The International Arrangement on Forests at the crossroads: tough choices ahead

The future of International Arrangement on Forests

Many actors in international forest policy believe that the existing International Arrangement on Forests (IAF) has failed to fulfil its original promise, and has had little discernible impact on forests on the ground. This paper identifies significant gaps between the original intent of the IAF and its effects on the ground.

The author argues that as governments contemplate whether to continue the IAF they must take account of its successes and failures to date, using them develop creative and effective options for the future. It also argues that closing the gaps is the responsibility of all concerned and affected actors, at all levels, including the successor to the IAF.

The paper suggests that the foundation of a successor IAF should be organised around the following three pillars:

forging strong and active linkages between international policy and forests and actors on the ground
facilitating the implementation of existing forest-related commitments
engaging in tangible problem-solving and facilitation.

In addition, the WWF proposes a number of measures if governments wish to successfully revitalise the IAF, including:

shift an important part of the central Forum’s work to regional and country-led initiatives
hold sessions of the central Forum in cities and regions outside of New York and Geneva
enhance the role of the IAF as a collaborator with existing global, regional and national initiatives
facilitate much broader and more substantive involvement by major groups
make a concerted effort to draw key national-level actors into all parts of the IAF process
facilitate more effective, creative and collaborative reporting, and develop specific next-steps to ensure effective follow-through
enhance communications by establishing an active clearinghouse mechanism and exploring the use of modern telecommunications technologies.

[adapted from author]

Related content

Document
Fictitious commodification and agrarian change: Indigenous peoples and land markets in Highland Ecuador
G. Goodwin / Wiley Online Library, 2020
Creating private property rights and establishing land markets were fundamental to the historical development of capitalism in the Global North and remain at the centre of capitalist development in the Global South. This article contributes to debates about these processes by analysing the relationship between land markets and indigenous peoples in Highland Ecuador.
Document
Resource nationalism: Enabler or spoiler of effectiveness in 'new oil' Tanzania's petroleum sector?
R. Pedersen, T. Jacob, P. Bofin / Effective States and Inclusive Development Research Centre, 2020
A great deal of attention has been paid to the distributional aspects of resource nationalism in countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, but less is known about its effects on the state’s capacity.
Document
Resource warfare, pacification and the spectacle of ‘green’ development: Logics of violence in engineering extraction in Southern Madagascar
A. Huff, Y. Orengo / Elsevier, 2020
Bringing political ecology's concern with the critical politics of nature and resource violence into dialogue with key debates in political geography, critical security studies and research on the geographies and phenomenology of violence and warfare, this paper explores strategies ‘from above’ in relation to the establis
Document
For the community, by the community: building resilience through infrastructure in rural India
A. Jogesh, U. Pal, W. Bugler, L. Messling, G. Wade / Acclimatise, 2019
The Resilience Shift wants to share good work by others, in this case, a technical assistance project supported by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID). This case study tells the story of what good practice looks like for resilient infrastructure.
Document
Political ecology and differential vulnerabilities to droughts among livestock farmers in South Africa: A case study of Mpakeni community
E. Ebhuoma, F. Donkor, O.O. Ebhuoma / STEPS Centre, Institute of Development Studies, 2020
Most of South Africa’s black rural population reside in the former homelands or Bantustans, commonly referred to as communal areas by the post-apartheid government (Clark and Luwaya 2017). Amongst a variety of livelihood activities that black rural households engage in, livestock production offers multiple-use value, although its contribution to local livelihood is sometimes underestimated (C.

Eldis

The International Arrangement on Forests at the crossroads: tough choices ahead