IISD Reporting Services -
KEY PUBLICATIONS AND ONLINE RESOURCES
FORESTS, DESERTS, LAND
This page was updated on: 01/13/10
(WBCSD, 2005) The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) prepared this report for release during the eleventh Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change in December 2005. The report finds that the best way for the industry to reduce emissions is through technological innovation and accelerated capital stock turnover. The report.
(FAO and ITTO, 2005) The UN Food and Agricultural Organization produced this publication in collaboration with the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO). It draws from 11 country case studies to analyze available knowledge and identify a set of best practices that decision makers could apply to reduce illegal operations in the forest sector. The publication.
(Forest Industries Intelligence, 2005) This report questions the assumptions WWF used to produce its estimates of illegal wood product imports into the EU in its report, “Failing the Forests” (2005). The appraisal was prepared by Forest Industries Intelligence, an “independent UK-based consultancy serving a range of clients in the international forest products sector.” The report.
(WWF, 2005) WWF forest experts based this report on trade data for the EU and six timber producing regions, the Amazon Basin, the Congo Basin, East Africa, Baltic states, Indonesia and Russia to examine the role of the EU in trade in illegally sourced timber. The report “explores how the EU is driving the illegal timber trade worldwide, and assesses the potential to limit illegal logging over the next 10 years.” The report.
(FAO, 2005) This FAO assessment of forests and forestry was carried out between 2003 and 2005. It examines the current status and recent trends for about 40 variables covering the extent, condition, uses and values of forests and other wooded land, with the aim of assessing all benefits from forest resources. The results are presented according to six thematic elements of sustainable forest management. Results summary.
(Forest Trends, 2005) This study by Alexei Lankin examines the status and trends of Russian Far East and Eastern Siberia forest product exports to China. It includes a description of, and summary statistics on, the volumes and values of forest product exports to China. The report.
(Savcor, 2005) This study of illegal logging and forest governance was commissioned by the World Bank. It was carried out between January and June 2005 by Savcor-Indufor Oy, a Finnish headquartered company, and covered the following countries: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Serbia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The study.
(ENA FLEG, 2005) This resource contains the draft Ministerial Declaration that is expected to be negotiated and signed at the Ministerial Conference for the Europe and North Asia (ENA) Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (FLEG) process, which will meet in St. Petersburg, Russia, from 22-25 November 2005. Draft declaration, 20 October 2005.
(ITTO/IUCN, November 2005) This report draws on the ideas and needs of tropical forest restoration practitioners and is the outcome of collaboration between a number of institutions, including ITTO, IUCN, the Forestry Commission of Great Britain, WWF International, Intercooperation, CIFOR and the University of Queensland, under the auspices of the Global Partnership on Forest Landscape Restoration. The publication.
(IUCN, 2005) This text, authored by J. Fisher, Stewart Maginnis, W.J. Jackson, Edmund Barrow and Sally Jeanrenaud, is the output of an IUCN project on poverty and conservation, led by the IUCN Forest Conservation Programme. It seeks to challenge both conservation and development thinking by examining various dimensions of why conservation must address poverty reduction, and why developmentalists cannot afford to ignore the natural resource base on which many poor people depend. The report.
(Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), June 2005) This document outlines how CIFOR will build on its experience and expand its activities in Africa to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals of halving extreme poverty by 2015 and safeguarding forests. The report.
(UNCCD, 2005) This review of the activities of the Secretariat of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification was prepared at the request of the Sixth Conference of Parties (COP-6) to facilitate a discussion on this issue at COP-7. The review.
(Chatham House, 2005) Written by Duncan Brack, this report provides the background and context to the current Chatham House study of “additional legislative options” that could be employed to exclude illegal timber and timber products from EU markets. The study includes an examination of existing national legislation in a range of EU member States that may be of relevance in halting the import of illegally-logged timber and wood products. The report.
(Chatham House, 2005) This report, authored by Lauren Flejzor, describes the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), analyzes its activities on illegal logging and considers the debates around the issue during the renegotiation of the International Tropical Timber Agreement. The report.
(UNECE, 2005) This annual market review provides general and statistical information on forest products markets in 2003-2005 in the UN Economic Commission for Europe region (which includes Europe, North America and the Commonwealth of Independent States). The review.
