Publications

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 […]

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, […]

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.

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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.

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]