field where collaboration between the regional C&I processes and CPF could contribute to the development of efficient indicators and parameters to measure the status of and trends in forest biological diversity.
Research results and reporting on practical experiences, for instance on the relations between SFM, forest biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, would be another source of relevant information for some of the goals mentioned under programme element 3, and it seems useful to further promote these activities.
Goal 3.1. Improve the assessment of status and trends of forest biological diversity
The relevant objective that is most likely to be covered in the C&I processes is:
- Develop, where appropriate, specific forest ecosystem surveys in priority areas for conservation and sustainable use of forest biodiversity.
Goal 3.2. Improve knowledge on and methods for the assessment of the status and trends of forest biological diversity
The only objective under this goal is directly related to C&I:
- Advance the development and implementation of international regional and national C&I based on key regional, sub-regional and national measures within the framework of SFM.
Terms and definitions, indicators and parameters
One of the main problems in both the formulation of work programmes and reporting on progress towards SFM or conservation of forest biological diversity is the appropriate use of many terms and definitions. The expert meeting on Harmonized Forest-related Definitions, organized by FAO21, has demonstrated that the terms and definitions used tend to vary in their interpretation. It is therefore important to ensure that common terms are indeed used in the same sense and with the same meaning.
Indicators and parameters used for reporting also need some consideration. All C&I processes have a component of (criterion on) forest biological diversity, and include indicators and parameters to describe the actual state and the changes. A question to consider is whether the available parameters and terms and definitions are adequate for reporting on the status of forest biological diversity, and to what extend these parameters are widely accepted.
Some specific technical issues include the threshold value to separate forest from other vegetation types? Is that 10 % canopy cover, a forest type based threshold, or a threshold of 30 % canopy cover? Another technical issue relevant for reporting on forest biological diversity is the characterization of different levels of “naturalness” or “ecological values” within forest types. Further collaboration between the C&I processes and CPF members could help to further improve indicators for forest biological diversity.
All C&I processes also have a component of social and cultural forest values. Several organizations and processes, such as the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), the International Timber Trade Organization (ITTO) and the process of the Ministerial Conference for the Protection of Forests in Europe (MCPFE), have contributed to the development of a set of effective, meaningful and cost effective indicators and parameters for measuring the range of social and cultural forest values. However, there is room for improvement in the actual information on the impact of forest management on these forest values, and the impact on the livelihood of local and indigenous communities.
Reporting, to whom and by whom
The reporting on the progress made in the sustainable management of the national forest areas will usually be carried out or coordinated by the national authority responsible for forests. However, the different components of sustainable forest management also relate directly to authorities responsible for land use, water management, conservation of biological diversity and economic development, and, when international reporting is required, authorities on foreign affairs. The variety of responsible organizations can generate a series of problems, due to gaps in information exchange between the organizations, different goals and interests, and to different terminology used.
When considering the links between the expanded programme of work on forest biological diversity and the Criteria and Indicator processes, it would be important to bridge the gap between the authorities and organizations responsible for the Convention on biological diversity (often the Ministry of Environment or the Ministry of Foreign affairs) and the authorities and organizations responsible for forest management (often the Ministry of Natural Resources or the Ministry of Agriculture). Bridging these gaps could be an important step forward to a cross-sectoral approach of the challenges in sustainable forest management and maintenance of forest biological diversity.
Conclusion
From the foregoing preliminary analyses it seems that the regional criteria and indicator processes could provide useful information on the progress in implementation of the expanded programme of work on forest biological diversity. They seem to provide a useful integration level between the much more detailed and specific information at the country level and the more general aggregated information at international level.
The reporting of the different C&I processes could therefore, in theory, contribute to harmonized data collection and help to fulfill the international reporting obligations. But the difference between the information needs (process information on implementation of agreements, or practical information on forest characteristics), the timing of the information supply and last but not least the common understanding of the terms and definitions used are often an important barrier to use the available information to the maximum extent possible.
The efforts of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) to increase the harmonization in forest related reporting contribute to reduce these barriers.
