ILLEGAL OR INCOMPATIBLE?

Managing the consequences of international trade agreements on local livelihoods.

The conservation and wise use of tropical forest resources is of global concern. Recently, the international debate has been focusing on the issue of illegal logging and the legality of timber as a contribution to sustainable management of forests. This is reflected in the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) initiative launched by the EU. Part of the initiative is the development of voluntary partnership agreements (VPA) with a number of important timber trade partner countries. Central to the VPA processes, and future VPA-based timber trade, is the use of a (broadly accepted) Timber Legality Standard (TLS) in producer countries. Two countries where pilot VPAs are currently being negotiated are Ghana and Indonesia.

The TLS as part of the Legal Assurance System (LAS) includes elements such as the definition of legally produced timber; control of the supply chain (a wood tracking system); verification mechanisms, issuance of licenses and independent monitoring of the systems by a third party.

Success of the VPAs requires the process to include wider social and environmental issues around forestry. An important question is: how will the enforcement of agreed TLS affect the lives of rural communities, especially those dependent on timber extraction and trade for their livelihoods?

This project (2008 - 2010) aimed to strengthen livelihood considerations in forest policy development to enhance its effective implementation. The short term objective was to develop broadly supported governance mechanisms that manage the consequences of VPA legal timber legality standards on local livelihoods and to strengthen the capacity of stakeholders to (re)negotiate institutional arrangements for sustainable resource use in Ghana and Indonesia.

The three year program included an action research contribution to current VPA negotiations and forest management reforms in Ghana and Indonesia through developing mechanisms for improved policy dialogue and stakeholder participation in a limited number of pilots. In Ghana, the research took place at national level and in eight communities in the High Forest Zone, as selected for the EU-funded project on chainsaw lumbering.

The project came to an end 31/12/2010. The Wageningen University Centre for Development Innovation (CDI) that has been coordinating this initiative will update this website as long as possible.

About the website

The aim of this website is to assist in communicating and learning among the partners and stakeholders of the “Illegal or Incompatible? Project (2008 – 2010) in Ghana and Indonesia in a joint endeavour to improve forest governance in order to better manage the consequences of Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) on both the forest and local livelihoods – legal and compatible!

News

Following the October 2009 seminar in Accra on "Timber legality. local livelihoods and social safeguards: implications of FLEGT/VPA in Ghana" an 18-page policy brief was produced by Freerk Wiersum and Danielle van Oijen entitled: "Implementing FLEGT, impacts on local people". Read more and download this policy brief....

The Ghana VPA with the EU was officially signed in September 2008 (and ratified in Ghana in June and by the EU in November 2009). The full VPA text is available here.  Read more.....

Events

Together with TBI, CIFOR, EFI, Chatham House, ETFRN, IIED and IUCN a seminar is organised in Brussel for the 17th & 18th of January 2011 under the title: Bridging local and global interests, Integration of domestic timber markets in FLEGT/VPAs and REDD+. Seminar announcement can be downloaded here.

.......by the way

This research programme is not the only one zooming in on forestry, VPA and livelihoods. For related initiatives.......Read more.......