Publications and Reports

The REDD Opportunities Scoping Exercise

A Tool for Prioritizing Sub-National REDD+ Activities - Case Studies from Ghana, Tanzania, and Uganda

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Building Bridges: State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2010

This fourth annual “State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets” report is designed to give a market‐wide perspective on trading volumes, credit prices, project types, locations, and the motivations of buyers in this market. Findings are based on data voluntarily reported by 200 offset suppliers, as well as exchanges and registries. Because of the challenges of inventorying and obtaining data from this disaggregated marketplace,...

Dependent Documents Associated with this Publication

Executive Summary: State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2010: Building Bridges

Kate Hamilton, Molly Peters-Stanley, Thomas Marcello - Ecosystem Marketplace - June 2010

Manual for Social Impact Assessment of Land-Based Carbon Projects

Part I - Core Guidance for Project Proponents

Forest Trends, CCBA, FFI, and Rainforest Alliance have published Version 1.0 of a “Manual for Social Impact Assessment of Land-Based Carbon Projects.” The Manual is designed to be used by carbon project proponents aiming for validation under the CCB Standards, or other multiple-benefit carbon standards. The NGOs involved in this initiative believe that a combination of credible social impact assessment methods and robust standards...

Manual for Social Impact Assessment of Land-Based Carbon Projects

Part II - Toolbox of Methods and Support Materials

Forest Trends, CCBA, FFI, and Rainforest Alliance have published Version 1.0 of a “Manual for Social Impact Assessment of Land-Based Carbon Projects.” The Manual is designed to be used by carbon project proponents aiming for validation under the CCB Standards, or other multiple-benefit carbon standards. The NGOs involved in this initiative believe that a combination of credible social impact assessment methods and robust standards...

State of Watershed Payments

An Emerging Marketplace

How can we as a society address the many problems that plague the waterfront? How do we get people to be more mindful about their water use? How do we regulate pollution flowing into our waterways? How do we put a stop to the growing number of dead zones around the world? And how do we ensure that humans – and the plants and animals on which we depend – have access to the quantity and quality of water that they need to survive? This...

Dependent Documents Associated with this Publication

Executive Summary: State of Watershed Payments: An Emerging Marketplace

Tracy Stanton, Marta Echavarria, Katherine Hamilton, Caroline Ott - Ecosystem Marketplace - June 2010

Tools for the Tides

Exploring Coastal and Marine Markets

Global climate-change talks in Copenhagen might not have yielded a new greenhouse-gas protocol, but they did yield an agreement on the need to develop financing mechanisms that reward people in developing countries for saving their rainforests and adopting sustainable landuse practices — both of which can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by capturing carbon in trees and soil. Meanwhile, scores of projects across both the developed and...

Beyond Borders

RES and REDD in the ASEAN Region

An Insight Series publication covering: Payments for Ecosystem Services: Scaling Up…and Down State of the Forest Carbon Markets Asia Round Peg, Square Hole: Forest Carbon under Existing Law in Southeast Asia Oddar Meanchey: REDD in Cambodia Participatory Forest Management EM Cheat Sheet: What is a Social Impact Assessment? Asian Governments Explore Ecosystem Markets for Environmental Protection The State of Play...

Aprendiendo sobre Pagos por Servicios Ambientales

Fundamentos para la elaboración de proyectos de carbono forestal

El propósito de este manual es introducir líderes comunitarios, agentes del gobierno, técnicos de ONGs y otros actores a los conceptos básicos relacionados al cambio climático y pagos por servicios ambientales, con un enfoque en el mercado de carbono, de una forma clara y didáctica....

Quotas, Powers, Patronage, and Illegal Rent-Seeking

The Political Economy and the Timber Trade in Southern Laos

Forests are extremely important to the people of Laos. They are the basis for the livelihoods of most of those living in rural areas, especially the poor and Laos’ large population of indigenous peoples. Forests are also an important source of government revenue, and Lao forests are being increasingly recognized for the high levels of biodiversity that they support, including many rare and endemic species. They also provide various...

Amendment to the U.S. Lacey Act

Implications for Exporters of Thailand's Forest Products

A new law gives the U.S. government the power to fine – and even jail – individuals and companies who deal in illegally harvested or trafficked wood products. The U.S. government can even use this law, called the Lacey Act, to impose significant penalties on individuals and companies who do not realize that their wood is tainted. This law, and the new import declaration it requires, will affect manufacturers and exporters who ship a...

Dependent Documents Associated with this Publication

[Thai Version] Amendment to the U.S. Lacey Act : Implications for Exporters of Thailand's Forest Products

R. Juge Gregg - January 2010

State of Biodiversity Markets

Offset and Compensation Programs Worldwide

This report provides the status and trends of biodiversity offset and compensatory mitigation programs by geographical region. In each section, the report summarizes the total active programs and developing activities, and broad metrics like total known payments and land area protected or restored. In each region, we also analyze the characteristics of offset programs—what drives the program, how offsets are created, who the buyers and...

