Indonesia meeting to show how forests can bring sustainable benefits to all

Experts from ten nations meet in Indonesia next week to show how to shift power over forests into the hands of able custodians who can promote and pursue sustainable forest-based livelihoods.

The Forest Governance Learning Group (FGLG) findings are critical as governments are on the brink of agreeing a system to pay countries to avoid deforestation as part of global efforts to tackle climate change.

The FGLG meeting will take place from 1-4 December. Country teams from Cameroon, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Vietnam will attend, along with UK-based researchers from the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) which coordinates the FGLG.

“Who gets to decide what about forests is vitally important,” says James Mayers, head of the natural resources group at IIED. “It can mean the difference between corrupt elites wielding their power to exclude poor people, or it can mean equitable forest management that brings sustainable benefits to all.”

Forests will be central to the UN climate change negotiations in Copenhagen in December as deforestation produces about 18% of all greenhouse gas emissions.

In Copenhagen, governments are set to agree a global deal called REDD that would see billions of dollars flowing as compensation to forest countries that leave their trees standing.

“Good governance of forests will be essential to maximise the social and environmental benefits of REDD schemes,” adds Mayers. “Since 2003 the FGLG has shown how small teams of diverse stakeholders can make a big difference to the way decisions about forests are made.”

The FGLG has developed practical tactics for securing safe space, provoking dialogue, building constituencies, wielding evidence and interacting politically.

This had led to tangible changes in policy with positive impacts on people who depend on forests.

Its country teams have had significant impacts in Cameroon, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Uganda and Vietnam.

These teams are meeting in Bali to consolidate and share their learning and to create plans for increasing their impact on decision-making in the forest sector over the next few years.

The FGLG Meeting will take place at the Sanur Beach Hotel, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia from 1-4 December with a field trip on 3 December.

The meeting will be opened at 08.30 on 1 December by the director-general for Forest Production Development at the Ministry of Forestry of the Republic of Indonesia, Mr. Hadi Daryanto.

Media are invited to attend a press conference at the hotel at 09.00 on 1 December. 

Download a four-page briefing paper on the work of the FGLG: