EU FAO FLEGT PROGRAMMEObjEcTivEs And OPPORTUniTiEs FOR sUPPORT

in iMPLEMEnTinG ThE FLEGT AcTiOn PLAn

OvERviEw

This information module is divided into two parts:

Part I. Background on FLEGT Part II. Opportunities for support to improve forest governance and legality through the EU FAO FLEGT Programme

You are encouraged to read through both sections before submitting a proposal.

PART i. bAckGROUnd On FLEGT

A. sETTinG ThE scEnE

Drivers of deforestation and forest degradation

y Illegal forest practices: High demand for cheap timber and growing pressure on forests for conversion to agricultural use, in the absence of a clear legal framework and strong governance structure, can result in illegal practices within the sector, such as illegal logging.

y Industrial agriculture: Some 13 million ha of forest was lost each year between 2000 and 2010, mainly as a result of the conversion of forests to other land uses such as agriculture. In the last decade, commodity agriculture has become the most significant driver of deforestation.

yNatural disasters (pests, extreme weather events)

iMPAcTs OF wEAk FOREsT GOvERnAncE And iLLEGAL FOREsT PRAcTicEs:

yForest degradation and loss of biodiversity

yDestruction of wildlife habitats

yDestruction of livelihoods in forest communities

yEmission of greenhouse gases

yLoss of revenues

yConflicts with local communities

yHuman rights abuses

yCorruption and market distortions

yPolitical instability

yExacerbation of poverty

y The proportion of forest loss which may be due to illegal forest prac-tices is difficult to quantify, but it is believed to cost governments more than US$10 billion per year in lost tax revenues alone.

y The absence of an internationally agreed definition of “legally” har-vested timber and varying thresholds of legality have contributed to some 20 million cubic meters (total roundwood equivalent volume²) of illegal timber being imported into the European Union (EU).

y 23 to 30 % of hard wood timber and timber products on the global market are from potentially illegal sources.

HOWEVER...

y Illegal timber production has declined by 22 percent since 2002 thanks to global efforts like FLEGT.

FAcTs And FiGUREs

FLEGT = Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade

y Current trends in forest loss and degradation coupled with a global shift in mentality among consumer countries in support of legal timber production and trade prompted the EU to adopt an Action Plan on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) in 2003 to promote better forest governance and prevent illegal timber and timber products from entering the EU market.

y The FLEGT Action Plan sets out a series of measures to improve the supply of legal timber and increase demand for timber coming from responsibly managed forests, and in turn, enable Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) in the long run.

For more information, please see: What is FLEGT?

b. whAT is FLEGT?

y Support to timber exporting countries, including action to promote equitable solutions to the illegal logging problem.

y Activities to promote trade in legal timber.

y Promoting public procurement policies in all EU countries as well as in any country that consumes timber, including policies encouraging the purchase of timber from legal origin.

y Support for private sector initiatives, including action to promote good practices and use of voluntary codes of conduct.

y Safeguards for financing and investment, including action to develop due care procedures.

y Use of existing legislative instruments or adoption of new legislation to support the Action Plan, including the EU Timber Regulation.

For more information: The FLEGT Action Plan

MEAsUREs OF ThE FLEGT AcTiOn PLAn

hisTORy OF ThE FLEGT PROcEss

1992 1998 20052002 20082000 20062003 20092001 20072004 2010

G8 Action Programme on Forests against illegal logging

East AsiaBali Declaration

Africa A-FLEG(Yaoundé)

EU FLEGT Action Plan

Europe & North AsiaFLEGSt Petersburg

US Lacey Act Amendment (2008) EUTR (2013)

Australia: Illegal Logging Prohibition Bill (2012)

Rio Earth Summit: global consensus on forests and their sustainable use was reached (Forest Principles and Chapter 11 of Agenda 21)