(US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, 2005) This resource contains the proceedings of an eponymous conference, offering a compendium of more than 40 contributions from Asia, Europe, and North America covering a variety of silvicultural treatments and systems, along with simulation runs with different types of models and discussions about design challenges for scaling-up from stands to landscapes. More information.
(Rainforest Alliance, June 2005) This report examines the changes that 129 SmartWood-certified operations in 21 countries made during their certification assessments, in an effort to describe the impacts of forest certification. The report.
(FAO, 2005) This CD-ROM resource contains more than 70 publications on participatory forestry and related subjects produced by FAO and its partners. For more information, e-mail: Dominique.Reeb@fao.org.
(Chemonics International, 2005) This three-volume study (study summary, study report and focus country profiles) reviews the history of the United States Agency for International Development’s forestry programmes and efforts to ensure that communities benefit from natural forest management. The aim of the study is to assist the agency in formulating and evaluating recommendations for future natural forest management programming. More information.
(WWF, June 2005) This report from conservation organization WWF supports a 2001 World Bank report that predicted all lowland rainforests in Kalimantan – the Indonesian part of Borneo – would disappear by 2010, and predicts an uncertain future for the island's remaining forests. The WWF report.
(IUFRO, 2005) This Policy Brief, which is based on the work of over 100 authors, was prepared by the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) Special Project, “World Forests, Society and Environment.” The report can be obtained by e-mailing the IUFRO WFSE-Coordinator.
(UNDP, 2004) This book is the ninth volume in a UNDP series on “sharing innovative experiences.” It summarizes 19 cases from 13 countries in Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East, and Latin America and the Caribbean. More information.
(CIFOR, 2005) This booklet explores the scientific evidence linking floods and forests and reveals that much of what is ingrained in people’s minds cannot be substantiated by science. The booklet.
(CIFOR, 2005) This Occasional Paper from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) discusses payments for environmental services (PES), which are part of a new conservation paradigm aimed at explicitly recognizing the need to bridge the interests of “landowners and outsiders.” It provides practical hints for PES design and considers the likely niche for PES in the portfolio of conservation approaches. The paper.
(Seneca Creek Associates, 2004) The American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA) hired Seneca Creek Associates and Wood Resources Institute to write this paper, which examines illegal logging in Brazil, Central and West Africa, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Russia, and suspicious forest product imports into China, Europe, and Japan. The paper also presents an analysis of the effect of illegal logging on world trade. The paper.
(Metafore, May 2005) This report presents the results of the non-profit organization Metafore’s investigations, surveys and conversations regarding how major companies within the Fortune 100 make wood and paper purchasing decisions. The report.
(FAO, 2005) This study highlights the positive management efforts in the Asia–Pacific region in forest management, encouraging replication of successes rather than taking the more usual approach of focusing on the failures in this area. The report was produced by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Regional Community Forestry Training Center for Asia and the Pacific (RECOFTC). It can be downloaded as PDF file at http://www.fao.org/documents/show_cdr.asp?url_file=/docrep/007/ae542e/ae542e00.htm.
(UNFF, March 2005) UN member States, CPF members and other relevant organizations and forest-related processes were invited to submit voluntary reports on the implementation of the IPF/IFF proposals for action, and to respond to a voluntary questionnaire about the effectiveness of the international arrangement on forests. This 109-page Analytical Study gives details on the information in these reports and questionnaire responses beyond what was included in the Report of the Secretary-General on the Review of the Effectiveness of the International Arrangement on Forests (E/CN.18/2005/6). This “non-official draft” prepared by the UNFF Secretariat is available online.
(WWF, FERN and Greenpeace, January 2005). This six-page paper identifies principles that the three contributing organizations believe are necessary for partnership agreements and licensing schemes that evolve from the May 2003 European Commission’s “EU Action Plan on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade,” which included a proposal for a licensing scheme aimed at preventing the import into the EU of illegally logged timber. The paper.
(FAO, 2005) This report was presented by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization at the March 2005 session of the FAO Committee on Forestry to about 100 heads of national forestry agencies. The 2005 version of this biennial publication has as its theme, “realizing the economic benefits from forests.” The report includes contributions on: enhancing the economic benefits from forests; economic benefits from agroforestry; the economics of wood energy; impacts of tariffs and non-tariff measures on forest products trade; and violent conflicts in forested areas.
