Ngo Influence On Forest Legislation

In the last two decades, a concern on how federal forests in the United States are managed has provoked concerns among different stakeholders, including NGOs. The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the understanding of NGO influence on forest management legislation. Eight aspects were selected and compared in different study cases referring to legislative proposals dealing with forest management in order to define success criteria for a legislative initiative. The study indicates that the following criteria are particularly important to fulfill in order to influence forest management legislation: - The issue to address should be on the political agenda and have high public interest. - Environmental and social aspects should not be at the expense of economic aspects. - The legislative initiative should be prepared in multi-stakeholder processes, including local government and organizations. - The supporters of the initiative should take part in all decision-making processes and advise the Government in aspects related to their areas of expertise. NGOs would likely improve their chances of influencing forest management legislation if they hold a flexible position regarding legislative proposals containing similar or even less strict measures than their own initiatives, look at market oriented schemes as alternatives to legislation, and maintain good relationships with other major stakeholders.

In the last two decades, a concern on how federal forests in the United States are managed has provoked concerns among different stakeholders, including NGOs. The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the understanding of NGO influence on forest management legislation. Eight aspects were selected and compared in different study cases referring to legislative proposals dealing with forest management in order to define success criteria for a legislative initiative. The study indicates that the following criteria are particularly important to fulfill in order to influence forest management legislation:- The issue to address should be on the political agenda and have high public interest.- Environmental and social aspects should not be at the expense of economic aspects.- The legislative initiative should be prepared in multi-stakeholder processes, including local government and organizations.- The supporters of the initiative should take part in all decision-making processes and advise the Government in aspects related to their areas of expertise.NGOs would likely improve their chances of influencing forest management legislation if they hold a flexible position regarding legislative proposals containing similar or even less strict measures than their own initiatives, look at market oriented schemes as alternatives to legislation, and maintain good relationships with other major stakeholders.

Since its original publication by the International Institute for Environment and Development in 1999, Policy That Works for Forests and People has been recognised as the most authoritative study to date of policy processes that affect forests and people. Providing a thorough analysis of the issues, options and factors that determine different outcomes and bolstered by a major annex containing tools and tactics, the book offers clear and practical advice on how to formulate, manage and implement policies appropriate to different contexts. These are policies that result in real improvements in the governance, use and economic benefits that can flow from forests to those who depend upon them. This book is essential reading for policy-makers, forestry practitioners and academics and students in all areas of forest policy, management and governance.

Covering the work of non-governmental organizations in trying to change the environmental policies of governments and business organizations, this study looks at field research in Asia and Africa, and relates it to theoretical issues in the academic field.

Key messages Participatory Prospective Analysis (PPA) proved to be effective for encouraging collective reflection to identifythreats to forest tenure security as well as to develop ways to improve local people's tenure security over forests in Kibaale district, Uganda. A PPA exercise carried out in 2015/16 brought together stakeholders from district government, civil society, local communities and the Bunyoro kingdom, as well as politicians, to discuss the past, present and future of forest tenure security in the district. As the forest and land sectors are male dominated, a separate women-only PPA workshop was organized to gather women’s perspectives.While the mixed group and women-only PPA stakeholders identified four common key influences on forest tenure security, they also each identified four unique influences. Commonly identified influences were: the role played by politicians; the implementation capacity of key stakeholders (particularly at district level); the implementation and enforcement of forest laws and policies; and population dynamics, including the influx of migrants. Influences identified only by the women’s workshop were: access to adequate funding for reform implementation; the level of security in the district; and the role of NGOs, particularly those working to advance and defend women's forest tenure rights. Influencing factors identified only by the mixed group included: the knowledge, attitudes and participation of local people in implementing forest tenure reforms; and the extent of forest tenure rights actually granted to communities.Stakeholders identified two desirable and three undesirable scenarios to envision the potential forest tenure security situation in Kibaale in 2025. Desirable scenarios involved participatory formulation and implementation of forest policies and plans; clear tenure rights; adequate funding for implementing forest tenure reforms; well-informed local communities; and corruption-free political leadership. Undesirable scenarios were characterized by insecure forest tenure rights due to immigration; and unfair enforcement of forest laws in favor of powerful, well-connected immigrants over indigenous peoples.The PPA then identified potential actions to be undertaken by different stakeholders to improve access to local forest tenure rights over the next decade. These included: the dissemination of laws, policies and technologies to communities and their political leaders; increased community involvement in resource planning and implementation (including the enforcement of rules); and the development of policies and laws to address problems caused by immigration.The women-only PPA workshop viewed major threats as being the prospect of men taking over trees that women have planted (due to discriminatory cultural practices that prevent women from owning land and trees). They also viewed the lack of funding to invest in tree planting and for acquiring their own land, lack of access to markets, political instability and limited NGO influence as factors that could undermine forest tenure security over the next decade.

This is the history of the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO); its aims, policies and achievements, through drawing on contemporary records and the author's own wide experience. The book uses examination of past successes and failures to formulate a 21st-century agenda for the most practical ways of improving the management of forests and deciding forest policies.

An NRC committee was established to work with a Russian counterpart group in conducting a workshop in Moscow on the effectiveness of Russian environmental NGOs in environmental decision-making and prepared proceedings of this workshop, highlighting the successes and difficulties faced by NGOs in Russia and the United States.