Underlying Causes of Deforestation: UN Report

Secretary-General�s Report
on
Category II.d.1 Consider Matters Arising from the Programme Elements of the
IPF Process Needing Further Clarification

I. Introduction

1. Agenda 21 clearly stated that forests worldwide have been and are being threatened by uncontrolled degradation and conversion to other types of land uses, influenced by increasing human needs; agricultural expansion; and environmentally harmful mismanagement, including, for example, lack of adequate forest-fire control and anti-poaching measures, unsustainable commercial logging, overgrazing and unregulated browsing, harmful effects of airborne pollutants, economic incentives and other measures taken by other sectors of the economy.

2. Deforestation and forest degradations are now widely recognized as one of the most critical environmental problems facing the human society today with serious long term economic, social and ecological consequences. This issue has received much attention from policy makers to general public in recent years with vivid images of cleared forests and burning trees around the world. The effect of deforestation on biodiversity and climate change has been the subject of scientific studies and many documentaries of media.

3. Although the world�s forest area has been declining for centuries, it is in the last half of 20th century that the process has been accelerated to an alarming rate. Since the 1960s, there has been a major change in the rate at which the forests are cleared. A recent study (FAO, 1997) shows that the annual rates of deforestation in developing countries at 15.5 million hectares for the period 1980-1990 and 13.7 million hectares for the period 1990 - 1995. The total forest area lost during the 15 year period was more than 220 million hectares, much larger than the total land area of Mexico.

4. Moreover, most of the deforestation is concentrated in relatively few countries. Recent statistics by FAO indicate that the "top" 10 deforesting countries account for 7.4 million hectares and more than 50% the annual deforestation, suggesting that if fundamental changes in land-use can be made in those countries, it will have significant impacts on reducing forest loss.

5. Temperate forests once blanketed most of earth�s temperate zone in Europe, Northern Asia, North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Chile, etc. For millennia, temperate forests have suffered the onslaught of logging, burning and clearing for wood products, pasture land and cities. Almost all of the native hardwood forests of Europe, the eastern USA, and central and eastern Canada have disappeared. Tree farms and plantations are wrested from native forests through clearcutting - the complete removal of all trees and associated vegetation over large areas of land.

6. Today Europe�s forests are some of the most degraded in the world. Although tree cover extends over some 30% (144 million ha.) of the surface area of the continent - about half the maximum extent of forest cover - only 0.24% of this forest is considered by the WorldWide Fund for Nature to be �virgin� forest and only 1.8% is classified as old growth forest remnants. Even these areas are now at risk from a variety of factors including logging, fires, tourist resort development, pollution and substitution with fast-growing plantation species.

7. In 1997 and 1998, forest fires caused serious forest loss in the world. The widespread fires were related to new commercial agricultural projects, land clearing for tree and agricultural plantations, land clearing for new cattle pastures, dry residues left in the forest after logging, and slash-and-burn agriculture. The unusually dry climate conditions caused by the El Nino phenomena further complicated the situation.

8. Despite the apparent precision of the figures/statistics for the rate of deforestation, the exact area of deforestation for each year is unknown. The accuracy of estimates is hampered by the lack of reliable time sequence land use maps, different standard for forest and non-forest classification, inadequate ground validation of satellite imagery, and the institutional weaknesses of governmental forest departments around the world.

9. It is important to distinguish between the causes that are directly related to deforestation and forest degradation and those that are underlying. The direct causes are those activities (by individuals, corporations, government agencies, or development projects) which clear forests. Underlying causes are those behind the direct causes, and which motivate the direct causes. Much of what has been written about deforestation fails to distinguish between "direct" and "underlying" causes.

10. The conclusions and recommendations resulted from the Global and Regional Consultations under the NGO - lead initiative (with support of the Government of Costa Rica and UNEP) on underlying causes are incorporated in this report.

II. General Overview on IPF Conclusions and Proposals for Action

11. IPF noted the critical need to understand the underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation, which are often country-specific. A focused approach is needed that concentrates on reversing the most damaging processes and promoting the most effective and beneficial measures. It is also important to recognize local initiatives that could counter current trends in deforestation and forest degradation, especially among indigenous and local communities (Paragraph 18).

