Workshops and policy debates

The project (partners) aims to contribute to workshops (by sometimes organising them) and policy debates. Below is a selection:

‘ILLEGAL OR INCOMPATIBLE?’ PROJECT WORKSHOP IN ACCRA, GHANA - OCTOBER 2009 in Accra/Ghana

Is it that certain small-scale forest activities are illegal or the law is rather incompatible with those social practices? This dilemma forms the basis of the research project, ‘Illegal or Incompatible? (IOI): Managing the consequences of timber legality standards on local livelihoods.’ The IOI project assesses how the implementation of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) between Ghana and the European Union (EU) will impact on the livelihoods of forest dependent people, and searches for governance mechanisms to mitigate any adverse impacts.

On October 8&9, 2009 TBI Ghana organised a workshop on the IOI project in Accra, Ghana on the theme, ‘Social safeguards in the Ghana-EU VPA: Jointly developing a research and development agenda for improved forest governance’. The objective was to facilitate information exchange and dialogue among forest stakeholders on the possible impacts of VPA on livelihoods. About forty national and international participants shared views on possible impacts of VPA on local livelihoods and possible mitigation measures. These participants were drawn from research institutions, academia, policy institutions, development partners, timber industry, civil society and the Forestry Commission.

The workshop did more than facilitating information exchange amongst stakeholders. Four key messages directed at policy makers both in Ghana and the EU also resulted. The following are summary of the key messages: 

• Representative stakeholder involvement is key to successful implementation of the VPA. The implementation of the VPA will definitely bring adverse effects to various social groups; hence, social safeguards are also very important;
• Stakeholders have different needs and aspirations, hence the need to identify the specific needs and interests of each group. This is required to avoid providing one simple package as social safeguard for all social groups;
• Establishment of a forest and environment policy analysis centre in Ghana to support the design and implementation of social safeguards; and
• In securing social safeguards, one might think of various policy options such as:
  • Capacity building in local communities to respond to and address all the requirements of VPA implementation.
  • Guaranteed access to forest resources under Forest Law Enforcement to communities that depend on forests.
  • Development of alternative livelihoods, especially for chainsaw operators.
  • Increased efficiency, added value and, hence, employment in the forest sector.
  • Expanding the forest resource base in Ghana for example through plantation, etc

These policy options will be communicated to the Government of Ghana and the EU. The workshop produced four outputs:

1. Proceedings are available here;
2. Policy brief;
3. Information sheet "Research agenda for managing the consequences of VPA implementation on livelihoods"
4. Ïnformation sheet "Social safeguards for actors who will be potentially affected by VPA implementation in Ghana"

1. Bas Arts: The Illegal or Incompatible project, where are we?
2. David Brown (ODI): Experiences with policy developments on timber legality: the VERIFOR project.
3. Antje van Driel  & Wilma van Esch ( DGIS): Combining timber legality and livelihood issues: a policy view
4. Chris Beeko: The FLEGT/VPA process in Ghana: experiences and challenges
5. Christian Hansen (University Copenhagen): The FLEGT process in Ghana: creating a dichotomy between legal export timber and illegal timber for local markets?
   

Programme workshop dd. 9 June 2009

1. Marieke Wit (Tropenbos International): Towards sustainable chainsaw milling in Ghana and Guyana
2. Bossman Owusu: Multi-stakeholder  communication in the negotiation of voluntary partnership agreement in Ghana
3. Sahabeta Ramcilovic (EFI): Monitoring the social aspects of the FLEGT VPA in Ghana: What aspects should be monitored and how?
4. Martha Dabrowska: Influence of institutions on access to timber trees in off-reserve areas in Ghana
5. Paulus/van Zetten: Exporting Ghanaian sawmills and the VPA, Opinion, awareness and readiness

The summary Report and key issues on the seminar can be downloaded here.

• London, Tuesday 17 February 2009. Dr. Freerk Wiersum attended the UK launch of the book ‘Legal Timber: Verification and Governance in the Forest Sector’. This book is the latest outcome of the VERIFOR project, an applied research collaboration between the Climate Change, Environment and Forests Programme and three international partners: CATIE in Costa Rica, CIFOR’s Central Africa office in Cameroon, and RECOFTC in Thailand. The speakers were David Brown of ODI and Guillermo Navarro of CATIE, and the discussant was Bruce Fraser, Chair of the Forest Practices Board in British Columbia, Canada.
• Preliminary research results have been tabled during an October 10 seminar on “FLEGT beyond the T” that was attended by academia, policy-makers and civil society in Driebergen in the Netherlands. Powerpoint presentation is available: K.F. Wiersum & B. Arts (2008) FLEGT: a government initiative to stimulate forest governance. Seminar FLEGT beyond the 'T', governance visions in the timber chain organized by Wageningen University and research Center, Ministry of LNV Knowledge Department, VTB and KIT, Driebergen, the Netherlands, October 10, 2008.
•  Wageningen 10th of April 2008 - project inception workshop