Forest financing in SIDS and LFCCs

Benjamin SingerUnited Nations Forum on Forests

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What is forest financing?

• Funds required to implement sustainable forest management

• Part of broader financial flows that affect forests positively and negatively

• 3 types: national, international and innovative

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Sustainable Forest Management is a dynamic and evolving concept and aims to maintain and enhance the economic, social and environmental values of all types of forests, for the benefit of present and future generations.

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The cross-sectoral dimension

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A dynamic relationship

• Understanding the cross-sectoral impact of agriculture, rural development, energy, transport, climate change and finance

• In return, forests impact on the bigger picture by contributing to poverty reduction and rural development

The SIDS-LFCC Project

• The first project of the Facilitative Process

• Funding: DFID and the GEF• Objective: identify gaps,

obstacles and opportunities to forest financing in small island developing states and low forest cover countries

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I. Background Papers

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II. Workshops

• Iran, November 2011• Niger, Jan-Feb 2012• Trinidad & Tobago, April

2012• Fiji, July 2012• Primary objective: collect

feedback and real life experiences on forest financing in participatory manner

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III. A Common Strategy

• Compiling all information from background papers and workshops

• Series of policy briefs aimed at different audiences

• Academic publication on forest financing

• A common forest financing strategy for SIDS and LFCCs

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SIDS

• 38 countries, not only islands!• Caribbean, South Pacific and

AIMS• Great diversity… yet common

challenges and opportunities• This workshop: SIDS with less

than 50% forest cover

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The Trinidad Workshop• Structure

– Field Trip– Plenary presentations– Working Group discussions

• Objectives– Discuss study results– Identify gaps, obstacles and

opportunities– Initiate stakeholder network

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Thank you for your attention!

UN Forum on Forests Secretariat1 UN Plaza, DC1-1245, New York, NY 10017email: unff@un.org web: http://www.un.org/esa/forests