12. IPF agreed that among the various international underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation, discriminatory international trade and poorly regulated investment, as well as long-range transboundary air pollution, are important. Market distortions, subsidies and relative prices, including those of agricultural commodities, as well as undervaluation of wood and non-wood forest products, can have a direct bearing on the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests. (Paragraph 24).

13. IPF urged countries, as relevant and appropriate, with the support of international organizations and the participation of major groups, where relevant:

(a) To prepare in-depth studies of the underlying causes at the national and international levels of deforestation and forest degradation;
(b) To analyze comprehensively the historical perspective of the causes of deforestation and forest degradation in the world, and other international underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation, including transboundary economic forces; (Paragraph 27).

14. IPF also urged countries to support the convening, as soon as possible, of a global workshop on the international underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation, and their relationship to national underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation. (Paragraph 28),

15. IPF encouraged countries to formulate and implement national strategies, through an open and participatory process, for addressing the underlying causes of deforestation, and, if appropriate, to define policy goals for national forest cover as inputs to the implementation of national forest programmes (Paragraph 29).

III Major Issues

16. The underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation are highly variable by region and country. However, there are a number of underlying causes that are similar globally.

17. Policy failures in forestry and other sectors affecting forests are one of the most common causes. Governmental policies are, perhaps, the most determinants to forests to be sustainably used and managed.

18. Within the forestry sector, logging concession policies have frequently resulted in inefficient use of forests as renewable resources. Concession periods, usually less than 20 years, are significantly shorter than natural regeneration periods of a timber stand (averaging 20 to 50 years). Also, rents through royalties, license fees, and reforestation taxes are typically much less than the real cost of replacing the timber stock and restoring logged-over areas. In addition, the governments of most timber-exporting nations have been unable to collect full rent from log harvests through taxes and royalties. Aside from contributing to economic and environmental losses, timber concessions can promote corruption and result in progressive decapitalization of the country�s natural resource base.

19. In countries where forest lands are publicly owned, and their uses are subject to diverse, multisectoral, and often conflicting policy objectives. By distorting the true costs or prices of the forest resources, public policies often provide an incentive for short-term exploitation of forests. Public policies have frequently failed to provide adequate incentives for sustainable forest management or to promote reforestation.

20. Pricing policies, tax incentives, direct government subsidies and other subsidies to encourage private investments in sectors other than forest sectors such as agriculture, energy, mining, industry, and transportation have had major negative effect on forests. Such policies by regulating prices and providing tax shelters and subsidized credits to livestock and agricultural producers have expanded the agricultural frontier, often at the expense of natural forests.

21. Correcting the distortionary effects of inefficient incentive policies through proper regulations and land-use policies will improve forest use and reforestation, but improving market and price policies raises some difficult questions. One is that the externality costs (such as replacement and environmental costs resulting from harvesting) associated with forest use are not borne by the domestic economy alone; some have regional and global consequences. Sovereign governments can be expected to address only domestic externalities in their pricing and taxation policies. Global externalities could be addressed through cooperation among nations and perhaps through income transfers from rich countries to poor ones.

22. In some countries agricultural policies also have created incentives for deforestation. The commercialization of agriculture has typically led to monocultural plantations of export crops on fertile lowland areas; traditional farmers who once occupied those areas have been displaced onto more fragile uplands or natural forests. The concentration of shifting cultivators on a smaller or poorer resource base typically sets in motion a downward spiral of reduced agricultural productivity, increased forest depletion, and worsened rural poverty, as cropland fallow periods are shortened and soil fertility declines. An estimated 60 percent of the world�s poorest people have been pushed into ecologically fragile environments (tropical forests, drylands, and hilly areas) as a result of agricultural expansion.

23. Market failure is another significant underlying causes of deforestation. The natural tropical natural forests are mostly publicly owned and stumpages are then administratively priced by various fees and royalties and systematically at lower levels than what the markets had produced. In privately owned natural forests, monopsonies or oligopsonies mostly create local market failures. The market failures of timber and fuelwood stumpages often go unnoticed.

24. The problem of valuing non marketable environmental services is another market failure. Perhaps biodiversity and carbon sequestration are the extreme cases to illustrate the situation where benefits are mostly global but preservation costs local. These services, however, have missing global ("global appropriation failure") and lower level markets. While wood products� monetary values may have partially become reflected also in the monetary value of the forests, the nonwood benefits only exceptionally have been materializing in the monetary value of the standing forest. The low monetary value of standing forest is one factor that decreases investments in promoting sustainable natural forest management.