(According to the Handbook of the Convention on Biological Diversity)
In undertaking this expanded programme of work, Parties, Governments, international and regional organizations and processes, civil society organizations and other relevant bodies and all relevant implementers are invited to take into account the following considerations:
a. The need to focus on key priorities for sustainable use of forest resources and the equitable sharing of benefits;
b. The need to facilitate adequate participation of indigenous and local communities and the need to respect their rights and interests;
c. The need for urgent conservation action for forests that are ecologically significant and/or most important for biological diversity on national and regional scales, in accordance with national priorities, where forest biodiversity loss or threats of loss are significant or of great concern, but also to work to enhance conservation in all types of forests, both within and outside protected areas;
d. The need to achieve synergies and avoid duplications between the work of the key international instruments and bodies, such as the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the other members of the Collaborative Partnership on
e. Forests;
f. The need to ensure capacity-building and the provision of adequate financial, human and technical resources to allow implementation of the work programme by all relevant stakeholders;
g. The need to ensure that relevant activities be effectively incorporated into national and sub national forest and biological diversity strategies and programmes;
h. The need for clarification of the links between the ecosystem approach and sustainable forest management.
Programme element 1: Conservation, sustainable use and benefit-sharing
Goal 1.1: To apply the ecosystem approach to the management of all types of forests
Objective 1.1.1: Develop practical methods, guidelines, indicators and strategies to apply the ecosystem approach adapted to regional differences to forests both inside and outside protected forest areas as well as both in managed and unmanaged forests.
Activities:
a. Clarify the conceptual basis of the ecosystem approach in relation to sustainable forest management.
b. Develop guidance for applying the ecosystem approach in forest ecosystems.
c. Identify key structural and functional ecosystem elements to be used as indicators for decision-making and develop decision–support tools on a hierarchy of scales.
d. Develop and implement guidance to help the selection of suitable forest management practices for specific forest ecosystems.
e. Develop and implement appropriate mechanisms for the participation of all stakeholders in ecosystem-level planning and management.
f. Develop an informal international network of forest areas for piloting and demonstrating the ecosystem approach and exchange related information through the clearing-house mechanism.
g. Hold workshops to train and familiarize decision makers and managers with the foundations, principles and modalities of the ecosystem approach.
h. Promote research and pilot projects to develop understanding of the functional linkages between forest biological diversity and agriculture with the aim to developing practices that could improve the relations between forest management and other land use methods. Promote assessment of functional linkages between mining, infrastructures and other development projects and forest biodiversity, and develop best practice, guidelines for such development projects to mitigate adverse impacts on forest biodiversity.
i. Promote activities that minimize the negative impacts of forest fragmentation on forest biodiversity, including afforestation, forest restoration, secondary forest and plantation management, and agroforestry, watershed management and land use planning aimed at providing a combination of economic and environmental goods and services to stakeholders.
Goal 1.2: To reduce the threats and mitigate the impacts of threatening processes on forest biological diversity
Objective 1.2: Prevent the introduction of invasive alien species that threaten ecosystems, and mitigate their negative impacts on forest biological diversity in accordance with international law.
Activities:
a. Reinforce, develop and implement strategies at regional and national level to prevent and mitigate the impacts of invasive alien species that threaten ecosystems, including risk assessment, strengthening of quarantine regulation, and containment or
b. Eradication programmes taking into account the guiding principles on invasive alien species if adopted at the sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties.
c. Improve the knowledge of the impacts of invasive alien species on forest ecosystems and adjacent ecosystems.
Objective 1.2.2: Mitigate the impact of pollution such as acidification and eutrophication on forest biodiversity.
Activities
a. Increase the understanding of the impact of pollution, e.g., acidification and eutrophication, and other pollutants (such as mercury and cyanide) on forest biodiversity; at genetic, species, ecosystem and landscape levels.
b. Support monitoring programmes that help evaluate the impacts of air, soil and water pollution on forest ecosystems, and address the impacts of changing environmental conditions on forest ecosystems.
c. Encourage the integration of forest biodiversity consideration into strategies and policies to reduce pollution.
d. To promote the reduction of pollution levels that adversely affect forest biodiversity and encourage forest management techniques that reduce the impacts of changing environmental conditions on forest ecosystems.
Objective 1.2.3: Mitigate the negative impacts of climate change on forest biodiversity.
Activities
Taking into account the work of the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group on Climate Change and Biodiversity:
a. Promote monitoring and research on the impacts of climate change on forest biological diversity and investigate the interface between forest components and the atmosphere;
b. Develop coordinated response strategies and action plans at global, regional and national levels;
c. Promote the maintenance and restoration of biodiversity in forests in order to enhance their capacity to resist to, and recover from and adapt to climate change;
d. Promote forest biodiversity conservation and restoration in climate change mitigation and adaptation measures;
e. Assess how the conservation and sustainable use of forest biological diversity can contribute to the international work relating to climate change.
Objective 1.2: To prevent and mitigate the adverse effects of forest fires and fire suppression.
Activities
a. Identify policies, practices and measures aimed at addressing the causes and reducing impacts on forest biological diversity resulting from human-induced uncontrolled/unwanted fires, often associated with land clearing and other land use activities.
b. Promote understanding of the role of human-induced fires on forest ecosystems and on species, and of the underlying causes.
c. Develop and promote the use of fire management tools for maintaining and enhancing forest biological diversity, especially when there has been a shift in fire regimes.
d. To promote practices of fire prevention and control to mitigate the impacts of unwanted fires on forest biological diversity.
e. Promote development of systems for risk assessment and early warning, monitoring and control, and enhance capacity for prevention and post-fire forest biodiversity restoration at the community, national and regional levels
f. To advise on fire-risk prediction systems, surveillance, public education and other methods to minimize human-induced uncontrolled/unwanted fires.
g. Develop strategies to avoid the negative effects of sectoral programmes and policies which could induce uncontrolled forest fires.
h. Develop prevention plans against devastating fires and integrate them into national plans targeting the biological diversity of forests.
i. Develop mechanisms, including early warning systems, for exchange of information related to the causes of forest biodiversity loss, including fires, pests and diseases, and invasive species.
Objective 1.2.5: To mitigate effects of the loss of natural disturbances necessary to maintain biodiversity in regions where these no longer occur.
Activities
a. Develop and promote management methods that restore or mimic natural disturbances such as fire, wind-throw and floods.
Objective 1.2.6: To prevent and mitigate losses due to fragmentation and conversion to other land uses.
Activities
a. Encourage the creation of private reserves and private conservation methods where appropriate, respecting the rights and interests of indigenous and local communities.
b. Establish ecological corridors on a national and regional basis.
c. Promote cost-benefit analysis of development projects that might lead to the conversion of forest into other land uses incorporating the impacts on forest biological diversity.
d. Implement policies, practices and measures aimed at addressing the causes and reducing impacts on forest biological diversity resulting from human-induced uncontrolled clearing or other uncontrolled land-use activities
Goal 1.3: To protect, recover and restore forest biological diversity
Objective 1.3.1: Restore forest biological diversity in degraded secondary forests and in forests established on former forestlands and other landscapes, including in plantations.
Activities
a. Promote the implementation of systems and practices for restoration in accordance with the ecosystem approach
b. Promote restoration of forest biological diversity with the aim to restore ecosystem services.
c. Create and improve where appropriate international, regional and national databases and case-studies on the status of degraded forests, deforested, restored and afforested lands.
Objective 1.3.2 Promote forest management practices that further the conservation of endemic and threatened species.
Activities
a. Determine status and conservation needs of endemic or threatened species and the impacts of current forest management practices on these species.
b. Develop and implement conservation strategies for endemic and threatened species for global or regional application, and practical systems of adaptive management at national level.
Objective 1.2.3’: Ensure adequate and effective protected forest area networks.
Activities
a. Assess the comprehensiveness, representativeness and adequacy of protected areas relative to forest types and identify gaps and weaknesses.
b. Establish (in accordance with Article 8(j)) with the full participation and with respect for the rights of indigenous and local communities, and other relevant stakeholders, comprehensive, adequate, biologically and geographically representative and effective networks of protected areas.
c. Establish, in a similar manner, restoration areas to complement the network of protected areas where needed.
d. Revise in a similar manner and ensure the comprehensiveness, adequacy, representativeness and efficacy of existing protected area networks.
e. Assess the efficacy of protected forest areas for the conservation of biological diversity.
f. Ensure that relevant protected areas are managed to maintain and enhance their forest biodiversity components, services and values;
Goal 1.4: To promote the sustainable use of forest biological diversity
Objective 1.4.1: Promote sustainable use of forest resources to enhance the conservation of forest biological diversity
Activities
a. Support activities of indigenous and local communities involving the use of traditional forest-related knowledge in biodiversity management.
b. Develop, support and promote programmes and initiatives that address the sustainable use of timber and non-timber forest products.
c. Support regional cooperation and work on sustainable use of timber and non-timber forest products and services, including through technology transfer and capacity-building within and between regions.
d. Improve forest management and planning practices that incorporate socio-economic and cultural values to support and facilitate sustainable use.
e. Promote cooperative work on the sustainable use of forest products and services and its relation to biodiversity conservation with the other members of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests.
f. Encourage implementation of voluntary third-party credible forest certification schemes that take into consideration relevant forest biodiversity criteria and that would be audited, taking into consideration indigenous and local community rights and interests.
g. Set up demonstration sites that would illustrate forest conservation and on-ground delivery of goods and services through sustainable forest management, which are also representative of various types of forest, themes and regional needs, through case-studies.
h. Facilitate and support a responsible private sector committed to sustainable harvesting practices and compliance with domestic laws through effective development and enforcement of laws on sustainable harvesting of timber and non-timber resources.
Objective 1.4.2: Prevent losses caused by unsustainable harvesting of timber and non-timber forest resources.
Activities
a. Establish a liaison group with an associated workshop to facilitate development of a joint work plan with relevant members of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests to bring harvesting of non-timber forest products (NTFPs), with a particular focus on bush meat, to sustainable levels. This group should have a proportionate regional representation, giving special consideration to subregions where bush meat is a major issue and representation of relevant organizations such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. The mandate of this group is to:
i. Consult in a participatory manner with key stakeholders to identify and prioritize major issues pertaining the unsustainable harvesting of nontimber forest products, particularly of bush meat and related products;
ii. Provide advice on the development of policies, enabling legislation and strategies that promote sustainable use of, and trade in, non-timber forest products, particularly bush meat and related products;
iii. Provide advice on appropriate alternative sustainable livelihood technologies and practices for the affected communities;
iv. Provide advice on appropriate monitoring tools.
b. Promote projects and activities that encourage the use and supply of alternative sources of energy to prevent forest degradation due to the use of firewood by local communities.
c. Develop any necessary legislation for the sustainable management and harvesting of non-timber forest resources.
d. Solicit input from Parties, other countries and relevant organizations on ways and means to encourage and assist importing countries to prevent the entry of unsustainably harvested forest resources, which are not covered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, and consider this information as a basis for further steps on this issue.
Objective 1.4.3: Enable indigenous and local communities to develop and implement adaptive community-management systems to conserve and sustainably use forest biological diversity.
Activities
a. Taking into account the outcome of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Inter-Sessional Working Group on Article 8(j) and Related Provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity:
b. Strengthen the capacity of, and provide incentives for, indigenous and local communities to generate opportunities for sustainable use of forest biodiversity and for access to markets;
c. Strengthen the capacity of indigenous and local communities to resolve land rights and land use disputes in order to sustainably manage forest biodiversity;
d. Encourage the conservation and sustainable use of forest biological diversity by indigenous and local communities through their development of adaptive management practices, using as appropriate traditional forest-related knowledge;
e. Provide incentives for the maintenance of cultural diversity as an instrument to enhance forest biological diversity;
f. Develop and implement education and awareness programmes on traditional uses of forest biological diversity in accordance with Article 8(j);
g. Create an environment that fosters respect, and stimulates, preserves and maintains traditional knowledge related to forest biological diversity, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities.
Objective 1.4.4: Develop effective and equitable information systems and strategies and promote implementation of those strategies for in situ and ex situ conservation and sustainable use of forest genetic diversity, and support countries in their implementation and monitoring.
