CHALLENGEApproximately 100 million people live in the miombo region which covers 11 countries of eastern and southern Africa. About 75 million of them are poor and rely on woodlands, characterized by poor soils, as a resource and a safety net in times of stress.Although exploitation of the woodlands for agriculture, timber and energy (fuelwood) has not contributed to widespread poverty alleviation, conservation of the woodlands would have opportunity costs for land managers and users that need to be taken into account. To change the behavior of farmers, payments for avoided deforestation…
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CHALLENGETen to forty percent of the forest area in Macedonia, Albania and Serbia is privately or community-owned. Due to poor governance and institutional shortcomings as well as the lack of capacities, small-scale private and community forestry has had difficulties accessing the forest products’ and services’ markets and meeting criteria for sustainable forest management. This has led to mismanagement and illegal activities perpetuating disinterest in sustainable forest management and endangering the execution of property rights. As a result, private and community forest owners have faced…
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CHALLENGE: A Global Imbalance in Forest InvestmentsThe forest community recognizes that the private sector has a role to play in financing sustainable forest management (SFM). There is a considerable gap between the US$70-160 billion that SFM needs each year, and official development assistance to forestry, which only covers about 1 percent of the estimated total financing need.Despite the private sector’s importance to forests, information on private forest financing remains scarce and inadequate. Data on private forest financing is not systematically reported in either global or regional…
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The year 2016 was a powerful reminder that trees and forests play a critical role in our environment, economy and society – and that we face tremendous obstacles in protecting and sustainably managing them. With 2016 on track to be the hottest year on record and major development challenges remaining, forests are integral to addressing climate change and building more resilient and economically prosperous communities worldwide. These concerns are seeing progress in global commitments like the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement; building the knowledge base to fulfill…
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CHALLENGECountries in South Asia are increasingly committed to the improved management of the region’s forests, including for the purpose of making progress towards individual Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) for mitigating and adapting to climate change. However, South Asia faces significant challenges in managing its forest sector. For example, decades of conflict in Afghanistan have led to substantial forest loss, while in India, forest cover has stabilized but forest quality is deteriorating. In other countries, development pressures from expanding settlements and…
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BACKGROUNDThe Government of Mexico recognizes the critical importance of forests as a natural asset for domestic socio-economic development as well as for the environmental services they provide. The Government’s commitment to this agenda is evidenced by its participation in relevant international fora, such as President Calderon’s statements on REDD+ at COP 16 in Cancun, Mexico’s leading role in the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility, and a new partnership with Costa Rica and Ecuador to learn lessons about how Payment for Environmental Services programs in those countries can create…
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CHALLENGEThe reform of state forest management has become a priority issue in Northeast China. Unlike the collective forest areas of Southern China, Northeast China's state forest enterprises (SFEs) have not been successfully transformed. A decline in timber productivity (due to overexploitation and degradation of forests) has been acompanied by economic stagnation and heavy fiscal obligations toward state forest enterprise workers, leaving SFEs highly dependent on subsidies and transfers.APPROACHAlthough the World Bank has been an important partner of the Chinese government in the forestry…
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CHALLENGEAn active debate on concession policies and forest fiscal systems has taken place for a number of years. Several countries, encompassing a diverse range of forest types and associated industries, are implementing or considering new approaches to allocating rights to utilize forests. While their situations are different, in all cases the objective is to identify the practical ways to ensure that forests can be utilized sustainably and make a more positive contribution to national poverty reduction objectives (as defined in PRSPs or similar statement of policy) through stimulating…
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CHALLENGELand degradation, deforestation, climate variability and unsustainable land use represent multi-dimensional challenges that require integrated solutions across boundaries to address. For example, programs that promote resilient landscapes should be designed to connect forests, croplands, irrigated agricultural lands, woodlands, protected areas, and agro-silvo-pastoral lands that will optimize the provision and utilization of ecosystem services. Subsequently, World Bank client countries have been increasingly seeking support to move towards such an integrated approach to manage the…
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PROGRAM SUMMARYThe development objective of this activity is to raise awareness among staff in ministries of finance and other sector ministries of WB client countries and among international financial sector stakeholders of the importance and opportunity of investing in biodiversity and ecosystem services sustainable management.CHALLENGEBiodiversity and ecosystems are being lost at an alarming rate. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), recently warned that the health of ecosystems on which humans and all other species depend is…
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