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HeartWood No. 1 (2009)
FAO’S VOLUNTARY GUIDELINES FOR RESPONSIBLE
FOREST MANAGEMENT
by Jim Carle (FAO, Rome)
FAO were tasked with preparation
of voluntary guidelines for: i)
responsible management of planted
forests 1 ; and ii) fire management 2 ;
by member countries through the
Committee on Forestry (March, 2005),
Ministerial Meeting on Sustainable Forest
Management (March, 2005) and by the
private sector, through the Advisory
Committee for Paper and Wood Products
(an FAO technical statutory body).
The two voluntary guidelines were to
strengthen country capacity to achieve
sustainable forest management and
increase the contribution of forests and
trees towards sustainable livelihoods and
land-use.
FAO collaborated with a wide range of
partners and stakeholders in preparing the
voluntary guidelines, through technical
and expert consultations, six Regional
Forestry Commissions during 2006 and
through private sector and NGO processes.
The 18th Session of the Committee on
Forestry (COFO), March 2007, commended
FAO for coordinating the multi-stakeholder
processes and recommended that FAO,
together with Member Countries and
partners, strengthen capacity towards
their implementation.
The voluntary guidelines address the
social, cultural, environmental as well as
economic dimensions of planted forests
and fire management. Furthermore they
encourage policy dialogue, strategic
planning and integrated actions across
sectors. The primary target users were
senior policy and decision makers and
managers from both the public and
private sectors, with secondary users
including academics, scientists, NGOs
and other civil society groups.
The voluntary guidelines provide a
comprehensive review of responsibilities
under international commitments to
decision makers in policy, planning
and management. They also provide a
framework of principles and strategic
actions necessary for responsible
management of planted forests and fire
management at the national, sub-national
and field levels. The two voluntary
guidelines are tools that can contribute
to sustainable forest management and
broader livelihoods and development
goals.
The voluntary
guidelines address
the social, cultural,
environmental as
well as economic
dimensions of planted
forests and fire
management.
The voluntary guidelines for responsible
management of planted forests are
available in English, French, Spanish and
Chinese, whilst Arabic and Russian are
in process. The voluntary guidelines for
fire management are available in English,
French, Spanish, Russian, Indonesian
Bahasa and Korean, whilst Nepalese,
Portuguese, Macedonian and Croation are
in process.
To facilitate implementation of the
voluntary guidelines for fire management,
the Fire Management Actions Alliance 3
was launched at the 4th International
Wildland Fire Conference in May 2007. The
50 founding members of this international
partnership undertook to implement the
voluntary guidelines for fire management,
share information, knowledge and
activities and to enhance international
cooperation in fire management. FAO
provides the Secretariat to the Alliance.
1
Voluntary Guidelines for Responsible Management of Planted Forests: http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/j9256e/j9256e00.htm
2
Voluntary Guidelines for Fire Management: http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/j9255e/j9255e00.htm
3
Fire Management Actions Alliance: http://www.fao.org/forestry/firealliance/en/
FAO is supporting Member Countries
to undertake needs analyses, prepare
action frameworks, elaborate on 3-5
year programmes and identify funding
opportunities for implementation of the
voluntary guidelines, including through
national and regional workshops. FAO
support has been available through
the Regular Programme, TCP, GCP and
national forest programmes Facility.
FAO has also been collaborating with
a wide range of stakeholder groups to
mobilize resources from the public and
private sectors, NGOs, funding agencies
and donors for implementation of the
voluntary guidelines in their projects and
programmes.
For further information please contact
Jim Carle, OIC, FOMR at jim.carle@fao.org
or Ext. 55296.
HeartWood No. 2
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