FO:NEFC/02/8  |
| FO:NEFC/02/8 |
NEAR EAST FORESTRY COMMISSION |
Item 9 of the Provisional Agenda |
FIFTEENTH SESSION |
Khartoum, Republic of the Sudan, |
FORESTRY OUTLOOK STUDY FOR AFRICA: PROGRESS OF IMPLEMENTATION AND FOLLOW UP ACTION |
SECRETARIAT NOTE |
1. A brief account of the Forestry Outlook Study for Africa (FOSA) was provided to the Commission during its Fourteenth Session held at Teheran, Islamic Republic of, from 1 to 4 July 2000. This note outlines the process of the study, the progress of various activities and the follow up measures to mainstream the findings at the national level. Information notes highlighting the findings and the draft FOSA reports are provided separately.
Objectives
2. The objectives of the FOSA are: to analyse the status, trends and driving forces shaping African forestry; to outline the overall direction of developments up to the year 2020 focusing on the emerging opportunities and constraints; and to indicate the strategies that could help to enhance the contribution of forestry to sustainable development. By providing a long term view taking into account the intersectoral linkages, it is hoped that FOSA will form an important tool to strengthen national forests programmes (nfps).
Geographical coverage and outputs
3. FOSA is a continent-wide study covering all the 53 African countries, including Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Tunisia, who are members of the Near East Forestry Commission. In view of the wide ecological, economic and socio-political divergences in Africa, a sub-regional approach has been adopted, dividing Africa into five sub-regions and assessing the future prospects of forestry for each of the sub-regions separately. Egypt, Libya, Sudan and Tunisia are included in the North Africa Sub-region, while Ethiopia and Somalia are included in the East Africa Sub-region.
4. In addition to producing one sub-regional outlook report focusing on the potentials of the countries in each of the sub-regions, FOSA will also produce a regional overview report assessing linkages between the sub-regions and countries in the context of an increasing economic integration in Africa. The regional report will also attempt to place African forestry in the global context taking into account the impact of globalisation and the changing perceptions on the role of forests in producing goods and services.
FOSA as a partnership initiative
5. FOSA is a process involving the countries, regional and sub-regional organizations, and experts from Africa and international organizations. All African countries are participating in the process with country inputs channelled through a focal point nominated by the governments. The European Union and the African Development Bank are the key partners to FAO in co-ordinating the process. Major sub-regional organizations, including Union du Maghreb Arabe (UMA) and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) are involved in the process. Strong technical collaboration has been established with the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). Efforts have also been made to involve non-governmental organizations and the private sector. All these are aimed to make the best use of the varied strengths of the key players in forestry in Africa and the different sub-regions.
6. The FOSA process relies entirely on the expertise available in the African countries. At the country level, the outlook paper is prepared based on inputs from a working group involving important stakeholders. The sub-regional reports are developed by African consultants from each sub-region who have long experience in forestry and related issues. Technical guidance to the process is provided through an Expert Advisory Group (EAG) consisting of well-known experts in forestry and other related areas from Africa.
Consultative process
7. FOSA is a structured process involving regular consultations and interaction with important stakeholders. An initial round of sub-regional planning meetings included a North Africa session held at Hammamet, Tunisia in November 1999 and an East Africa meeting convened in Addis Ababa, Ehtiopia, in April 2000. These meetings provided the framework of FOSA implementation and, more particularly, agreed on the modalities of preparing the country outlook papers. A second round of sub-regional meetings reviewed the country outlook papers and developed a structure for the regional and sub-regional reports. North Africa experts met in Tunis-Carthage, Tunisia, in October 2000 and experts from East Africa convened in Nairobi, Kenya, in November 2000. The most recent consultation with key partners was held at Addis Ababa during September 2001 to subject the draft regional and sub-regional reports for detailed technical scrutiny.
Inputs for FOSA
8. The main outputs of FOSA, namely the five sub-regional reports and the regional report, are based on inputs from all the key FOSA partners. The EC-FAO Cooperative Programme "Data collection and analysis for sustainable foret management in ACP countries" has provided valuable information on several areas relevant to FOSA. Undoubtedly, the most important input has been the 45 country papers outlining the country level forestry situation and future outlook. The African Development Bank , through the support from the Swedish Trust Fund, prepared a baseline study "Population, Incomes and Forest Resources in Africa" as also two sub-regional thematic papers focusing on change drivers and forestry situation for each of the five sub-regions. The World Bank prepared a thematic paper "Forestry institutional issues", focusing on aspects such as decentralisation, privatisation, community-based management and corruption. A questionnaire survey was conducted helping to capture the views of a wider section of civil society. All these inputs along with a wealth of information from a variety of sources including ECA, FAO, UNEP, CIFOR, etc. have formed the basis for preparation of the regional and sub-regional reports.
9. FOSA is moving through its final stages of refining the draft sub-regional and regional reports. As indicated in para 7, critical technical consultations have been completed. Special emphasis has been given to ensuring the active involvement of the countries and the experts from Africa. The draft reports were subjected to a detailed technical review in a regional meeting held in Addis Ababa, during September 2001. These comments served as a basis for revised drafts reviewed closely by the FOSA Expert Advisory Group in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, during November 2001. After in-house review and editing, these draft reports are being presented to the Near East Forestry Commission and the African Forestry and Wildlife Commission (AFWC) for comments and endorsement.
10. An information note outlining the main findings of the draft regional and the sub-regional reports is being made available separately. These will specifically deal with the current situation in forestry, the main driving forces, future scenarios and the options available to enhance the role of forests and trees in contributing to sustainable development.
11. The Commission may wish to review the process and the key findings of FOSA and recommend measures for: