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Commonwealth
Forests | | |
 Some recent Commonwealth initiatives in sustainable forest management
There are two important Commonwealth-led global initiatives in forest management: the
Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and Development, and the
Canadian Model Forest Program. The Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest
Conservation and Development is located in Guyana and is supported by the Commonwealth.
It originated in an offer in 1989 – a time of intense global debate on tropical rain forests - by the
then President of Guyana to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in
Malaysia. An Agreement, made at the CHOGM of 1995, defined the objectives, functions, and
organisation of Iwokrama, and this Agreement formed part of the enabling legislation which
was subsequently passed by the Guyanese Parliament in 1996.
The Centre, described as a model partnership of traditional knowledge, science and business,
is an autonomous non-profit institution. It manages the Iwokrama Forest of nearly 371,000
hectares in central Guyana with the aim of demonstrating how tropical forests can be
conserved and sustainably used to provide ecological, social and economic benefits to local,
national and international communities. Its mission statement is:
Promoting the conservation and the sustainable and equitable use of tropical rain forests
in a
manner that leads to lasting ecological, economic, and social benefits to the people of
Guyana and to the world in general, by undertaking research, training, and the development
and dissemination of technologies.
There are three core programmes – Human Development; Conservation and Use of Forests
and Biodiversity, (or forest management); and the recently added Business Development - and
three crosscutting support programmes: Research, Monitoring and Evaluation; Information and
Communications; and Stakeholder Processes and Governance. In order to implement the
programmes the Centre follows collaborative and cooperative approaches with a wide range of
local, national and international organisations, and promotes participation by local
communities and other stakeholders in management and all research and development
programmes. It aims to use indigenous knowledge and practices in the development of
sustainable management systems; to promote human resource and institutional development
for capacity building; to offer education and training; and to make contributions to national and
forest policy development, in Guyana, and globally. In 2003, however, a significant reduction
in
donor funding forced considerable cost-cutting and led to a modification of Iwokrama’s
programmes better to achieve the mission, with a move from being a pioneer programme to
becoming an established experimental business institution that provides practical
demonstrations of financially viable sustainable forest management. A business development
plan (2005-10) has been prepared with the aim of becoming a self-sustaining enterprise
through environmentally-friendly and socially responsible niche markets for market-driven
products and services (such as eco-tourism), as well as a base of private charitable support;
Iwokrama offers a model of forest governance and management which has been widely
recognised. It achievements include:
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Increased understanding of the options for sustainable forest business, including
agreements on international property rights and benefit sharing. A study of the carbon
sequestration potential of Guyana’s forests was carried out – which suggests that this
potential benefit may be less than had been thought. Studies on reduced-impact logging
and on market feasibility for timber and non-timber products have been made and
certification of the outputs from the forest will begin in 2007.
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Systems and institutional capacity have been developed for collaboration with local people.
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Partnerships have been established for natural resource management with a wide range of
agencies,
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NGOs and institutions at national and international levels.
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The ecosystems of Iwokrama itself are better understood through research, including the
documenting of local knowledge.
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Forest stakeholder capacities and skills have been raised.
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Public outreach programmes have been developed.
A description of the work of the Iwokrama Centre is available o n http://www.iwokrama.org
while detailed information on some of its programmes was included in the CFA Newsletter no.
34, of September 2006.
The second initiative in forest management of global significance is Canada’s Model Forest
Program, which was launched in 1992. It emphasises the importance of engaging people with
a direct interest in the forest in all aspects of forest management. A Model Forest is both a
geographic area and a specific partnership-based approach to SFM according to the website.
There are three basic elements underlying the program: relevance to local values and needs;
diverse and dynamic partnerships; and sustainable forest management. Science and
technology support decision-making, along with education in the theory and practice of
sustainable management. There are 11 Model Forests in Canada covering 19.8 M ha, (see
http://www.modelforest.net ).
The Canadian Government announced at UNCED in 1992 the formation of the International
Model Forest Network (IMFN), with the following goal: To support, through Model Forests, the
management of the world’s forest resources in a sustainable manner, reflecting environmental
and socio-economic issues from the perspective of local needs and global concerns. The
IMFN now comprises 21 sites in 14 countries other than Canada, covering 8 M ha (see
http://www.imfn.net ). A further 8 countries, including India, are exploring the possibility of
joining. Networking and learning from one another has been fundamental to the success of the
Program.
CIDA has supported the IMFN with over CDN$3 M to date, while the International Development
Research Centre (IDRC) has supported the Secretariat with over CDN$2.5 M, and benefits in
kind.
Some common features of the approaches in JFM, model forests and Iwokrama:
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Participation by local and other stakeholders is essential;
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Capacity-building is required for effective stakeholder involvement;
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Research is needed to develop models of sustainable management, but traditional
knowledge may be as important as science;
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There has to be acceptance of the need for management by both the people and the
government;
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Policy and administrative reforms are required, with reorientation of the attitudes of the
staff of the forest service.
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