25. Inherent market failures has usually been compounded by government policy distortions. Rather than correcting the failure of the market, government intervention has often aggravated the existing incentives for excessive forest exploitation. Even the national political will to seriously conserve forests, policy mechanism for coordination is often missing. When the principal controls of deforestation, the markets and the public policies, are both failing, it is clear why deforestation is continuing.

26. Population growth and rural poverty intensify the pressure to convert forest areas to other uses, as well as to exploit forests for short-term benefits. Human populations are growing rapidly which leads to growing domestic and international demands for primary goods and services relevant to natural forests. With few exceptions poverty and low incomes are also typical in countries with high rate of deforestation. Due to the low productivity of agricultural land, the majority of the rural poor rely heavily on forests and woodlands for income and subsistence. While many traditional rural communities have developed comparatively sustainable forms of resource use, many others are compelled, by circumstances often beyond their control, to use forests unsustainably for short-term gains.

27. The low performance of national economy in some poor countries, combined with high external debts, pushes countries to use forest resources unsustainably for short-term gains. External debt in developing countries is another undelrying cause driving deforestation. A World Bank statistics show that twelve countries that is about 50 percent of total third world extenal debt are responsible for more than 70 percent of global annual deforestation. The debt burden provides an inducement to liquidate forest capital for much-needed foreign exchange. Debt service requirements also provide a justification for expanding export crop production into forest areas.

28. The boreal forest provides one of the world�s clearest examples of the link between the high consumption, late 20th century industrial society and the destruction of natural ecosystems. Today, a fifth of the world�s population uses 85 per cent of the resources. The demands of this consumption elite, for paper, timber, metals and energy, provide the incentive to exploit natural resources too quickly and too intensively. High consumption is intimately related to industrialization, both driving industry and in turn being driven by advertising and by a shift to disposable and short-life products.

29. In the west, lack of local control is an important problem, alienating people from the land and resulting in top-down decisions that may not be suitable for local conditions. In Eastern Europe, on the other hand, the sudden release of land from state to private control is seen as a problem, encouraging short-term exploitation by new owners who often have no prior experience in forest management.

30. In the last two decades, a further remarkable deterioration in Europe�s forests was detected. Trees were losing their foliage and became discoloured, caused by atmospheric pollution, much of it drifting across national boundaries. High concentrations of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides not only have a direct effect on foliage but also stress trees through soil and ground water acidification, resulting in reduced levels of potassium and magnessium ions. Over the past ten years, the proportion of trees with moderate or severe defoliation has more than doubled.

31. The regional consultations under the joint NGO-Government Initiative on underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation identified the underlying causes from regional perspectives.

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32. The Global Workshop organized by the joint NGO - Government Initiative, held on 18-22 January 1999 in Costa Rica, summarized the following common international underlying causes:

Land tenure issues

the non-recognition of the territorial rights of indigenous and other traditional peoples resulting in the invasion of those territories by external actors;
the lack of legally-recognised land titles by local communities;
government-led or spontaneous colonisation processes into the forests, stemming from inequitable land-tenure patterns in agricultural areas.

Resource management

Lack of recognition of multiple values of forests, which are either visualised as a source of wood materials or as occupying land which could be dedicated to other activities, such as agriculture, cattle-raising or other
lack of empowerment and participation of local communities in decisions over forest management
the promotion of large-scale development projects with high negative impacts on forests
inappropriate and conflicting policies which affect forests
economic and other incentives which result in deforestation
issues of governance, including corruption, inadequate enforcement of existing laws and lack in institutional capacity to adequately manage forests
dominance of industry�s interest in decisions which affect forests (timber, pulp and paper, mining, oil, shrimp farming)

Trade

unsustainable extraction of forest products;
substitution of forests by other productions, particularly aimed at the international market, such as pulpwood and other tree plantations, cattle-raising, shrimp farming, etc;
unsustainable consumption patterns of a wide variety of products extracted either from forests or from productive activities which substitute forests;
undervaluation of forest products.

International economic relations

macroeconomic policies imposed on less developed countries, including structural adjustment;
external debt and its service/repayment;
unfair trade relationships;
poorly directed foreign aid programmes;
lack of regulation of transnational companies.

