INTERNATIONAL TROPICAL TIMBER ORGANIZATION

ITTO

PROJECT PROPOSAL

TITLE / BUILDING CAPACITIES OF ACTO MEMBER COUNTRIES IN ECOLOGICALLY RESPONSIBLE FOREST MANAGEMENT AND BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION IN MANAGED FORESTS OF THE AMAZON
SERIAL NUMBER
COMMITTEE / REFORESTATION AND FOREST MANAGEMENT
SUBMITTED BY / ITTO
ORIGINAL LANGUAGE / ENGLISH
EXECUTING AGENCY / Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO)
COLLABORATING AGENCIES / Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela
DURATION / 36 MONTHS
APPROXIMATE
STARTING DATE / UPON APPROVAL
BUDGET AND PROPOSED
SOURCE OF FINANCE / Source / Contribution
in US$ / Equivalent in national currency
ITTO
ACTO:
ACTO Member Countries:
TOTAL / 1,357,486
277,800
691,200
2,326,486

PROJECT SUMMARY

Context and Problem to Address

Under the umbrella of the International Year on Biodiversity (IYB 2010) and the International Year of Forests (IYF 2011), a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)between the Secretariat of the CBD and the Secretariat of the ITTO was signed on 2 March 2010, in order to strengthen collaboration in the pursuit of their common objective of conserving and sustainably managing tropical forest resources and biodiversity. This Collaborative Initiative was formally adopted by the governing bodies of the CBD and ITTO in October and December 2010 respectively. This Initiative was further supported by the Decision on Forest Biodiversity adopted by the 10th Conference of the Parties of CBD held in Nagoya, Japan, on 18-29 October 2010, which recommends the development of collaborative actions between the two Secretariats to strengthen the implementation of the CBD Programme of Work on Forest Biodiversity in ITTO Producer Member Countries. The key concerns that motivated the ITTO-CBD Initiative as well as the Aichi Targets in Nagoya also underpin the Regional Biodiversity plan of the Strategic Agenda of ACTO.

The Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) manifested its interest to participate in the ITTO/CBD Collaborative Initiative in order to assist member countries in their efforts to promote biodiversity conservation through ecologically responsible management of Amazon forests.

The mission of ACTO is to support regional cooperation towards sustainable development of the Amazon region by:

(a)Strengthening or creating technical and financial mechanisms and instruments to achieve its mission;

(b)Promoting the active participation of its members as regional and local actors involved in the implementation of solutions;

(c)Striving for an equitable distribution of the benefits

(d)Improving the negotiation capacity of member countries regarding themes of regional interest.

The proposed project will help respond to each of these demands in the environmental sector. Specifically, the project will help address sub-topic A1 of the Strategic Agenda on Forests, which is aimed at promoting the conservation, rehabilitation, reforestation and maintenance of management activities in forests and degraded areas across the Amazon Region. In addition, the project will also build directly upon other ACTO-led projects and initiatives, including PANAMAZON II (also supported by ITTO), work on Integrated and Sustainable Management of Transboundary Water Resources, and recent work to develop a Regional Platform for Amazon Cooperation in the Environmental Field.

Project Objectives and Indicators of their Achievement

Development Objective and Impact Indicators

To enhance biodiversity conservation and strengthen environmental guidelines in managed forests across the Amazon region

The main long-term impact indicator of the project is as follows:

  • Institutional and technical capacities in biodiversity conservation of ACTO member countries have increased by at least 25% on current levels within 5 years of project completion and are contributing towards the implementation of more ecologically responsible approaches to the management of tropical forests of the region.

Specific Objective and Outcome Indicators

To establish an interdisciplinary process for building and delivering the technical capacity necessary for implementing ecologically responsible forest management in public and private production forests of the Amazon region, favouring the sustainable use and conservation of forest biodiversity

Expected Outputs

The project will deliver on the specific project objective through the following three main outputs:

  1. Detailed national assessments taking into account the ITTO/IUCN Guidelines for Conservation of Biodiversity in Tropical Timber Production Forests as well as national and regional forest management standards, to report on (a) the extent to which public and private production forests of ACTO nations currently consider and implement biodiversity concerns and guidelines; (b) the national-level capacity for training and knowledge exchange in ecologically responsible forest management
  2. At least three existing forest management centres are strengthened to become coordinating centres of excellence for training in ecologically responsible forest management for the Amazon region. These centres are supported by newly developed training materials and a strengthened network of professional trainers
  3. A regional Knowledge Exchange Platform (KEP) on ecologically responsible forest management is established under the coordination of ACTO’s wider regional cooperation platform to facilitate sharing of information and experiences regarding the opportunities and challenges for incorporating biodiversity conservation concerns into the management of public and private forests.

