NEW YORK (April 1, 2012)– It is widely acknowledged that improving forest governance is an important prerequisite for sustainable forest management and reducing deforestation and forest degradation. Making governance work better for people and forests is not an easy task. Divergent interests, imbalanced power relations and unequal access to information, decision-making, resources and benefits all contribute to this challenge. The latest journal of the European Tropical Forest Research Network (ETFRN), Moving Forward with Forest Governance, includes 29 articles showcasing a rich diversity of examples of how forest governance has been addressed in various settings.

WEDO is pleased to be included among this rich collection of views and perspectives on good governance in forestry. Written by WEDO Project Coordinator Andrea Quesada-Aguilar alongside partner and IUCN Senior Global Gender Advisor Lorena Aguilar, Section 4.3 (pages 149-157) entitled Gender and REDD+ road maps in Cameroon, Ghana and Uganda, addresses how a gender-sensitive process to Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) will allow countries to address gender inequalities from the onset of the process.

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Moving Forward with Forest Governance

Section 1. Concepts, perspectives and realities

• Forest governance: mainstream and critical views, Bas Arts and Ingrid J. Visseren-Hamakers
• Governance and large-scale investments in forested landscapes, Laura German
• Interactive forest governance for conflict management in Ghana, Mercy Derkyi, Mirjam A.F. Ros-Tonen, Ton Dietz and Boateng Kyereh
• Forest governance in DRC: artisanal logging, Charlotte Benneker
• Governance of non-timber forest products in the Congo Basin, Verina Ingram
• Governance of biological and genetic resources, Rachel Wynberg and Sarah Laird

Section 2. Monitoring and transparency

• A common framework to assess and monitor forest governance, Marjo Maidell, Emelyne Cheney and Ewald Rametsteiner
• Forest governance: lessons from three African countries, Nalin Kishor, Tapani Oksanen, Kenneth Rosenbaum and Michael Gachanja
• Strengthening forest governance monitoring: Zambia and Vietnam, Arend Jan van Bodegom, Herman Savenije, Art Blundell, Martin Sekeleti, Le Khac Coi and Ewald Rametsteiner
• Tackling forestry corruption in Asia-Pacific, Manoj Nadkarni
• Using access-to-information legislation to improve transparency, Mireya Villacís, David Young and Estefanía Charvet

Section 3. FLEGT

• Introduction to FLEGT, VPA s and the EU Timber Regulation, Flip van Helden
• Forest governance in Southeast Asia, Hugh Speechly and Flip van Helden
• FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreements, Melissa Othman, Iola Leal, Didier Devers and Lea Turunen
• The political economy of timber governance in Ghana, Jens Friis Lund, Kirsten Carlsen, Christian Pilegaard Hansen and Thorsten Treue
• Where next for forest governance reform?, Sam Lawson

Section 4. REDD+ and climate change

• Introduction to REDD+, Valerie Merckx
• The impact of REDD on forest governance, Saskia Ozinga
• Gender and REDD+ road maps in Cameroon, Ghana and Uganda, Andrea Quesada-Aguilar and Lorena Aguilar
• The GuateCarbon initiative and REDD+ readiness in Guatemala, Benjamin D. Hodgdon, Jeffrey Hayward and Omar Samayoa
• REDD+ and forest governance in Nepal, Eak B. Rana, Seema Karki, Bhaskar S. Karky, Rajan Kotru and Jagdish Poudel

Section 5. Other governance instruments

• Are National Forest Programmes valid instruments for improving governance?, Cornelia Sepp and Stefan Mann
• Can the FLEGT Action Plan and voluntary forest certification reinforce each other?, Alexander Hinrichs and Flip van Helden
• From forest certification to REDD+ in Malaysia, Jessica Rae and Lee Godden
• Forest governance from an investor’s perspective, Bas Wetzelaer

Section 6. Case studies: stakeholder engagement and conflict resolution

• Community forestry: a Namibian case study, Carsten Schusser
• Pro-poor forest governance in Burkina Faso and Tanzania, Julia Paulson, Gemma Salt, Tony Hill, Ludovic Conditamde, Désiré Ouedraogo and Joanna Wain
• Addressing forest degradation and timber deficits in Ghana, Thomas F.G. Insaidoo, Mirjam A.F. Ros-Tonen, Lucien Hoogenbosch and Emmanuel Acheampong
• Decentralized forest governance in central Vietnam, Tran Nam Tu and Paul Burgers
• Conflict management and sustainable forest management in the Himalayas, Rajan Kotru and Navraj Pradhan