Activities
a. Develop, harmonize and assess the diversity of forest genetic resources, taking into consideration the identification of key functional/keystone species populations, model species and genetic variability at the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) level.
b. Select, at a national level, the most threatened forest ecosystems based on the genetic diversity of their priority species and populations and develop an appropriate action plan in order to protect the genetic resources of the most threatened forest ecosystems.
c. Improve understanding of patterns of genetic diversity and its conservation in situ, in relation to forest management, landscape-scale forest change and climate variations.
d. Provide guidance for countries to assess the state of their forest genetic resources, and to develop and evaluate strategies for their conservation, both in situ and ex situ.
e. Develop national legislative, administrative policy measures on access and benefit-sharing on forest genetic resources, taking into account the provisions under Articles 8(j), 10(c), 15, 16 and 19 of the Convention on Biological Diversity and in conformity with future decisions of the Conference of the Parties, as appropriate.
f. Monitor developments in new biotechnologies and ensure their applications are compatible with the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity with respect to forest biological diversity, and develop and enforce regulations for controlling the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) when appropriate.
g. Develop a holistic framework for the conservation and management of forest genetic resources at national, subregional and global levels.
h. Implement activities to ensure adequate and representative in situ conservation of the genetic diversity of endangered, overexploited and narrow endemic forest species and complement the in situ conservation with adequate ex situ conservation of the genetic diversity of endangered, overexploited and narrow endemic species and species of economic potential.
Goal 1.5: Access and benefit-sharing of forest genetic resources
Objective 1.5.1: Promote the fair and equitable sharing of benefits resulting from the utilization of forest genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge.
Activities
Based on the Bonn Guidelines on Access to Genetic Resources and Fair and Equitable Sharing of the Benefits Arising out of their Utilization, as adopted by the Conference of the Parties at its sixth meeting:
1. Establish mechanisms to facilitate the sharing of benefits at local, national, regional and global levels.
2. Strengthen capacity of indigenous and local communities to negotiate benefit sharing arrangements.
3. Promote dissemination of information about benefit-sharing experiences through the clearing-house mechanism and appropriate means at the local level.
Programme element 2: Institutional and socio-economic enabling environment
Goal 2.1: Enhance the institutional enabling environment.
Objective 2.1.1: Improve the understanding of the various causes of forest biological diversity losses
Activities
a. Each Party to carry out, in a transparent and participatory way, thorough analysis of local, regional, national and global direct and underlying causes of losses of forest biological diversity. A distinction should be made between broad socio-economic causes such as demographic growth and more specific causes such as institutional weaknesses and market or policy failures.
b. Each Party on the basis of the above analysis to implement their recommendations.
c. Parties to report through the clearing-house mechanism of the Secretariat on successful experiences involving control and mitigation of the underlying causes of deforestation, which would make it possible to understand lessons learned.
Objective 2.1.2: Parties, Governments and organizations to integrate biological diversity conservation and sustainable use into forest and other sector policies and programmes.
Activities:
a. Parties to formulate appropriate policies and adopt sets of priority targets for forest biological diversity to be integrated into national forest programmes, national sustainable development strategies, poverty reduction strategy papers, related non forest programmes and national biological diversity strategies and action plans. Ensure that there is coherence and direct interaction between the different programmes.
b. Seek ways of streamlining reporting between the different forest-related processes, in order to improve the understanding of forest quality change and improve consistency in reporting on sustainable forest management.
c. Develop a set of indicators that might be used in assessing progress in implementing the national biodiversity strategies and action plans and relevant work programmes;
d. Donor bodies and other financial institutions to incorporate forest biological diversity and sustainable use principles and targets into forest and related programmes, including watershed management, land-use planning, energy, transport, infrastructure development, education and agriculture, mineral exploitation, and tourism.
e. Seek to harmonize policies at regional and subregional levels in the area of forest biological diversity.
f. Develop strategies for effective enforcement of sustainable forest management and protected area regulations, including adequate resourcing and involvement of indigenous and local communities.
g. Parties and donor bodies to develop and implement, strategies, in particular national financing strategies in the framework of national biodiversity strategies and action plans and national forest programmes, and provide adequate financial, human and technical resources.
h. Encourage the Executive Secretary to coordinate and seek synergies between Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Forum on Forests and the members of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests, including establishment of memoranda of understanding, as appropriate, between the Convention on Biological Diversity and the other members of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests, and recommend such an memorandum of understanding with the International Tropical Timber Organization and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change as a first step.
i. Increase emphasis on capacity-building, research and training, public education and awareness, access to and transfer of information and technology, technical and scientific cooperation, with focus on capacities required to address forest biodiversity related issues.
Objective 2.1.3: Parties and Governments to develop good governance practices, review and revise and implement forest and forest-related laws, tenure and planning systems, to provide a sound basis for conservation and sustainable use of forest biological diversity.