Payments for Ecosystem Services: Getting Started in Marine and Coastal Ecosystems

A Primer

Healthy and robust marine ecosystems provide the underpinnings for profitable industries and support coastal communities throughout the world. In addition, oceans play crucial roles in regulating the atmosphere and modulating weather, storing carbon, cycling nutrients, and providing other ecosystem services. Coastal areas provide essential resources, buffer land from storms, and provide living space for almost half of the

Paying Poseidon: Financing the Protection of Valuable Ecosystem Services

Global climate-change talks in Copenhagen might not have yielded a new greenhouse-gas protocol, but they did yield an agreement on the need to develop financing mechanisms that reward people in developing countries for saving their rainforests and adopting sustainable land-use practices — both of which can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by capturing carbon in trees and soil. Meanwhile, scores of projects across both the

Timber Markets and Trade between Laos and Vietnam

A Commodity Chain Analysis of Vietnamese-Driven Timber Flows

The Vietnamese wood manufacturing industry has expanded rapidly in recent years, becoming one of the largest furniture exporters in the world. With more than 2,000 wood processing and 450 wood export companies in Vietnam, about 4.5 million m3 of raw wood materials are imported each year from other countries around the world. With approximately 11 million hectares of forest, Laos serves as an important supplier of timber for Vietnam’s...

State of the Forest Carbon Markets 2009

Taking Root and Branching Out

This report was created to increase transparency and answer fundamental questions about the supply of forestry-based carbon credits, such as transaction volumes, credit prices, hectares influenced and tenure rights. It outlines the aggregate numbers from our survey of 61 project developers1 and 34 intermediaries representing 226 projects across 40 countries. This report is entirely based on information volunteered by these...

Dependent Documents Associated with this Publication

Executive Summary: State of the Forest Carbon Markets 2009: Taking Root and Branching Out

Kate Hamilton, Unna Chokkalingam, Maria Bendana - Ecosystem Marketplace - January 2010

The REDD Opportunities Scoping Exercise (ROSE):

A Tool for Prioritizing Sub-National REDD Opportunities and Constraints Experiences in Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda

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Pro-Poor REDD – How will we Know?

Social Impact Assessment of Land-based Carbon Activities

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Aprendendo sobre Serviços Ambientais

Pagamentos por serviços ambientais (PSA), tais como os mercados de carbono, têm o potencial de gerar novas fontes de recursos para a conservação da biodiversidade e melhorar os meios de sustento das comunidades locais. Na medida em que esquemas de crédito de carbono, tais como seqüestro de carbono por reflorestamento e redução das emissões do desmatamento e degradação (REDD), ganham atenção como mecanismos para promover a...

Markets for Ecosystem Services in China

An Exploration of China's "Eco-Compensation" and Other Market-Based Environmental Policies

This report documents recent policy innovations for the conservation and management of ecosystem services in China. Policymakers have become increasingly interested in developing new approaches to address China’s multiplying conservation challenges and resource constraints in face of break-neck economic growth. This has led China’s central and local governments to rapidly expand the range of policy and program innovations, many under...

State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2009

Fortifying the Foundation

This report was created to answer fundamental questions about the voluntary carbon markets such as transaction volumes, credit prices, project types, locations, and the motivations of buyers in this market. Over the past several years, these markets have not only become an opportunity for citizen consumer action, but also an alternative source of carbon finance and an incubator for carbon market innovation. As the voluntary carbon...

Dependent Documents Associated with this Publication

State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2009 - Exectutive Summary

Katherine Hamilton, Milo Sjardin, Allison Shapiro, Thomas Marcello - Ecosystem Marketplace, New Carbon Finance - May 2009

Adding Value

Can FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreements Lead to Increased Investment and Trade for Partner Countries?

In May 2003, the European Union published its proposal for a Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan which sets out a range of measures that aim to tackle the global problem of illegal logging and associated trade, including financial and technical support to achieve improved forest governance in developing timber-producing countries. It also provides for Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) between these...

Beyond Carbon

Biodiversity and Water Markets

It is widely acknowledged that well-functioning ecosystems provide reliable and clean flows of water, productive soils, healthy and balanced biota, and many other services for human well-being. It is also widely documented that today many ecosystems and the services they provide are under threat.

The use of markets and market-based mechanisms to conserve and pay for ecosystem services is a growing global trend that is...

Scoping Study for the Design and Use of Biodiversity Offsets in an English Context

Final Report to Defra

In 2007, the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) identified the need to explore new policy options, including market creation in biodiversity or incentives for biodiversity “such as biodiversity offsets”, particularly to reduce rates of loss of non-designated sites and features. In 2008, Defra commissioned a scoping study for the design and use of biodiversity offsets in an English context. The report...

Recent Developments in Forest Product Trade between Russia and China

Potential Production, Processing, Consumption and Trade Scenarios

China has a very significant role in the global timber market and this has significant ramifications for forests, forest livelihoods and the structure of forest industries around the world. In this report we will focus on possible future trends in the forest products-processing, consumption and trade between China and its main suppliers, with a particular focus on Eastern Russia (Siberia and the Russian Far East). The data used for the...

Ecosystem Marketplace Flyer

Markets depend on transparent and reliable information to function. What is true for investors on Wall Street is equally true for environmental market players trading in carbon, water quality, and biodiversity. Unfortunately, obtaining information for these markets can sometimes be exceedingly difficult. In many ways they resemble the Wall Street of the 1800s – with information closely guarded by those who profit from it – rather...

Amendment to the U.S. Lacey Act

Implications for Malaysian Forest Products Exporters

Malaysia is one of the largest producers and suppliers of tropical hardwood and related products destined for the United States. In 2007, the United States imported almost 2.2 m3 RWE of timber products from Malaysia - mostly plywood and furniture - totaling USD$1.1 billion in value. Sabah and Sarawak supply the great majority of the plywood which the USA imports from Malaysia in roughly equal proportion. Between 2001 and 2007, the...

Linking FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreements to Jobs and Growth

Potential Challenges and Benefits for Small and Medium Sized Forest Enterprises

This brief report discusses the potential impact of the European Commission's Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) on the extent to which improved investment and business climates supported by VPA programs can support the small and medium forest enterprise (SMFE) sector. Recognizing the important roles that SMFEs play in rural development and the alleviation of rural poverty, the report argues that VPAs must seek to support...

Amendment To The U.S. Lacey Act

Implications for Exporters of Indonesian Forest Products

A new law gives the U.S. government the power to fine, and even jail, individuals and companies who traffic in illegally harvested wood products. The U.S. government can even use this law, called the Lacey Act, to impose significant penalties on individuals and companies who do not realize that their wood is tainted. This new law, and the new import declaration it requires, will affect manufacturers and exporters who ship a variety of...

Dependent Documents Associated with this Publication

Bahasa version: Amendment To The U.S. Lacey Act: Implications for Exporters of Indonesian Forest Products

R. Juge Gregg, Amelia Porges - Sidley Austin LLP - October 2008

Forest Products Trade Between China & Africa

An Analysis of Imports & Exports

Recent reports of China's efforts to secure access to natural resources in Africa suggest that timber has already become an important traded commodity between China and the African continent. Many hold a general impression that Africa exports a significant and growing amount of timber to China. However, the true magnitude of the China-Africa forest product trade and its trends over time has been poorly documented to date. Greater...

Amendment To The U.S. Lacey Act:

Implications For Vietnamese Forest Products Exporters

A new law gives the U.S. government the power to fine, and even jail, individuals and companies who traffic in illegally harvested wood products. The U.S. government can even use this law, called the Lacey Act, to impose significant penalties on individuals and companies who do not realize that their wood is tainted. This new law, and the new import declaration it requires, will affect manufacturers and exporters who ship a variety of...

Dependent Documents Associated with this Publication

Vietnamese Version: Amendment To The U.S. Lacey Act: Implications For Vietnamese Forest Products Exporters

R. Jude Gregg, Amelia Porges - Sidley Austin LLP - September 2008

Marine Ecosystems and Management Newsletter

International News and Analysis on Marine Ecosystem-based Management

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Amendment to the U.S. Lacey Act

Implications for Chinese Forest Products Exporters

A recently passed law gives the U.S. government the power to fine, and even jail, individuals and companies who traffic in illegally harvested wood products. The U.S. government can even use this law, called the Lacey Act, to impose significant penalties on individuals and companies who do not realize that their wood is tainted. This new law, and the new import declaration it requires, will affect manufacturers and exporters who ship a...

Dependent Documents Associated with this Publication

Chinese Version: Amendment to the U.S. Lacey Act: Implications for Chinese Forest Products Exporters

R. Juge Gregg, Amelia Porges - Sidley Austin LLP - November 2008

Payments for Ecosystem Services

Getting Started

This primer forms part of the activities implemented within the Global Strategy for the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Follow-Up, and offers a starting point from which to assess the potential for PES in specific communities around the world. It also provides pointers for designing and planning PES transactions. Community-benefit driven, or “pro-poor” PES, is the main focus of this work. Specifically, this primer describes: The...

Dependent Documents Associated with this Publication

Getting Started - Portuguese: Pagamentos por Serviços Ambientais: Um Manual Sobre Como Iniciar

Getting Started - Spanish: Paso a Paso: Un Manual para Diseñar Transacciones de Servicios Ecosistémicos

Getting Started - Vietnamese: Chi trả dịch vụ hệ sinh thái: Khởi động thực hiện Cẩm nang

Investment in the Liberian Forest Sector

A Roadmap to Legal Forest Operations in Liberia (English and Chinese)

This briefing document explains why Liberia needed reforms that ensure that logging no longer contributes to conflict in this country and how logging will be conducted under the new law and regulations that govern the management of Liberia's forests....

China and East Asia Program

Overview of China-East Asia Information Bulletin Series

This is an overview document of the China and East Asia Program's Information Bulletin Series, which provides summaries of all the Information Bulletins in one succinct document. Issues covered in the Bulletin are related to China and its trade in forest products with producer countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The full length Information Bulletins are available to download below. ...

Dependent Documents Associated with this Publication

ISSUE 1: CHINA AND THE GLOBAL MARKET FOR FOREST PRODUCTS: SUMMARY: Available in Chinese only

A. White, X. Sun, K. Canby, J. Xu, C. Barr, E. Katsigris, G. Bull, C. Cossalter and S. Nilsson. Chinese translation by X. Sun - June 2006

ISSUE 2: ILLEGAL LOGGING BRIEFING PAPER: Available in Chinese only

Chinese translation by X. Sun of a briefing paper by D. Brack - Chatham House UK - July 2006

ISSUE 3: LINKING TIMBER TRADE AND FOREST PRACTICE: English version

ISSUE 4: OVERVIEW OF THE WOOD PRODUCTS TRADE BETWEEN CHINA AND RUSSIA

ISSUE 5: HELPING LIBERIA ESCAPE CONFLICT TIMBER: English version

K. Canby. Chinese translation by X. Sun - October 2006

ISSUE 6: THE EU FOREST LAW ENFORECEMENT, GOVERNANCE AND TRADE ACTION PLAN: Chinese version only

X. Sun - October 2006

ISSUE 7: ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS OF CHINA’S WASTEPAPER IMPORTS: English version