For more information, please see: Regional FLEG initiatives

yThe EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), as a part of the EU FLEGT Action Plan, aims to ensure no illegal timber is traded in the European market. The regulation came into force on 3 March 2013.

yOutside of Europe, similar legislation has been enacted in recent years to support the legal production and trade in timber and prohibit the placing of illegally harvested timber and associated timber products on US/Australian markets, including:

• Lacey Act Amendment (USA, 2008)• Illegal Logging Prohibition Bill (Australia, 2012)

For more information: All you need to know about the US Lacey Act, the EUTR and Australia’s Illegal Logging Bill

FLEGT & shiFTinG GLObAL TREnds in TiMbER PROcUREMEnT

y Improved governance and legality in the forest sector can:

• help forest industries by facilitating access to international markets;

• facilitate collection of natural forest product royalties; at present billions of dollars of tax revenues are lost due to illegality in the sector;

• contribute to more participatory forest management;

• bring social, environmental and economic benefits to society at large.

why dOEs iT MATTER?

yEU FAO FLEGT Programme website

yEU FAO FLEGT Publications

yFLEGT Library

yEU-FLEGT Facility website

FURThER REsOURcEs On FLEGT

PART ii. whAT OPPORTUniTiEs ExisT ThROUGh ThE EU FAO FLEGT PROGRAMME TO iMPROvE

FOREsT GOvERnAncE And LEGALiTy?

The EU FAO FLEGT Programme:

y is a four-year programme (2012-2016) managed by FAO to implement the FLEGT Action Plan;

y is funded by the European Union (10 million euro), the UK’s Department for International Development (1.7 million euro) and FAO (1 million euro);

y is demand-driven, designed to support local stakeholders to improve forest governance and in turn, enable SFM;

y targets three local stakeholder groups: government institutions, civil society and private sector organizations;

y draws on FAO’s long history of supporting country-led participatory approaches for improving forest policies and programmes, with the end goal of enabling SFM.

AbOUT ThE PROGRAMME

yProvide grants to three local stakeholder groups to address locally defined FLEGT issues.

ySupport information dissemination to increase the availability of FLEGT-related information, knowledge and experiences among local stakeholder groups by supporting actions that improve understanding of FLEGT issues.

whAT wE dO

For more information on eligibility and deadlines for submitting requests, please see: Programme website

FUndinG AvAiLAbLE

Direct assistanceto governments

< 100,000€Calls for proposals

(all stakeholder groups)

< 25,000€

ThEMATic AREAs OF sUPPORT

Proposals should address one of the following thematic areas of support, which derive from the measures set out in the FLEGT Action Plan:

y Sharing or developing information and knowledge about the FLEGT Action Plan

y Improving transparency in the forest sector

y Setting up independent monitoring in the forest sector

y Supporting local communities and community forestry activities in line with the FLEGT process or a national strategy for improving forest governance

y Supporting improvements in national timber traceability systems, traceability of forest products and national control systems

y Supporting improvements of policy, legal and regulatory frameworks

y Supporting private sector initiatives

y Addressing domestic and regional market issues

For more information on thematic areas, please see: http://www.fao.org/forestry/eu-flegt/85004/en/

sUccEss sTORy FROM bELizE And GUATEMALA

Theme 1: transparency and independent observation

In the Chiquibul-Maya Mountain region, the EU FAO FLEGT Programme is supporting Belizean NGO Friends for Conservation and Development (FCD) and Guatemalan NGO Asociación Balam to counter illegal logging. Activities include instituting patrols to increase monitoring capacity of illegal logging, training members of the judicial system on the intricacies of illegal logging and institutionalizing cross-border collaboration to monitor the challenge. The NGOs are also actively working with Government institutions to establish a Parque de la Amistad or peace park to preserve remaining forests and reduce cross-border conflict.

sUccEss sTORy FROM MAdAGAscAR

Theme 3: legality assurance systems (LAS), traceability of forest products and national control systems