Poverty

Poverty was identified as an undelying cause, but was in general not given the high profile which it had received in the past. It was identified as a consequence of a number of national and international policies which resulted in the creation and increase of poverty, which in turn resulted in unsustainable use of forests and forest lands.

33. Undelying causes categorised in one group are influenced by underlying causes categorised in the other group. The strong interlinkages between the various groups of underlying causes should be emphasized when governments and other actors to identify solutions. However, such division at least helps to clarify in each case who the main actor could be to address the different underlying causes: whether the national government or international organisations or the international community as a whole.

34. In recognition of the need to involve indigenous people and local communities in the planning and implementation of programs to manage tropical forests, some countries have developed new approaches to resource-sharing and co-management. They are characterized by agreements between government and the local communities that create true partnerships for the management and benefit-sharing of the forest resource. Given the appropriate policy framework, these successful experiences can be replicated elsewhere.

35. Forest management technology that have been found successful shall be used widely to move from unsustainable logging to sustainable forest management. Although further research is needed about truly sustainable silvicultural systems for forests, there are many well known practices which can be employed more extensively that will reduce the degradation of forests by logging.

36. In the last few years, there has been a growing interest in timber certification as a means of encouraging producers to meet established environmental standards for timber harvesting. Certification holds much promise for raising the level of forest management, although there are critical issues still pending solution before it can be really operational. One of the most difficult ones is the issue of chain of custody and the logistics of separating certified wood products from non-certified as they travel from the woods, to the mill, and eventually to the retailer. Certification can assist in reducing deforestation by curtailing illegal wood cutting, normalizing forests operation under management plans which will include protection measures, and limiting the indiscriminate conversion of natural forests to plantations.

37. Agroforestry has proven itself to be an effective tool for improving land use and increasing agricultural productivity. It is particularly appropriate for resource-poor farmers who cannot afford the escalating cost of fertilizers, pesticides, improved seeds, and other modern farm inputs. As population pressures rise and tree cover disappears, farmers become more willing to plant agroforestry trees on their property to meet their requirements for wood products, firewood, poles and posts, tree fruits, and animal fodder. Other viable agricultural techniques for marginal and hillside lands include minimum tillage, contour plantings, composting, ground covers, fodder trees, and deferred grazing.

38. Industrial plantations of fast-growing trees have the potential for satisfying much of the demand for forest products, and reducing the pressure to exploit the natural forest. The expansion of tree plantations should be conditional on:

that they are integral part of a broader, participatory land use plan,
that they do not involve the clearing of natural forests,
that they are accepted as an appropriate land use by the local population
that their ecological and social impacts be positive, to the degree possible

39. In the past, many worthwhile, technically-sound initiatives failed to arrest deforestation because they were conceived without the true participation of all stakeholders (communities, companies, local government, other land users) in their planning and execution. Controlling deforestation must take into account the special interest groups from within and outside the forest sector that share, and at times compete for, the same land, such as conservation, energy, and water sectors. Supporting the formation and functioning of natural resources users groups would be a positive step to enhance participation. Natural resources must be managed more holistically, recognizing the interdependence of all sectors. Of particular importance, is deciding on a just formula for sharing in the benefits and responsibilities that derive from sustainably using forest resources as an alternative to deforestation.

40. Reform their natural resources policies and other policies affecting forest lands should be given the highest priority at national level. Incentives which encourage deforestation and other destructive land uses practices should be reformed and replaced by policies that encourage the sustainable use of natural resources. The true cost and benefits of incentives must be determined prior to implementation. Land-use policy reforms are needed to secure long-term commitments to sustainable forest management.

41. Public education and awareness building on the values and importance of forests on social, economic and environmental dimensions must be enhanced at international, national and local levels, and targeted the public at large to teach audiences in the cities and in the country, adults, children, rich and the poor.

42. In the 1980s, international cooperation and development assistance aiming at stopping deforestation was not able to achieve the expected results due to a number of factors, such as a misunderstanding of the causes of deforestation, inablility to elaborate appropriate solutions, lack of adequate grassroots participation, and lack of appropriate valuing of ecological/environmental services, etc. However, the debate in 1980s on deforestation brought the issues to the world stage (e.g. at the UNCED) which, in turn, spawned a series of international initiatives related to promoting sustainable forest management, such as initiatives related to criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management and timber certification.