Activities
a. Develop appropriate measures and regulations to secure a permanent forest area sufficient to allow for the conservation and sustainable use of forest biological diversity.
b. Seek to resolve land tenure and resource rights and responsibility, in consultation with all relevant stakeholders including for indigenous and local communities, in order to promote the conservation and sustainable use of forest biodiversity.
c. Encourage Parties and countries to ensure that forest and forest-related laws adequately and equitably incorporate the provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the decisions of the Conference of the Parties.
d. Implement effective measures to protect traditional knowledge and values in forest laws and planning tools.
e. Develop legislation, administrative or policy measures on access and benefit sharing for forest genetic resources, taking into account the draft Bonn Guidelines on Access to Genetic Resources and Fair and Equitable Sharing of the Benefits Arising out of their Utilization.
f. Invite Parties, Governments and other relevant organizations to submit case-studies and research on the role of performance bonds in forest concessions, in the conservation and sustainable use of forest biological diversity; and request the Secretariat to make these available.
g. Parties, Governments and relevant stakeholders to develop mechanisms and processes to work toward good governance to promote conservation and sustainable use of forest biological diversity.
h. Develop and apply environmental and socio-economic impact assessment methods as appropriate prior to land-conversion decisions.
Objective 2.1.4: Promote forest law enforcement and address related trade
Activities
a. Invite Parties, Governments and relevant organizations to provide information on a voluntary basis to enable a better comprehension of the effects of unsustainable harvesting, exploitation of other forest resources and associated trade, as well as on the underlying causes, on forest biological diversity. On the basis of dissemination of this information countries may decide to take relevant measures such as enforcement actions.
b. Evaluate and reform, as required, legislation to include clear definition of illegal activities and to establish effective deterrents.
c. Develop methods and build capacity for effective law enforcement.
d. Develop codes of conduct for sustainable forest practices in logging companies and the wood-processing sector to improve biodiversity conservation.
e. Encourage and support the development and implementation of tracking and chain-of-custody systems for forest products to seek to ensure that these products are legally harvested.
f. Invite Governments and relevant organizations to develop and forward to the Secretariat case-studies and research on the impacts of unsustainable timber and non-timber harvesting and related trade.
Goal 2.2: Address socio-economic failures and distortions that lead to decisions that result in loss of forest biological diversity.
Objective 2.2.1: Mitigate the economic failures and distortions that lead to decisions that result in loss of forest biological diversity.
Activities
a. Develop mechanisms to ensure that monetary and non-monetary costs and benefits of forest biodiversity management are equitably shared between stakeholders at all levels.
b. Develop, test and disseminate methods for valuing forest biological diversity and other forest ecosystem goods and services and for incorporating these values into forest planning and management, including through stakeholder analysis and mechanisms for transferring costs and benefits.
c. Incorporate forest biological diversity and other forest values into national accounting systems and seek to estimate such figures for subsistence economies.
d. Elaborate and implement economic incentives promoting forest biological diversity conservation and sustainable use.
e. Eliminate or reform perverse incentives, in particular subsidies that result in favoring unsustainable use or loss of forest biological diversity.
f. Provide market and other incentives for the use of sustainable practices, develop alternative sustainable income generation programmes and facilitate self-sufficiency programmes of indigenous and local communities.
g. Develop and disseminate analyses of the compatibility of current and predicted production and consumption patterns with respect to the limits of forest ecosystem functions and production.
h. Seek to promote national laws and policies and international trade regulations are compatible with conservation and sustainable use of forest biological diversity.
i. Increase knowledge on monetary and non-monetary cost-benefit accounting for forest biodiversity evaluation.
Goal 2.3: Increase public education, participation, and awareness.
Objective 2.3.1: Increase public support and understanding of the value of forest biological diversity and its goods and services at all levels.
Activities
a. Increase broad-based awareness of the value of forest biological diversity through international, national and local public awareness campaigns.
b. Promote consumer awareness about sustainably produced forest products.
c. Increase awareness amongst all stakeholders of the potential contribution of traditional forest-related knowledge to conservation and sustainable use of forest biological diversity.
d. Develop awareness of the impact of forest-related production and consumption patterns on the loss of forest biological diversity and the goods and services it provides.
e. Increase awareness of the value of forest biological diversity amongst public authorities and decision makers through specific information and training actions.
f. Implement effective measures to recognize, respect, protect and maintain traditional forest-related knowledge and values in forest-related laws and forest planning tools, in accordance with Article 8(j) and related provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
g. Develop awareness of the value of forest biological diversity among forestry workers, owners of forest land, logging contractors, and consulting firms.