B. Stafford - February 2007

ISSUE 8: ROLE MODELS IN CHINA’S FOREST PRODUCTS INDUSTRY: COMPANIES DEVELOPING CHAIN-OF-CUSTODY SYSTEMS TO PROTECT AGAINST ILLEGAL OR UNSUSTAINABLE WOOD SOURCING: English version

M. Brady & Kerstin Canby - May 2007

ISSUE 9: WHY CHINA PREFERS LOGS : EXPLAINING THE PREVALENCE OF UNPROCESSED WOOD IN CHINA’S TIMBER IMPORTS: English version

Forest Products Trade Between Russia & China

Potential Production, Processing, Consumption and Trade Scenarios

This synthesis report depicts future trends in forest products processing, consumption and trade between China and its main suppliers, with a particular focus on Siberia and the Russian Far East. It is based on the findings of the International Forest and Forest Products (IFFP) trade model analysis completed by Northway & Bull 2007. The first part of the analysis examines a status quo scenario for forest products supply, processing,...

Environmental Aspects of China's Papermaking Fiber Supply

In recent years, China's expanding pulp and paper sector has become a major influence on the global forests and forest product markets. Since 1990, China has accounted for over 50 per cent the world's overall growth in paper and paperboard production. To meet growing domestic demand, the government is promoting a new industry based on large, high-tech mills which process wood pulp into paper. This study employs trade data to outline...

Russian Logs in China

The Softwood Commodity Chain & Chinese Economic Development

This paper provides an overview of the commodity-chain process of Russian softwood logs once they enter China, focusing on softwood as the dominant forest products traded from Russia to China. The research then details the economic and social impacts of this trade on local Chinese economies and livelihoods....

China and the Global Market for Forest Products

Transforming Trade to Benefit Forests and Livelihoods

China's spectacular economic growth over the last decade is having a dramatic impact throughout the world. It has become a leading nation in terms of its demand for forest products, and its influence is being felt as far afield as Cameroon and Cambodia, Indonesia and the United States. China is now in the world’s spotlight, with governments, industry and development agencies eager to learn more about the global impact the country...

Logging, Legality and Livelihoods in Papua New Guinea

Sythesis of Official Assessments of the Large-Scale Logging Industry Volume I

Between 2000 and 2005, in response to a widely held view that forest management in Papua New Guinea was not providing long-term benefits to the country or its citizens, and to assess the implementation and effectiveness of the new governance regime introduced in the PNG Forestry Act of 1991, the Papua New Guinea government commissioned five separate reviews of the administration and practice of the logging industry. This report,...

Strengthening Forest Management in Indonesia through Land Tenure Reform

Issues and Framework for Action

In Indonesia, as in many developing countries, the government is struggling to improve the management of their dwindling forest resources. Despite government efforts, Indonesia still has large tracts of primary and secondary forest ecosystems that are under intense threat from both industry and local people....

Opportunities and Constraints to Investment

Natural Tropical Forest Industries

The global forest products industry represents close to 3% of the world's gross economic output, and the forests upon which it depends are particularly important ecosystems for the health of the planet and for human well-being. The size of the industry, its links to the rest-of-the-world economy, and the centrality of its resource base to environmental sustainability make it an industry subject to intense controversy and growing public...

Logging, Legality and Livelihoods in Papua New Guinea

Synthesis of Official Assessments of the Large-Scale Logging Industry Volume II

Between 2000 and 2005, in response to a widely held view that forest management in Papua New Guinea was not providing long-term benefits to the country or its citizens, and to assess the implementation and effectiveness of the new governance regime introduced in the PNG Forestry Act of 1991, the Papua New Guinea government commissioned five separate reviews of the administration and practice of the logging industry. This report,...

Developing Future Ecosystem Service Payments In China

Lessons Learned from International Experience

Across the world, the growing scarcity of ecosystem services has led to a flurry of conservation innovations over the past decade in the form of payment schemes and nascent markets for these services. The global economic value of ecosystem services is estimated in the trillions of dollars, though actual payments for protecting these services are developing unevenly around the globe. The most developed markets and payment systems are...

Rights and Resources Initiative

A New Global Initiative Advancing Forest Tenure, Policy and Market Reforms to Reduce Rural Poverty, Strengthen Forest Gove

Many communities are asserting their rights to manage their forests, and some governments and private sector leaders are introducing substantive changes to forest tenure, policies and markets. The forest sector is now undergoing important reforms....

Market Options and Barriers for Timber and Sawnwood from Michoacán, Oaxaca, Guerrero, Campeche and Quinatana Roo, Mexico

This study is one of several country-level market assessments that analyze the scope of opportunities for community forest enterprises to participate effectively in forest sector markets. As part of its global analytical program, Forest Trends and its international partners have identified a new forest agenda which seeks to make markets work for low-income producers and to help forest dwellers to achieve the three seemingly...

Dependent Documents Associated with this Publication

Market Options and Barriers for Timber and Sawnwood from Michoacán, Oaxaca, Guerrero, Campeche and Quinatana Roo (English Summary)

Tania Kaimowitz - Forest Trends - September 2005

Beyond Timber

Certification of Non-Timber Forest Products

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) are critical to rural livelihoods in both temperate and tropical areas. They provide communities with important subsistence resources like medicine, food and shelter, as well as a source of cash income. NTFPs are also part of large regional and international markets, and for centuries products such as spices, medicinal plants, fragrances and resins spurred explorations and sustained trade routes...