43. International cooperation is needed to establish global priorities on forests conservation, and rationalize the scarce resource to the priorities, special attention shall be given to countries with a high deforestation rate, countries rich in forest biodiversity, and countries with representative forest ecosystems of global importance.

V Conclusions and Proposals for Action

IV.a Conclusions

44. Many manifestations of deforestation and forest degradation can be traced to policy and market failures that produce situations in which benefits are not associated from costs, rights from responsibilities and actions from consequences.

45. The Underlying Causes of Deforestation and Forest Degradation are much more deeply ingrained in the totality of national and international policies, economic and development plans. Strategies to arrest the underlying causes must be sought in the broader policy framework of development.

46. Fiscal incentives and subsidies for land use conversion must be removed, e.g. agri business and cattle ranching. Property right formula that encourages land owners to develop their properties to their best potential and conserve natural forest shall be developed/implemented.

47. Countries shall grant clear land titles (user right) to the slash-and-burn farmers living on forest margins, and provide agricultural extension services to those farmers.

48. The social and economic consequences of deforestation are many, often having devastating long-term impacts. By destroying forests, all potential future revenue and future employment that could be derived from their sustainable management for timber and non-wood products disappear. The most short-sighted ecological consequences of deforestation is the loss of biodiversity, which means the extinction of species, varieties of plants and animals, many of which have never been documented scientifically. Economically, the loss of biodiversity is eroding the potential base for future human development.

49. Global consumption and the market that services it have become the main motor of the global economy. With the most wealthy 20% of the population consuming 85% of the world's resources, levels of consumption continue to climb. Markets are volatile and often ephemeral, discouraging long term investments in prudent resource use and encouraging short term planning and 'grab it and run' tactics.

50. Timber extraction is considered by some to be the main cause of forest loss in boreal and temperate forests and in tropical frontier forests. Even though the international trade in timber and other wood products constitutes only 2% of all wood extracted from forests, the global trade in quality timbers and, increasingly, in paper-pulp are major forces opening up forests to other interests.

51. Many other commodities traded on the world market are also implicated in forest loss. Minerals, oil, shrimps and cocoa are examples of commodities that are often extracted or grown in areas cleared from forests. Yet many other cash crops cultivated outside forests also lead to forest loss by displacing peasant farmers from the best agricultural land and forcing them into the forests in search of a livelihood. Land concentration and the creation of wealthy elites with undue power and influence in national economies are often driven by international markets in cash crops.

52. The economic policies currently in vogue encourage deregulation and increasing private sector investment in export oriented production. International legal regimes developed under the GATT and the WTO actually penalise countries from restricting trade on environmental grounds as they are considered 'non-tarriff barriers' to free trade. This has made regulation of trade to prevent forest destruction difficult and has further increased the power and influence of the trade lobby.

53. Control and ownership of forests around the world has made a rapid transition from communities to States to the private sector. Today 50 of the largest forest products corporations between them control some 140 million hectares of forests, an area the size of the total forest estate of Europe. These corporations have also sought to influence many different aspects of forest policy including those related to downstream processing, pollution control, health and safety regulations, employment legislation, land use legislation and endangered species laws, towards their preference.

54. The private sector has also targetted the WTO and has pushed heavily for free trade regimes. Others have been very active in lobbying for the exclusion of certain species from gaining listing under the Convention on International Trade in Endgangered Species. Nationally the private sector has sought similar ends including through securing advantageous subsidies and capturing support from aid agencies.

55. National governments need to promote transparency in decision-making and publish all contracts, balance the participation of private sector and other interest groups in government delegations, establish codes of conduct for officials dealing with private companies. Timber importing countries need to adopt legislation banning the import of illegally produced timbers

56. Countries shall provide greater support for independent forestry research and raise public awareness about the social and environmental impacts of deforestation and forest degradation.

57. Most aid budgets to recipient countries are determined by macro-economic considerations, as a means of securing the economies of recipient countries through adjusting balance of payments and facilitating debt servicing. Development assistance may thus have very broadly defined goals and those planning these large disbursements of money have little conception of the possible environmental implications of such grants and loans.