In Madagascar, the Programme endorsed a project proposal from Participation à la Gestion de l’Environnement (PARTAGE) to develop a legality verification system for forest products in the rural community of Didy on the outskirts of Ambohilero forest. A tracking system was developed and a labeling system established to certify all wood products deriving from the community were produced legally.

whO cAn APPLy

Eligibility criteria

y Eligible stakeholder group (government institution, private sector organization or civil society)

y Registered in country

y Proposal addresses a FLEGT related issue

y Government references included

y Complete proposal format

y 20% in-kind or co-finance contribution

Selection criteria

y Relevance

y Feasibility

y Methodology

y Sustainability

y Proposal of activities that share lessons learned

y Consistency of budget to proposed activities and good balance

bEFORE yOU bEGin dRAFTinG A PROPOsAL...

y Research your topic and reflect on the issue you will address in your country.

y Choose one single thematic priority of the Programme.

y Submit a proposal that is strictly related to FLEGT (e.g. a proposal on agroforestry, reforestation, tree planting and nurseries, agriculture, biodiversity conservation, etc. would not be eligible for funding). Remember the Programme is about implementing thematic priorities of the FLEGT Action Plan.

y Carefully read the guidelines and the FLEGT Action Plan before the conception of the project.

y Build (if possible) partnerships with institutions working on similar topics (e.g. submitting a common proposal is perceived as a “plus”).

y Build on existing initiatives, needs and national strategies that address forest governance issues in your respective countries. Proposals should complement ongoing actions (please indicate this in the proposal).

dO’s And dOn’Ts OF PROPOsAL wRiTinG

y Define a clear, concise and feasible objective.

y Remember it is a 12 month proposal.

y Describe in detail the activities (one paragraph). Avoid proposals solely containing workshops and meetings.

y Link the activities to your budget.

y Design a balanced budget between human resource and operational costs. Be reasonable when defining unit costs; stay in line with national practices.

y Do not be overly ambitious: focus on one or two achievable results.

y Do not present activities that are too complicated to implement.

dO’s And dOn’Ts OF PROPOsAL wRiTinG (cOnTinUEd)

y Define concrete outputs that can be measured and which contribute to national developments (what happens at the end of the project?).

y Be innovative: develop a proposal with new methods, ideas, etc.

y Develop initiatives that could be replicated or extended to other regions, target groups or countries.

y Reflect on impacts and lessons learned (what is your contribution to the FLEGT process?).

y Inform the relevant Ministry about your project and ensure its support.

y Ensure consistency with national priorities and national forestry agenda.

hOw TO APPLy

Please visit our website for information on how to apply (www.fao.org/forestry/eu-flegt/en/) or contact us at:

EU FAO FLEGT ProgrammeFAO, Viale delle Terme di CaracallaRome, ItalyTel: +39 06 570 54471Email: EU-FLEGT-Info@fao.org

FURThER REsOURcEs AT FAO

y Forest & Farm Facility (FFF): supports initiatives that help countries improve their governance structures at different levels (local, national and regional) to achieve sustainable forest landscape management, whilst boosting food security and promoting climate-smart agriculture. www.fao.org/partnerships/forest-farm-facility/en/

y Sustainable Forest Management: FAO helps member countries overcome constraints in sustainably managing forests through the provision of information and policy advice and through institutional and technical capacity-building activities. www.fao.org/forestry/sfm/en/

y Forest Tenure: Although the issue of forest tenure has been debated for some time, it has received renewed attention from the international community due to recent initiatives such as FLEGT and efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD). Voluntary Guidelines on the responsible governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests as a means of eradicating hunger and poverty, supporting sustainable development and enhancing the environment have recently been developed through intergovernmental negotiations led by the Committee on World Food Security hosted by FAO. www.fao.org/forestry/tenure/en/ & www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3249e/i3249e.pdf

For more information on FAO’s work on forestry and governance, please see: http://www.fao.org/forestry/en/

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