(FAO, March 2005) This website, which was launched on 24 March 2005, will enable African countries to share information on outbreaks of invasive pest species and woody species, and on ways to tackle them. The site was created by African specialists at the initiative of the Forest Invasive Species Network for Africa (FISNA), and is hosted by FAO.
(FAO, 2004) This text by Raul Ponce-Hernandez, with contributions from Parviz Koohafkan and Jacques Antoine, examines options to address poverty alleviation, food security and sustainable management of natural resources by enhancing land productivity through diversification of agricultural systems, soil fertility management and carbon sequestration in poor rural areas, thereby creating synergies between the Convention to Combat Desertification (CCD), the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The publication presents the methodology, models and software tools that were developed and tested in pilot field studies in Cuba and Mexico. The models and tools enable the analysis of land-use change scenarios to identify land-use options and land management practices that would simultaneously maximize food and biomass production, soil carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation, and minimize land degradation in a given area.
(Science Press Inc. USA and WWF, 2004) China is expected to lead the world’s wood market in the near future. The country imports more than half of its timber from countries such as Russia, Malaysia and Indonesia, all of which are experiencing problems with over-harvesting, conversion of natural forests and illegal logging. This WWF report, written by Zhu Chunquan, Rodney Taylor and Feng Guoqiang, reviews the diverse policies that shape China’s forest products market. The authors analyze China’s forest products market and the “ecological footprint” of its industrial wood consumption, and identify policy changes and actions that could reduce the negative impacts of China’s wood products market on the environment.
(IUFRO, 2005) This resource, Volume 15 in the IUFRO World Series, contains extended abstracts from the 14-18 June 2004 conference of the same name. The table of contents and programme of the meeting, as well as information on how to order the complete publication, are available online.
(CIFOR, 2005) This book, written by Erik Meijaard et al. and published by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), shows how logging affects wildlife in Borneo and elsewhere in Southeast Asia, and makes recommendations on how to conserve it. The authors suggest that logging companies should design their roads and trails to: avoid dividing the forest into too many fragments, keep out hunters, make smaller gaps in the forest, prevent slashing of vines and ground cover, and minimize soil disturbance.
(Forest Trends, 2004) This paper, authored by Gerardo Segura, examines the experience of four countries that have made an effort to promote forest certification. The paper also considers the implications for achieving the goals of policy and regulatory frameworks, and makes recommendations on how to move forward in the next decade.
THE LAST FRONTIER: ILLEGAL LOGGING IN PAPUA AND CHINAï¿½S MASSIVE TIMBER THEFT
(EIA/Telapak, 2005) This Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA)/Telapak report reveals details of a recent investigation into the smuggling of merbau, a hardwood used mainly for flooring. The report tracks the merbau smuggling, which begins in the forests of Papua and involves middlemen in Jakarta, Singapore and Hong Kong, to the rapidly-expanding timber processing factories of China. The report reveals that such smuggling has persisted in spite of a December 2002 Memorandum of Understanding signed by the governments of Indonesia and China to combat illegal trade in forest products. The report; EIA website; Telapak website.
(IUFRO, 2005) The International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) has relaunched its website and IUFRO News publication, which is produced 10 times a year.
(Greenomics Indonesia and WWF, January 2005) This study assesses Acehï¿½s timber needs for reconstruction and repair of housing, office buildings, schools, hospitals, houses of worship and fishing fleet following the tsunami disaster. The authors recommend the use of imported, sustainably-produced timber to avoid clearing hundreds of thousands of Indonesian forests. They also suggest that some of the aid already pledged by donors for the reconstruction of Aceh should be given in the form of timber.
THE COST OF U.S. FOREST-BASED CARBON SEQUESTRATION
(Pew Center on Global Climate Change, January 2005) This report, written by Harvard Universityï¿½s Robert N. Stavins and Kenneth R. Richards of Indiana University, synthesizes and expands on available studies of forest-based carbon sequestration in the United States. The authors analyze the real opportunity costs of using land for sequestration, in contrast with other productive uses, and examine factors that drive the economics of storing carbon in forests over long periods of time. The report.
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