Since the start of the FLEGT VPA negotiations between the EU and the Republic of Congo, the involvement of local communities and indigenous peoples in decision-making bodies on forest governance has improved. The VPA encourages the involvement of civil society organisations in non-mandated independent monitoring of forest resource management.
Depuis le début des négociations de l’APV FLEGT entre l’UE et la République du Congo, l’implication des communautés locales et des populations autochtones dans les instances de prise de décision sur la gouvernance forestière s’est améliorée. En effet, l’APV favorise l’implication des organisations de la société civile dans l’observation indépendante externe de la gestion des ressources forestières.
Since the beginning of the FLEGT VPA negotiations on trade in timber and timber products between the EU and Côte d’Ivoire, the country has implemented legal reforms to improve forest governance and fight illegal logging. Some of these reforms are beginning to bear fruit.
Depuis le début des négociations de l’APV FLEGT sur le commerce de bois et produits dérivés entre l’UE et la Côte d’Ivoire, le pays a mis en œuvre des réformes légales afin d’améliorer la gouvernance forestière et lutter contre l’exploitation illégale du bois. Certaines de ces réformes commencent à porter leurs fruits.
Sustainable development has three pillars: economic viability, environmental protection and social equity. If one of these pillars is unstable or missing, then no society can thrive.
In rural Côte d’Ivoire, women depend on forests for the subsistence and health of their families. However, despite the existence of laws recognising gender equality, they are not involved in decisions that affect forests and have very limited access to land and associated economic benefits.
Dans le milieu rural ivoirien, les femmes dépendent des forêts pour la subsistance et la santé de leurs familles. Néanmoins, malgré l’existence de lois reconnaissant l’égalité des sexes, elles ne sont pas impliquées dans les décisions qui touchent aux forêts et n’ont qu’un accès très limité à la propriété de la terre et aux bénéfices économiques que celle-ci rapporte.
“Nos incorporamos tarde al proceso, pero sabíamos que era importante, así que pusimos mucho interés en entenderlo. Y nos encontramos con un grupo de actores comprometidos a trabajar de manera conjunta en busca de un objetivo común”. Rosario García es la presidenta de la Organización Nacional Indígena Lenca de Honduras (ONIL) y la coordinadora de la Mesa de la Unidad del Pueblo Indígena Lenca de Honduras (MUPIL). El proceso al que se refiere se conoce como Acuerdo Voluntario de Asociación, o AVA, y está transformando la forma en que se manejan los bosques hondureños.
“We came late to the process. But knew it was important, so we made it our priority to understand it. And we were met by a committed group of people working together towards a common objective”. Rosario García is the president of the National Lenca Indigenous Organisation (ONIL) and coordinator of the Roundtable for the Unity of Lenca Indigenous People (MUPIL). The process she is referring to is known as the Voluntary Partnership Agreement, or VPA, and it is already reshaping the way forests are managed in Honduras.
It’s a quiet Thursday morning in Wruwru, a small village in the Akontombra District of the Western North region of Ghana. A little too quiet perhaps. No one is tending to the forest reserve, no children are playing under the trees and no community members are making use of the water from the river that flows through the forest. This is because today is a so-called ‘taboo day’. A day when the local community prays, rests and does not enter its forest.
Rodrigue Ngonzo, EU-F4F/Particip
Logs and Lumber Limited