58. Structural adjustment lending, which aims to promote exports and cut back national expenditures, has often explicitly encouraged an intensification of forest exploitation without measures being simultaneously taken to strengthen governments' regulatory capacity. Funds may be provided: directly to facilitate logging operations; to boost production from the whole forest sector; to facilitate clearance of forest lands for plantations or other agribusinesses; to promote road-building and forest colonisation schemes; to build dams; to develop mines; to promote cash cropping on fertile lands outside forest and so displace the landless poor into forests. Major short-comings in such destructive projects are their narrow focus and ignorance of wider effects and the lack of public participation.

59. A number of 'best practice' projects which demonstrate how development assistance can work to enhance forest management and secure local peoples' welfare and livelihoods. Such projects are often small-scale, intensely participatory and entail high overheads in project preparation, administration and oversight.

IV.b Proposals for Action�

60. Encourage countries to support land legalization, make concrete security and regulation processes of land property to define clearly the land ownership and/or forest resource use rights, and develop mechanisms to improve land access and /or forests lands use by small scale owners, and conflict resolution mechanisms of land overlaps .

61. Urge countries, with support from international organizations to identify the chain causality in each country, with the informed participation of all stakeholders, and create democratic mechanisms for stakeholder participation in decision-making about resource management, including the promotion of equitable land-tenure systems.

62. Urge countries to train human resources so as to build leadership capacity in communities on environmental management, and provide necessary technical guidence, legal instruments and economic incentives on environmental management at community level, and to establish necessary forums to ensure the participation of indigenous peoples and local communities in policy negotiations and enforcement of environmental regulations.

63. Urge countries to promote sustainable forest production alternatives, establish fair prices for forest products (wood and non-wood products) at both national and international level,. Countries shall also make open marketing channels for indigenous people and local communities.

64. Urge countries to avoid any development project that implies forest destruction, and to develop legal means to ensure that environmental impact assessment be applied to all development projects that are in or near forest lands. Countries shall strengthen State�s institutions� capacities to make effective environmental and social impacts monitoring of the development projects

65. Urge countries, particularly developing countries, to formulate, in partnership with local communities, local projects aiming at sustainable forest management and self -sufficiency in products of importance to local communities, such as fuelwood. Countries shall also promote diversification of rural economy and reduce pressure on forests and other natural resources.

66. Urge countries, particularly developed countries, to develop and implement policies aiming at modifying consumption patterns, and promoting recycling of wood materials and products, including paper; and to collect information and report to the relevant international fora and/or organisations on government policies aimed at changing consumption and production patterns of all products that contribute to deforestation and forest degradation.

67. Urge governments to develop initiatives for shifting penalties and incentives (subsidies, taxes, sector promotion, etc) from promoting unsustainable consumption and production patterns (which contribute to deforestation and forest degradation) to promoting sustainable consumption and production patterns and trade, and to establish a process of identifying and measuring the impact of perverse subsidies and incentives in the forest and non-forest sectors, (particularly agriculture, mining, and hydro-power), which may contribute to deforestation and forest degradation.

68. Encourage the IFF member states to include a discussion on the imbalance between trade and sustainable development regimes in the agenda of IFF 3 and IFF 4, to organize an intersessional on this specific issue betwen IFF 3 and IFF 4 and promote discussion of these issues within the ITTO, UNCTAD and WTO and to introduce changes to national and international macro economic policies, including changes to the current trade liberalization process.

69. Request international financial organisations to analyze specific impacts of foreign debt on forest resources, and develop, in cooperation with donor countries, to explore innovative debt reduction reward schemes for countries that take significant steps to halt deforestation and forest degradation with debt reduction schemes.

70. Urge countries, with support from international organisations and development agencies, to enforce environmental regulations, and promote decentralized regulatory systems, and to adapt and harmonize environmental legislation with other sectorial legislation (mining, land, energy, etc)

71. Urge countries to regulate transnational corporation (TNC) activities, and create necessary mechanisms to guarantee that the transnational countries of origin assume responsibility of their actions in other countries. Countries shall also promote monitoring systems of TNC�s among civil societies, and to explore the opportunity for creating an international association of environmentally and socially responsible investors as a means of establishing a clearing-house mechanism that enables institutional investors to support community-based development for sustainable forest management.