Biodiversity Offsets: A Proposition Paper

ICMM and its member companies wish to understand more about the concept of biodiversity offsets and the practicalities of their application to consider how they could contribute to a suite of measures to improve environmental performance....

At the Supply Edge

Thailand's Forest Policies, Plantation Sector, and Commodity Export Links with China

This study on Thailand’s forestry sector was commissioned by CIFOR and Forest Trends as part of a wider effort to address an information gap regarding Asia’s forestry and plantation forestry industries as well as regarding the emerging trade linkages between East and Southeast Asia. This report on Thailand’s forest sector is one of three studies undertaken by the author, which links forest resource production trends in Southeast Asian...

Forest Company-Community Agreements in Brazil

Current Status and Opportunities for Action

Agreements between the private forest sector and local forest communities have been increasingly recognized as a potential solution to some problems related to poverty alleviation, increasing demand for wood products and the need to increase the global forest area under sustainable forest management. Very little is known about the Brazilian experience on these types of forest company-community agreements. The few examples described in...

Forest Company-Community Agreements in Mexico

Identifying Succesful Models

Agreements between the private sector and local forest communities have been increasingly recognized as a potential solution to problems related to poverty alleviation, the increasing demand for wood products, and the need to increase the part of global forest area that is under sustainable forest management. Mexico represents one of the few countries that have the great majority of their forest resources (more than 80%) located in...

Forest Product Exports from the Russian Far East and Eastern Siberia to China

Status and Trends

Since 2001, China has been a top destination of Russian forest product exports to the Asia-Pacific region. The foreign economic and trade liberalization that began in Russia in the mid-1990s - combined with the high demand for timber imports into China due to the Chinese domestic logging ban starting in 1998 - has stimulated strong Chinese trade capital in the Russian Far East forested regions , especially in border areas....

Siberian and Russian Far East Timber for China

Legal and Illegal Pathways, Players and Trends

The preservation and sustainable use of Siberian and Russian Far East (RFE) forests is of global importance for a number of reasons. These forests, which are the traditional environments of many endangered species and indigenous tribes, are now supplying timber to nearby regions and countries that have largely destroyed their own forests. The vast forests of Asian Russia act as reservoirs for one-seventh of the global carbon pool....

Forest Certification and Small Forest Enterprises

Key Trends and Impacts - Benefits and Barriers

As certification of forest management practices enters its second decade, questions have been raised regarding the impacts of forest certification and its future trajectory. While many of the concerns that led to the development of forest certification initially were focused on environmental issues, subsequent issues have emerged related to the social and economic impacts of forest certification. Among these are: concerns of...

Central Plans and Global Exports

Tracking Vietnam's Forestry Commodity Chains and Export Links to China

After suffering forest cover declines of 185,000 ha per year from 1976 until 1990, Vietnam is attempting to stabilize deforestation trends, restructure the forest industry and the land tenure system, and move aggressively into fast-growing plantations. Reforestation of degraded forest land, natural regeneration of logged forest areas and more effective forest protection are key components of the Five Million Hectare Reforestation Plan...

A Brief Overview of China's Timber Market

China’s timber market has undergone dramatic changes in recent decades and continues to change rapidly. Currently, timber producers are allowed to market their timber directly to different buyers, although timber harvest and transport remain heavily regulated by the government. China’s primary wood-processing industry and wood-consuming sectors have experienced rapid growth in recent years. Sectors like sawnwood or plywood...

Customs, Concessionaires and Conflict

Tracking Cambodia's Forestry Commodity Chains and Export Links to China

Cambodia has obviously experienced some difficulty in implementing an effective framework of sustainable forest management. Indeed, the Cambodian forest sector can be considered a paradigmatic example of the close links between vast resource wealth on the one hand, and structural conflict and rural violence on the other. From the early to the mid-1990s, Cambodia's illegal logging sector was a primary source of military financing for...

An Overview of the Market Chain for China's Timber Product Imports from Myanmar

China's annual timber product imports from Myanmar more than tripled between 1997 and 2002. Although imports from Myanmar comprise just over two percent of China's total timber product imports, the nascent increase in logging activities along the Chinese border in Myanmar has been highly concentrated in natural forests in Myanmar's northern Kachin State, and the ecological impacts of these activities are not captured in timber product...

China's Forest Product Exports

An Overview of Trends by Segment and Destinations

In only 7 years, China's timber product exports have tripled in volume and increased fourfold in value. The total volume of all forest product exports - including both timber and pulp and paper products - is now one-third of China's total forest product import volume. The total volume of only primary timber products (excluding pulp and paper) exports is now more than two-thirds of China's timber product imports by RWE volume. It is...

Forestry in China

Policy, Consumption, and Production in Forestry's Newest Superpower

China's forest market is one of the largest in the world in terms of production, consumption, and imports of wood products. Its large forest estate and massive population has meant that it has also for some time been a leading nation in terms of the number of processing plants, number of people employed in the forestry sector, the scope of its non-timber forest markets, and the overall level of contributions of forest enterprises and...