PROJECT CONTEXT

1.1Origin

In helping to reconcile the joint objectives of economic development and environmental conservation, sustainable forest management stands to play an important role in helping to combat deforestation and degradation. In addition to the consideration of social and economic factors, sustainable forest management must be ecologically responsible. The goal of ecologically responsible forest management is to minimize, wherever possible, the impact of human activity on forest biodiversity and associated ecological processes such that the long-term ecological integrity of the forest is maintained. This is achieved through the development of forest planning, management and monitoring strategies that take account of both economic and environmental goals.

The diversity of forest management experiences across the Amazon region and elsewhere in the tropics demonstrate that ecologically responsible management is achievable, and can be competitive in a variety of contexts. However, whilst tremendous progress has been made in strengthening the commitment to ecologically responsible forest management practices across the nations that make up the Amazon, improvements have been highly uneven, and concerns about biodiversity are rarely integrated effectively into forest management operations.

This regional project represents the third initiative to be proposed under the ITTO-CBD collaboration, with the first two being focussed on South East Asia (Cambodia, Thailand and Laos) and the Congo basin (D.R.C., Congo, Gabon, C.A.R., Cameroon). The overarching goal of the project is to respond to priorities laid out by the Collaborative Initiative and the Regional Biodiversity Plan of ACTO’s Strategic Agenda to consolidate and enhance the capacity of public and private institutions to deliver effective guidelines for biodiversity conservation across production forests in the Amazon region. The project is motivated by the need to develop training opportunities and technical guidance that effectively balance scientific rigour with the practical challenges of implementing improvements to forest management on the ground. There is an urgent need to bridge the gap between needs and expectations of forest managers, government regulators and the academic community, and draw upon the strengths offered by all sectors to build a system that is both robust and sustainable.

1.2Relevance

This project will contribute to the implementation of both the ITTO Council Decision 6(XLIV) that adopted the “ITTO-IUCN Guidelines for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in tropical timber production forests” and Decision 6(XLVI) on “ITTO/CBD Collaborative Initiative to conserve tropical forest” through the delivery of a phased program of training and capacity building in environmentally responsible forest management approaches. This work will be underpinned by an extensive stakeholder participation and engagement exercise to clarify and consolidate a consensus framework for guidance on forest management, biodiversity conservation and monitoring. Furthermore, the project will invest in establishing strong and sustainable connections and channels of communication amongst individuals and institutions involved in forest management across the Amazon, as well as develop an online Knowledge Exchange Facility, to ensure that project outcomes continue to develop beyond completion of the initial program of work.

Specifically, the project will contribute to the promotion of good practices regarding the sustainable forest management in relation to the biodiversity conservation and livelihoods, in the ITTO Amazon ACTO countries, in conformity with the following Objectives of ITTA 2006 (Article 1)

In addition to other resources the proposed project will build directly from the ITTO-IUCN Guidelines for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity in Tropical Timber Production Forests (2009). Building on a large number of previous initiatives and guidelines from ITTO, CBD, FAO and other organizations these guidelines provide an appropriate framework guiding training and capacity building. Project work will focus in particular on the subset of principles that deal directly with forest management and capacity building, whilst also generating important information that is relevant to policy, legal, and socio-economic guidelines .

The proposed project involves all eight of the member nations of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO). The new Strategic Plan of ACTO approved by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the member countries in November 2010 in Lima, Peru, underscores the relevance and importance of this project for ACTO members. The Strategic Plan covers an eight (8) year implementing period, and incorporates a cross-cutting and multi-sectoral approach in all the programs, projects and activities identified by the member countries, and is based on two cross-cutting axes: (a) Conservation and Sustainable Use of Renewable Natural Resources and (b) Sustainable Development. The first sub-topic-A.1-Forests aims at promoting conservation, rehabilitation, reforestation and maintenance of management activities in forests and degraded areas, and also highlights the promotion and strengthening of collaborative forest management across the Amazon Region. In addition, the Strategic Plan expects to strengthen institutional planning and the management capacity of national protected areas systems (NPAS) and the sustainable use of biodiversity by promoting national capacity building in biological conservation. It is this latter objective that provides the focus of work for the current project.

The proposed project builds directly upon the experiences, networks and resources already developed through related past and ongoing regional and sub-regional projects involving ITTO, CBD and ACTO (see Section 3.2.1 of this proposal on the Regional Approach for Project implementation). Identifying and capitalising upon these existing developments is essential to the success and long-term effectiveness of the project.

Much of this existing and proposed work under these and other ACTO projects can provide explicit benefits for the proposed project, including the review of regional information relevant to the environmental sector; identification of expertise and key actors relevant to project work, and the development of products and tools of significant complementary value (e.g. forest cover monitoring under PANAMAZON II), and which offer major cost-sharing opportunities (e.g. the Integrated Information System for the proposed Water Resources work, and ACTO based overarching regional Information Exchange System).