72. Encourage countries to explore ways of establishing an independent international review panel to monitor the status of forests worldwide and to monitor compliance with national laws and international conventions pertinent to addressing deforestation and forest degradation.

73. Urge countries, particularly developing countries, to strengthen national forest research capacities, and improve forestry education at both technical and professional level.

74. Urge countries, with support from international organisations, to strengthen the capacity of governments to enforce environmental and forest laws; and to help facilitate law enforcement training.

75. Encourage the IFF Secretariat, in its capacity as a member of the ITFF to explore the opportunities for establishing a Public Review Commission to monitor the operations of the IMF and its Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) as a means of ensuring that SAPs do not contribute to deforestation and forest degradation.

76. Urge countries, particularly those with high rate of deforestation, rich in forest biodiversity and/or with representative forest ecosystems of global importance, to take effective measures for forests conservation. Urge development/aid agencies and international organizations and/or mechanisms (such as WB, UNDP, FAO, UNEP, GEF etc) to prioritize these countries for assistance on conservation and sustainable management of forest resources.

77. Responsibility to arrest the underlying causes lies in the hands of many actors, including governments, civil society, multilateral institutions, research organisations, bilateral aid agencies etc. Within such a wide range of actors, the IFF, particularly the UNEP as the lead agency for the programme element, is requested play a leading and coordinating role in the promotion of a process leading to arrangements on specific commitments to begin to address underlying causes both at national and international level.

Complimentary Proposals for Action adopted in the NGO Global Workshop on Underlying Causes which refer to other Programme Element:

1. Encourage IFF member governments to explore means of establishing a dialogue between trade, environment and forestry officials, industry, indigenous peoples, NGOs and community-based organizations; to discuss the implications of trade in products that may contribute to deforestation and forest degradation; and to encourage financial support to facilitate this dialogue.

2. Urge dialogue between IFF members and the WTO to elaborate the provisions of Article XX of the WTO Agreements (GATT) to allow individual countries to ban or limit the import or export of unsustainably harvested forest products; and to explore the development of a core, global set of Criteria and Indicators which could be incorporated within WTO rules.

3. Encourage the IFF members to develop international and model national enforcement measures to prohibit trade in illegally produced forest products; assist developing countries to control such trade and build up their capacity to monitor and expose illegal trade.

4. Encourage the IFF Secretariat and member governments to suggest that the Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity develop measures to ensure the fair and equitable distribution of benefits derived from forest to ensure their protection; and to improve the enforceability and dispute settlement processes within the Convention on Biological Diversity to enhance its effectiveness in ensuring the conservation and sustainable use of forest biological diversity.

5. Urge WTO Party governments and Parties to regional trade agreements to allow NGOs, Indigenous Peoples� Organizations and Community Based Organizations observer access to international trade negotiations; and to encourage Parties of these agreements to resolve to publish and disseminate preparatory and final documents associated with these trade agreements.

6. Urge IFF members to strengthen and establish technical assistance centres for Indigenous Peoples and local communities to develop databases of projects and legal information on forest legislation and the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, inventories of experiences and successful technologies, and international and national marketing methods.

7. Encourage all governments to ratify and implement the Convention to Eliminate Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and to encourage the IFF and member governments to develop an information data-base on women�s traditional forest related knowledge and to ensure that such a data-base is administered by Indigenous and local community women (on the condition that legislation protecting rights to that knowledge is developed and ensured).

8. Encourage the IFF Secretariat and member governments and other interested parties to develop model legislation and guarantees Indigenous Peoples� and local communities� rights of approval over environment, energy and mining projects; and to encourage all governments to introduce such legislation.

9. Encourage the IFF Secretariat and member governments to develop strategies to increase consumer awareness of alternative economic measures to address deforestation and forest degradation. Such measures should include, inter alia: third-party independent eco-labelling, taxes, subsidies and incentives; and encourage the development of a purchase policy for UN agencies and governments to buy sustainably managed forest products.

10. Urge the IFF Secretariat, in its capacity as a member of the ITFF, to establish a dialogue with Bretton Woods institutions, with the aim of seeking observer status for civil society members at biennial review meetings of these institutions.

11. Urge IFF members to develop a dialogue mechanism with OECD country export credit agencies as a means of encouraging the development and enforcement of high environmental and social standards for investments which they guarantee.

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