Dependent Documents Associated with this Publication

Understanding the Chinese Forest Market and Its Global Implications

Jintao Xu , A. White - Chinese Agricultural Policy, Forest Trends - January 2004

The China Forest Products Trade: Overview of Asia-Pacific Supplying Countries, Impacts and Implications

Eugenia Katsigris, Gary Bull, Andy White, Chris Barr, Keith Barney, Yati Bun, Timothy King, Alexey Lankin, Anatoly Lebedev, Phil Shearman, Alexander Sheingauz, Fredrich Kahrl, Yufang Su, Horst Weyerhaeuser - Forest Trends, University of British Columbia, Center for International Forestry Research, York University, Foundation for People and Community Development, Forest Information Systems, Far Eastern Ecoregional Project, Worldwide Fund for Nature, Bureau for Regional Oriental Campaigns, University of Papua New Guinea, Economic Research Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences - March 2007

China's Collective Forestlands: Contributions and Constraints

Guangping Miao , R. Anders West - FEDRC, Forest Trends - January 2006

An Assessment of China's Forest Resources

Gary Bull , Sten Nilsson - University of British Columbia, IIASA, Forest Trends - January 2004

China's Pulp and Paper Sector: An Analysis of Supply-Demand Trends and Medium-Term Projections

Dequan He , Chris Barr - China Economic Consulting, Inc, CIFOR, Forest Trends - January 2004

China's Development of a Plantation-based Wood Pulp Industry: Government Policies, Financial Incentives, and Investment Trends

Chris Barr , Christian Cossalter - World Agroforestry Centre, CIFOR, Forest Trends - January 2004

China's Forest Sector Markets: Policy Issues and Recommendations

Sten Nilsson, Gary Bull, Andy White, Jintao Xu - IIASA, University of British Columbia, Forest Trends, CCAP - January 2004

Payment Where It's Due

The financing and management of natural protected areas has historically been seen as the responsibility of the public sector. However, budgets for government protection and management of forest ecosystem services are declining, as are those from overseas development assistance. At the same time, processes of devolution and decentralization are shifting public responsibility for nature protection, and new sources of financing for...

Ecosystems for Sale in an Unequal World

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Making Environmental Markets Work

Lessons from Early Experience with Sulphur, Carbon, Wetlands, and Other Related Markets

Ever since the passage of the 1990 amendments to the US Clean Air act and the creation of a market in sulfur dioxide (SO2), it has become clear that market mechanisms can be effectively used to achieve environmental policies. But markets are neither infallible nor automatic. They have blind spots and they need to be designed effectively, if they are to effectively achieve environmental ends. This paper defines markets as regular...

For Services Rendered

The Current Status and Future Potential of Markets for the Ecosystem Services Provided by Tropical Forests

The past decade has seen the widespread emergence of markets and other payment schemes for forest ecosystem services - such as watershed protection, biodiversity protection and carbon sequestration -around the world. At a global scale, several recent reviews indicate that these activities are nascent and still limited in scope and scale, but that they may have potential to be scaled up to regional, river-basin or national levels with...

Forest Governance in Federal Systems

An Overview of Experiences and Implications for Decentralization

Internationally recognized problems such as illegal logging and uncontrolled deforestation, as well as the broader political trends, are driving many countries to reconsider centralized systems of decision-making and direct government implementation of forest programs. The paper assesses the experiences of eight countries with federal systems including Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Malaysia, Nigeria, Russia, and the United States...

Markets for Biodiversity Services

Potential Roles and Challenges

In recent decades, several factors have stimulated those concerned with biodiversity conservation services to begin exploring new market-based instruments. The model of public finance for forest and biodiversity conservation is facing a crisis as the main sources of finance have stagnated, despite the recognition that much larger areas require protection....

Who Owns, Who Conserves and Why It Matters

When thinking about forest tenure and conservation, it is important to recall that there are somewhere between 1 and 1.5 billion of the world's poorest people living in and around forests. Recent studies indicate that about 80 per cent of the extreme poor - those living on less than one dollar a day - depend on forest resources for their livelihoods. As forests are the key assets for these peoples, security of forest resource rights is...

Certification in Complex Socio-Political Settings

Looking forward to the Next Decade

There is little evidence of certification's impact on checking illegal logging, corruption and other severe forest governance problems. This is not surprising since these problems derive from problems in the legal, regulatory and policy framework, and public respect for law and order - problems unlikely to be much affected by a market instrument (with a small market) like certification....

Dependent Documents Associated with this Publication

Annex 1: La Experiencia Boliviana en la Certificación Forestal

Henry Moreno Sanjines - Forest Trends - February 2004

Annex 2: Brazil Forest Certification Case Study

Andre de Freitas - IMAFLORA, Forest Trends - February 2004

Annex 3: West and Central Africa: Progress and Prospects for Forest Certification

Mike Packer - Timbmet Group, Forest Trends - February 2004

Annex 4: Forest Certification in Indonesia

Marcus Colchester - Forest Peoples Programme, Forest Trends - February 2004

Annex 5: Forest Certification in Malaysia

Saskia Ozinga - Forest Trends - February 2004

Annex 6: The Experience of the Russian Producers' Group

Andrey Ptichnikov - Forest Trends - February 2004

Annex 7: Priluzye Model Forest Certification Case

Mikhail Karpachevskiy - Forest Trends - February 2004

China Softwood-Log Commodity Chain and Livelihood Analysis

From the Russian Far East to China

China has rapidly become one of the world's largest importers of wood. The volumes of logs, sawn wood, wood panels, and pulp and paper products shipped to China by producer countries in Southeast Asia, the Russian Far East (RFE), Siberia and other regions have grown especially sharply since China implemented a partial ban on logging in 1998. China's growing demand for wood products is driving deforestation and illegal logging...