As in the case of these related projects the proposed work will draw strength from integrating the combined experiences and knowledge of the ACTO member countries in the forest management sector. The project also explicitly recognises the fact that individual nations differ in their particular priorities, regulations and incentives regarding forest management, and seeks to strengthen opportunities for capacity development that are appropriate for a wide range of circumstances and forest management approaches.

1.3Expected outcomes at project completion

The project expects to deliver the following specific outcomes:

  • ACTO members have an improved understanding of the status of forest management in the production forests of their country and the extent to which biodiversity guidelines are currently being considered and met
  • ACTO members have access to the best available information on existing national capacity for integrating biodiversity conservation and forest management
  • A regional network of centres of excellence and training courses provide increased capacity for delivering ecologically responsible forest management in the Amazon
  • Access to information and experiences regarding opportunities and challenges facing ecological responsible management is increased within and between ACTO member nations.

These different outputs are self reinforcing and are expected to provide a greatly enhanced and strengthened regional support system for the training and implementation of improved techniques, approaches and knowledge exchange capacities for ecologically responsible forest management across the Amazon region. Ultimately this combination of enhanced capacities, knowledge and communication networks is expected to make a significant improvement in the capacity of regional stakeholders to safeguard biodiversity of the Amazon ecosystem.

PART 2. PROJECT RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES

2.1Rationale

2.1.1Institutional set-up and organizational issues

ACTO is the Lead Executing Agency (LEA) of the project and its Regional Coordinating Unit (RCU) will be subordinated to its Secretary General.

The Project will be ultimately governed by a Steering Committee (PSC) that will meet at least once a year or whenever necessary, and composed of the Project Regional Coordinator (PRC) who will act as secretary of the PSC, a representative of ACTO/PS, a representative of CBD, a representative of ITTO and National Coordinators (NCs) as representatives of each participating member country.

Each participating member country will designate an NC at the beginning of the project. The NC is expected to be an existing employee of either of the responsible agencies for forestry or biodiversity in each respective country. The NC will assist in the coordination of national-level project activities throughout the project cycle, and work in close cooperation with the PRC. Each participating country will have a Country Management Team (CMT), represented by the NC that will be made up of representatives from primary stakeholder groups, including government (encompassing designated authorities for both forestry and biodiversity), organisations involved in forest management activities (including forest management companies, local community and indigenous groups), independent specialists in forest management and biodiversity conservation, the academic research community, forest certification agencies, and country level ITTO and CBD representatives.

Under the coordination of the RC and ACTO Permanent Secretariat the PSC will continuously monitor the execution and progress of the project activities and will advise on opportunities for cost-saving and improving delivery of outputs.

2.1.3Problem Analysis

The continued loss of forest cover in the Amazon Region, together with the degradation of a substantial area of remaining forest (through unsustainable logging, fire, and other forms of resource extraction) is the primary driver of biodiversity loss and land degradation, and a major challenge for regional governance (Figure 2).

The processes of forest loss and degradation are driven in part by inadequacies and limitations in the definition and implementation of national legislation guiding forest use and planning, weaknesses in the institutions involved in the delivery of such legislation, and inadequate financial resources and incentives (Figure 2).

Beyond these political and socio-economic constraints there are two sets of critical and underlying enabling conditions that urgently need to be addressed to facilitate the integration of biodiversity concerns in forest management and the responsible use of forest resources in the Amazon region:

  1. The building and strengthening of national and regional capacities to integrate concerns about biodiversity conservation in forest management practices ,
  2. The provision and development of appropriate tools and incentives for the dissemination and sharing of information and experiences concerning past and ongoing practices of sustainable forest management, and biodiversity conservation and monitoring in the Amazon region.

The purpose of this project is to help meet both of thesedemands. Drawing upon the above analysis Figure 2 describes the overall problem tree, highlight the central management problem (forest management in the Amazon is failing to implement adequate guidelines to protect biodiversity) together with related effects and underlying causes. This analysis in turn helps to identify some of the potential solutions to the problem (Figure 3, and see logical framework).

Figure 1. Project problem Tree

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Figure 2 Project objectives Tree

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2.1.4Logical framework matrix

Intervention strategy / Indicators / Means of Verification / Assumptions
Development objective:
To enhance biodiversity conservation and strengthen environmental guidelines in production forests across the Amazon region / Institutional and technical capacities for incorporating biodiversity concerns and guidelines into forest management in the Amazon have improved.
Improvements in the ecological condition and conservation value of active production forests, as well as the restoration of forests degraded from past logging activities / Government and non-governmental data and reports on improved access to, and delivery of, training opportunities and information on biodiversity conservation in production forests in the Amazon region.
Government and non-governmental reports and third party field verification on changes improving forest management planning and implementation with positive impacts on biodiversity conservation. / National governments give adequate support and motivation to public and private institutions to engage in new training and information sharing opportunities, and to implement new skills and concepts for safeguarding biodiversity in forest management