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AFLEG Workshop
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Presentation ·
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Monitoring and Reporting Needs in Support of the
African Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (AFLEG) Process
Summary and
Recommendations
March 11 –
13, 2003
Douala,
Cameroon
Sponsored by:
Ministère de l'environnement et des forêts du Cameroun
(MINEF) World Resources Institute (WRI)
with additional support by: Department for International Development (DFID)
Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE)
Workshop Summary
From March
11-13, 2003, MINEF (Ministry of Environment and Forestry-Cameroon) and
WRI (World Resources Institute) hosted a workshop in Douala, Cameroon
with the support of the United Kingdom and the United States governments
to address information and monitoring needs in support of forest law
enforcement. The workshop was attended by 35 representatives from
government, industry, NGOs, and bi-lateral aid agencies. The objectives
included:
1. Identify key
information needed to promote/support forest law enforcement
2. Identify
monitoring and reporting strategies (successful approaches) which could
be strengthened and widely applied
3. Develop
recommendations for AFLEG (ministerial declaration, monitoring
implementation activities)
The workshop was
organized according to plenary and working group sessions. On the
morning of March 11, Mr. Foteu of MINEF, Mr. Hugh Speechly (DFID), and
Mr. Alan Kellogg (U.S. Agency for International Development) opened the
workshop and welcomed participants. Mr. Dirk Bryant of the World
Resources Institute (WRI) outlined the workshop objectives and provided
a summary of the agenda.
After lunch, Ms. Marta Miranda (WRI) provided a brief summary of primary
data needs and key audiences for forest monitoring efforts. Mr. Landrot
(Inter-African Forest Industries Association--IFIA) summarized the data
needs of member companies of IFIA and presented the association’s code
of conduct. Case studies of monitoring approaches were presented by Mr.
Mamadou Fofana (Côte d’Ivoire), and Mr. Eric Nguimbog (GFW-Cameroon).
During the morning of March 12, monitoring case studies were presented
by Mr. Andy Roby (TTF-UK) and Mr. Antoine de La Rochefordière (SGS). Mr.
Hugh Speechly provided a summary of the outcomes of previous FLEG
meetings in Asia and agenda items that will likely be discussed at the
upcoming FLEG meeting in Africa.
During the afternoon, participants divided into two groups: one group
identified underlying challenges to forest monitoring and common
infractions and the second group focused on recommended actions for
establishing forest monitoring in support of law enforcement. Both
groups presented results from their discussions in plenary. Participant
comments to the recommended actions for a monitoring agenda were
integrated and the action agenda was translated into French and English.
During the morning of March 13, participants debated the proposed
monitoring agenda in plenary and a sub-group of participants integrated
comments made during plenary into the agenda. The final recommendations
were presented in a final plenary session and participants were
encouraged to make any recommended changes to a final version that was
circulated electronically one week after the closure of the workshop.
All comments received from participants on the attached recommended
monitoring agenda have been incorporated.
Summary of Recommendations
Considering the
need for efficient and transparent monitoring and control of forest law
enforcement, we recommend the following:
-
Make available
coordinated, up-to-date, and reliable information systems on actors and
activities in the environment and forestry sectors.
-
Promote
partnerships among the public sector, the private sector, and civil
society to collect, monitor, and validate information.
-
In each country
establish tracking systems to monitor the flow of forest products from
extraction to product use.
-
Consolidate
information on forest product flows and markets at the local, national,
sub-regional, and international levels.
-
Strengthen
competent institutions and the technical and human capacities of the
various actors involved in the production, collection, processing,
dissemination and use of information.
-
Assure the
regular and transparent dissemination of information from government
agencies and economic actors.
-
Ensure the
sustainability of actions initiated in connection with the monitoring
process of forest law implementation (AFLEG).
-
Regularly assess
and adjust actions initiated in connection with the AFLEG process.
Recommendations to Support the AFLEG
Process
In order to
provide and disseminate the information required to support forest law
enforcement activities in the region, we propose that AFLEG parties
adopt the following monitoring agenda:
1. Mapping:
1.1.
Facilitate the acquisition of recent and quality satellite images free
of charge.
- Who? National agencies from the US, France and other countries
providing such images
- How? Free access to wall-to-wall ortho-rectified satellite images and
to digital elevation models (DEM)
- Update baseline maps at a standardized scale and at scales appropriate
for decision-making in collaboration with national mapping agencies
1.2. Establish detailed maps pertaining to forest areas to meet
planning needs
1.3. In order to facilitate the creation of maps, improve
cooperation between relevant agencies and develop the capacities of
national mapping agencies
- Who? National ministries and agencies in charge of mapping
- How? Organize cooperation between agencies
1.4. Facilitate the development of a standardized database (e.g.,
plantations, community forests, mining areas, conflict areas, and
concessions) for mapping at the national, sub-regional, and regional
levels
- Who? African governments and NGOs with donor support
- How? Conduct a needs assessment to ensure that each country meets the
same basic data standards. Establish a regional scheme to update maps.
2. Create
updated basic production databases of logging and wood processing
company activities (e.g. SIGIF in Cameroon, SIGEF in Gabon):
2.1.
Coordinate data collection among national institutions, NGOs, and the
private sector
2.2. Make the following information available in a transparent
manner, while respecting the institutional mechanisms implemented in
each country:
a. Location of concessions
b. Surface area of concessions
c. Property rights on concessions
d. Duration and status of concessions
e. Contractual documents
f. Management plans
g. Payments (including taxes) made by companies
h. Compensation or benefits granted to local communities
i. Data and statistics on industrial and commercial activities
j. Wood flows throughout the production-distribution chain
- Who? African governments
- How? By committing themselves to regularly publish data in a format
accessible to the public (e.g., government publication, Internet site,
other media)
3. Encourage
partnerships among the public sector, the private sector, and civil
society to verify, validate, and assess data:
3.1.
Promote the development of a code of conduct that NGOs and private
sector monitoring firms will follow in order to ensure the transparency
and integrity of information collection, processing, and dissemination
3.2. Encourage governments to work with NGOs and private sector
companies that abide by such a code of conduct
4. Introduce
national systems to track logs to their first points of processing or
ports, including secure identification and electronic databases:
- Who? African
governments contracting qualified specialist organizations
- How? Use donor funding to pilot, but ultimately use forest industry
fees to make the systems self-financing. Ensure the systems use
technology appropriate to each country’s communication infrastructure.
5. Promote
the collection and analysis of trade and market data:
5.1.
Identify and understand discrepancies in international trade
- Who? African governments with the technical support of experts and in
collaboration with international organizations such as ITTO, OAB, etc.
- How? Study data using original documents from different sources and
compare these with published summaries from national statistics trade
organizations
5.2. Monitor forest product flows and their local and
sub-regional markets Who? African governments with the technical support
of consultants
6. Capacity
building:
6.1.
Countries having signed the declaration should identify capacity
building needs and develop relevant capacity building strategies to
address those needs
6.2. Promote collaboration between international and local NGOs
for capacity building
6.3. Favor a “development-operation-transfer” process for private
sector verification and monitoring contracts
7. Monitoring
over time:
7.1. A
monitoring system of the AFLEG process is indispensable and should
allowfor regular adaptation of actions based on the results achieved
- Who? Stakeholders in the AFLEG process
- How? Each country decides which actions to initiate in order to
implement the commitments it made and provides periodic reporting to two
entities—an intergovernmental body and a consultative committee
(comprising civil society and private sector). Each country’s progress
is assessed, and actions adjusted as necessary to reach the targeted
objectives.
Key
Underlying Challenges to Forest Management in Africa
(Click thumbnail to view full-sized image)
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