Overview of the Forest Sector in the Russian Far East

Production, Industry and the Problem of Illegal Logging

Russia and China have been bound by long-standing ties since the middle of the 17th century, with mutual trade as an important aspect. It is natural that regions such as the Russian Far East (RFE) and Southeastern Siberia developed firm links with China, because they are the closest neighbors. These relations, particularly in the timber trade, became even stronger (with some fluctuations) following World War II....

Forest Certification and Governments

The Real and Potential Influence on Regulatory Frameworks and Forest Policies

This paper is one of a series of reviews that cover critical challenges for the continued growth of certification to impact sustainable forestry around the globe. Each chapter attempts to gather as many cases as possible and to include a large and broad number of contributors. The chapters are meant to inform the forest community and enrich the certification systems as they look forward into the next decade....

Navigating the Border

An Analysis of the China-Myanmar Timber Trade

In addition to socio-economic pressures, the combination of insufficient regulation in China and political instability in northern Myanmar has exacted a high ecological price. The uncertain regulatory and contractual environment has oriented the border logging industry toward short-term harvesting and profits, rather than investments in longer-term timber production. Degradation in Myanmar's border forests will have an impact on...

China's Impact on Papua New Guinea's Forestry Industry

The harvesting and export of timber forms an important part of the Papua New Guinea national economy, and China is one of its most significant trading partners. China is the principal market for round logs from Papua New Guinea; it imported over one million cubic meters of logs from PNG in 2002. China’s imports of sawn timber and veneer from Papua New Guinea are currently insubstantial, and China does not currently import wood chips or...

Meeting China's Demand for Forest Products

An Overview of Import Trends, Ports of Entry, and Supplying Countries, with Emphasis on the Asia-Pacific Region

This paper provides a brief overview of forest product import trends in both product segment and port of entry, as well as for each of the main Asia-Pacific producer countries supplying China. The paper first describes the overall import trends and then trends by product segment. It next addresses trends in the various ports of entry and identifies major supplier countries. The paper then describes the roles of eight leading Asia...

Dependent Documents Associated with this Publication

Meeting China's Demand for Forest Products (Short Version): An Overview of Asia-Pacific supplying countries, impacts and implications

Xiufang Sun, Eugenia Katsigris, Andy White - Forest Trends - January 2004

China's Forest Product Import Trends 1997-2002

Analysis of Customs Data with Emphasis on Asia-Pacific Supplying Countries

China plays a major, and growing, role in the global forest products market today. The largest importer of industrial roundwood in the world since 2001, China is now second only to the United States in total imports of forest products, rising from seventh in less than ten years. In recent years, over 40 percent of total commercial timber consumed domestically in China has been imported. This rapid increase in imports has been driven by...

A New Agenda for Forest Conservation and Poverty Reduction

Making Markets Work for Low-Income Producers

The future of the world's forests and the future of millions of the world's poorest people are inextricably linked. Rural poverty is concentrated in many areas where the world's biodiversity is most threatened. More than a billion people now live within the world's 19 forest biodiversity "hotspots" and population growth in the world's tropical wilderness areas is 3.1 percent, over twice the world's average rate of growth. Over 90...

Who Conserves the World's Forests? A New Assessment of Conservation and Investment Trends

The current system of protected areas continues to be severely under-funded while not including enough of the world's priority biodiversity and natural habitats. At the present coverage and quality of protection, biologists estimate that only 50-70% of the existing species will be conserved. It is the thesis of this paper that current proposals for expanding protected areas in many developing countries continue to be made without...

Dependent Documents Associated with this Publication

Who Conserves the World's Forests? Community-Driven Strategies to Protect Forests and Respect Rights (Policy Brief)

Augusta Molnar, Sara J. Scherr, Arvind Khare - Forest Trends, Ecoagriculture Partners - 2004

An Assessment of Indigenous Participation in Commercial Forestry Markets

The Case of Nicaragua's Northern Atlantic Autonomous Region

Nicaragua's Northern Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN) contains a wealth of tropical forests and has a long history of forest exploitation. Nicaragua contains the largest tropical forest north of Amazonia with nearly 23,000 km2 of broadleaf and nearly 6,000 km2 of pine forest. Over three quarters of these forests are located in the Northern Atlantic Autonomous region, which constitutes about one-quarter of the country in total area....

Forest Certification and Communities

Looking Forward to the Next Decade

This review looks at the experience with communities and certification as the first in a series of systematic reviews of certification. The analysis includes an assessment of community experiences with certification to date, an evaluation of the range of direct and indirect impacts on communities in different geographic regions, and an examination of the strategic issues that certification will likely face in the future, suggesting...

Dependent Documents Associated with this Publication

Annex 1: Forest Certification in Brazil: The Parallel Evolution of Community Forest Management in the Brazilian Amazon and FSC Certification

Tasso Rezende de Azevedo and André Giacini de Freitas - IMAFLORA, Forest Trends - April 2003

Annex 2: Forest Certification in Guatemala: The Process of Forest Certification in the Mayan Biosphere Reserve in Petan, Guatemala

Carlos Soza - Forest Trends - April 2003

Annex 3: Forest Certification in Mexico: Certification in Mexico: The Cases of Durango and Oaxaca

Sergio Madrid, Francisco Chapela - CCMSS, ERA, Forest Trends - April 2003

To Johannesburg and Beyond

Strategic Options to Advance the Conservation of Natural Forests

As global concern for continuing deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries grows in intensity, there is also disenchantment - even weariness - with global agreements and international initiatives to address these issues. While they are broadly appreciated for raising awareness - the energy and effort that go into global institutions has not been matched by effective action and impact on the ground....