Programme element 3: Knowledge, assessment and monitoring
Goal 3.1: To characterize and to analyze from forest ecosystem to global scale and develop general classification of forests on various scales in order to improve the assessment of status and trends of forest biological diversity.
Objective 3.1.1: Review and adopt a harmonized global to regional forest classification system, based on harmonized and accepted forest definitions and addressing key forest biological diversity elements.
Activities
a. Review and adopt a minimum forest classification for forest types, compatible with remote sensing technologies, that includes broad indicators of biodiversity that can be taken into account in all international and regional forest-related programmes, plans and activities.
b. Adapt frequency of forest resource inventory at regional and global scales, where resources permit, preferably at least to every ten years.
c. Review and contribute (from the biodiversity point of view) to standard forest definitions in cooperation with the United Nations Forum on Forests and the Collaborative Partnership on Forests to be used in global and regional reporting to the scale of forest types.
Objective 3.1.2: Develop national forest classification systems and maps (using agreed international standards and protocols to enable regional and global synthesis).
Activities
a. Review existing national forest ecosystem classification systems and maps.
b. Develop and apply national forest ecosystem classification systems and maps that include key components of forest biological diversity to be used in assessment reports on forest types including socio-economic and cultural aspects.
c. Use adapted technology, for example geographic information system, to develop a baseline for assessing levels of deforestation and impacts on biodiversity.
Objective 3.1.3: To develop, where appropriate, specific forest ecosystems surveys in priority areas for conservation and sustainable use of forest biodiversity.
Activities
a. To identify and prioritize relevant areas to carry out these surveys.
Goal 3.2: Improve knowledge on and methods for the assessment of the status and trends of forest biological diversity, based on available information.
Objective 3.2.1: Advance the development and implementation of international, regional and national criteria and indicators based on key regional, subregional and national measures within the framework of sustainable forest management.
Activities
a. Advance the development and implementation of international, regional and national criteria and indicators based on key measures within the framework of sustainable forest management.
b. Develop and select international, regional and national criteria and where appropriate quantifiable, indicators for forest biological diversity, taking into account, as appropriate, existing work and processes on criteria and indicators on sustainable forest management, as well as the knowledge held by indigenous and local communities. Such criteria and indicators should be used for assessment reporting at least 10-year intervals.
Goal 3.3: Improve understanding of the role of forest biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
Objective 3.3.1: Conduct key research programmes on the role of forest biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
Activities
a. Develop and support focused research to improve understanding of the relationship between forest biological diversity and ecosystem functioning, taking into account forest ecosystem components, structure, functions and processes to improve predictive capability.
b. Develop and support research to understand critical thresholds of forest biological diversity loss and change, paying particular attention to endemic and threatened species and habitats including forest canopies.
c. Develop and apply forest ecosystem restoration techniques to address biodiversity loss at the ecosystem level.
d. Develop and support research on impact of current forest management practices for forest biodiversity within forests and on adjacent land.
Goal 3.4: Improve the infrastructure for data and information management for accurate assessment and monitoring of global forest biological diversity.
Objective 3.4.1: Enhance and improve the technical capacity at the national level to monitor forest biological diversity, benefiting from the opportunities offered through the clearing-house mechanism, and to develop associated databases as required on a global scale.
Activities
a. Develop and implement a strategy and a plan of action and facilitate transfer of technology to provide infrastructure and training in developing countries, in order to monitor forest biological diversity and develop associated databases.
19 Voluntary paper made available to participants of the Expert Consultation On criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management (Cebu City, Philippines; March 2004). It was handed out for information only and was not presented nor disucced during the event.
20 International Conference on the Contribution of Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management, Guatemala City, 3-7 February 2003, hosted by the National Forest Service of Guatemala, supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) and the governments of Finland and the United States of America.
21 Proceedings second expert meeting on harmonizing forest-related definitions for use by various stakeholders, FAO, Rome, 2002.