Forest Carbon and Local Livelihoods

Assessments of Opportunities and Policy Recommendations

This paper brings together insights from emerging forestry and conservation paradigms and investigates their relevance for the debate on the social impact of CDM forestry. ...

A Place in the World

Tenure Security and Community Livelihoods

This paper provides a literature overview and analysis, paying special attention to arguments about what tenure security is and how it is related to the goal of helping communities build assets and improve their livelihoods, especially communities living in and around natural forests....

Social, Environmental and Economic Dimensions of Forest Policy Reform in Bolivia

Bolivian forests cover some 53 million hectares - or almost half of the total area of the country - mainly in the departments of Santa Cruz, Beni, La Paz, Pando and Cochabamba. During the last decade or so, there was a growing concern that the nation's forests were increasingly under threat and that there was a need to utilize them more efficiently in order to promote economic and social conditions that were compatible with...

Developing Markets for the Ecosystem Services of Forests

As human demands increase and natural resources become scarcer, those who bear the costs of degradation - such as downstream water utilities, local governments, private insurers and society as a whole - are exploring opportunities to reduce costs by financing forest conservation. At the same time, some forest owners are seeking compensation for the costs of maintaining healthy forests. Interest in reducing costs, increasing incomes and...

Making Markets Work for Forest Communities

Development assistance efforts in recent years have focused on forests as "safety nets" for low-income forest dwellers. These efforts emphasize access to forest resources for the poor to meet their subsistence needs. But much less has been done to help local people exploit their forest assets in a sustainable manner to take advantage of the opportunities (and to cope with the pressures) of growing demand for forest products....

Strategies for Strengthening Community Property Rights Over Forests

Lessons and Opportunities for Practitioners

Tenure security has recently become a central concern of poverty, forest conservation and human rights advocates alike. Poverty experts now recognize that the world's poor are disproportionately located in rural areas and strongly dependent upon forest resources for their survival. Recent studies indicate that about 80 percent of the extreme poor, those living on less than one dollar a day, depend on forest resources for their...

Who Owns the World's Forests? Forest Tenure and Public Forests in Transition

Since the late 1980s, some governments of major forested countries have begun to reconsider and reform forest ownership policies. These transitions are driven by three primary considerations. First, governments are increasingly aware that official forest tenure systems in many countries discriminate against the rights and claims of indigenous people and other local communities. Although the data are incomplete, it is estimated that...

Illegal Forest Activities in the Asia Pacific Rim

Illegal forest activities within the Asia Pacific countries have generated a host of negative impacts on the economy, the poor, and the quality of forest management. It is in the interest of all of the stakeholders - from local communities to national politicians to logging companies to international donors - to work together to ensure the preservation of Asia Pacific Rim forests by identifying and implementing an agreed upon and...

Case Studies of Markets and Innovative Financial Mechanisms for Water Services from Forests

This paper examines existing market and financial mechanisms that are being used to provide hydrological services from watersheds and to assist forest owners and policymakers in assessing the advisability and feasibility of using such mechanisms....

Developing Markets for Water Services from Forests

Issues and Lessons for Innovators

Of the many services that forests provide, hydrological services, such as water quality and water flow, are among the most valuable. As we look ahead into the next decade, water will become an increasingly critical issue as it becomes an increasingly scarce resource. The value of these hydrological services will only grow over time. Policy makers, forest landowners, and investors in downstream utilities are recognizing the financial...

Pacific Rim Initiative

A Coordinated Plan for Advancing Sustainable Forestry in the Pacific Rim

The forests of the Pacific Rim are critically important, in both global and local terms, are seriously threatened, and thus merit priority attention from conservationists, governments and private industry. Overall, policy and market failures, inappropriate government subsidies, non-discriminating investments and demand, illegal logging and trade, have all driven over-exploitation and inefficiency in the production and use of wood...

Carbon Forestry Projects in Developing Countries

Legal Issues and Tools

Increasing awareness of the need for action on global warming has produced a search for ways to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to sequester carbon to offset such emissions. At the present time, nations around the globe are hotly debating whether to put into force the Kyoto Protocol. To comply with such climate controls, industrialized countries will need to develop systems to control their own domestic emissions. Domestic...

Risk Mitigation in Forestry

Linkages with Kyoto and Sustainable Forestry Management

This paper aims to illustrate some of the new influences which are affecting the forestry sector globally; it also highlights some of the opportunities and constraints which are becoming apparent. The report focuses on the role of forestry within the climate change debate. This has been done for two reasons; first, because the sector plays a vital role in ensuring that the predicted range of climate change is modified; and, second,...

Capital Markets and Sustainable Forestry

Opportunities for Investment

In this report, we frame the differences in the business models of conventional forestry and sustainable forestry. We cover the sustainable forestry sector "from the forest to the floor", along its value chain of business enterprises. We consider the varying situation in tropical, temperate and, to some degree, boreal forests. We endeavor to give a global perspective, while grounding the report in specific examples of business...

Getting It Right

Emerging Markets for Storing Carbon in Forests

Forests offer one of the most cost-effective opportunities for storing or sequestering carbon. This report is directly relevant to companies in any industry - not just forest products. Indeed, there are clear co-benefits to be gained from companies interested in carbon offsets, and forestland managers and conservationists in temperate and tropical settings in need of financial support....