| | | | | Welcome to the NFP Facility Newsletter.
You will find a thematic article, some country stories and updated information on the recent activities implemented in the partner countries. Happy reading! | | | The NFP Facility team wishes you a Happy New Year! | | Highlight |  | | |
Developing earth ambassadors in the Philippines through the Kids to Forest initiative
"I wanted to be a doctor someday, but with my experience in the Kids-to-Forest, now I think I want to be a Forester". These are the words of a 10 year old, Grade V after joining the Kids-to-Forest exposure. Kids-to-Forests Initiative (K2F) is a timely project supported by NFP Facility, in connection with the celebration of the International Year of Forests. The Philippines, together with other five countries in the Asia-Pacific, participated in the K2F, to pilot a new approach in forest management through involving the young generation and future stewards of Mother Earth.
The Philippine-K2F is implemented by an NGO, Yakap Kalikasan (Embrace the Environment) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Forest Management Bureau (DENR-FMB). Focusing on the aim to increase awareness and appreciation among school children and youth of the forests' value and multi-benefits through hands-on learning experiences that can lead to a better understanding of sustainable forest management, various exciting and educational activities were organized and participated by large number of school children and out-of-school youth, teachers and parents. The kids were always up-and-go with the variety of interactive learning exercises, such as: actual exposure of the kids in the woods of forests, visits to wildlife rescue center, local forestry administration office, botanical garden and Forest Products Research and Development Institute, the forest laboratory, camping out in forests staying with forest, home stay/Forest Forester Parenting and many others. To complement the actual exposure, this Project allowed the development of practical comics in the local language.
K2F built an exploring and exposing heart among the kids. Now called Earth Ambassadors, the kids have gone beyond forest exposure to public exposure. The kids surprised a large audience during a Kiddie Forestry Forum with poems, songs, dances, posters, drawings, forest products and beautiful paper presentations about how K2F has influenced them and what they commit to Mother Earth. A student won a write-up about her K2F experience in a provincial competition of young journalists. Parallel with the Asia-Pacific Forestry Week held in Beijing, China from 7 – 11 November 2011, some kids and a parent were interviewed in a radio program as they called for an active involvement of the youth in preserving the forests. As an 11 year old elementary K2F participant shared during the Kiddie Forestry Forum, "With the Kids-to-Forest, we learned how families and kids live in the forests, what kids should know about forests and what kids can contribute to forests. Now that we are Earth Ambassadors, we are ready to do something for our forests". Besides these, K2F teachers and parents are also working on the inclusion of actual nature exposure as alternative to the usual school trips to industrial parks and recreation centers.
The Project also served as a bridge to partnership building and collaboration among various stakeholders including government, NGOs, educational and research institutions, communities and private sectors. K2F is not just a kids-to-forest project but also a KEY to (sustainable) forest management. By Janet B. Martires, Yakap Kalikasan Tungo sa Kaunlaran ng Pilipinas, Inc. | | | | |
Development of the Forest Financing Strategy for Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan has started to develop its Forest Financing Strategy and has requested support to FAO and the NFP Facility to organise an Introductory Workshop bringing together the national stakeholders in the process. Major government departments (Main Forestry Department, Ministry of Economy, Department of Forecasting, Financing and Economic Analysis, Department of Hunting Industry), UNDP, farm sector, scientific industry sector, and Centre for Financial Investment and Analysis(CIFA) participated in this workshop on the 4th November 2011. The workshop process resulted in good national ownership and leadership and considerable interest to take this work forward.
The workshop also highlighted the need for improving finance for the forest sector to confront climate change and desertification, meet growing demand for forest products and services, and promote efficiency gains in forest product /service utilization. Among others, a conceptual framework for better understanding of "investments" and "income generation" opportunities was presented with examples of various strategies followed in other countries. The participants were also encouraged to actively seek collaboration with relevant stakeholders for strategic, innovative and complementary support related to forest finance.
As a follow-up, the key stakeholders will go through the presentations and the background material (draft strategy) and offer their comments and feedback. The CIFA will incorporate the feedback and prepare a roadmap/action plan to implement some of the suggested activities. Some of these include:
- Promote forestry on farms/erstwhile forestlands: In view of the limited (almost no) private sector participation and lack of any structure that allows farmers to take up forestry, there is a need to bring about some revolutionary institutional changes. The strategy identified some of them.
- Improve government budget allocation for the forest sector: This is expected through enhanced coordination and communication between the Main Forestry Department and the Department of Economy. A specific mechanism in the national budgeting process is being suggested to achieve this.
- Establish a National Forest Fund: Exploring the potential for establishing a dedicated Fund and populate it with sources such as fines and penalties, levies, forest PES and REDD+ related funds, and develop a mechanism to use it for forest development.
- Enhance donor funding: Stakeholders noticed limited flow of ODA to the forest sector and indicated a strong desire to develop ways and means of enhancing it.
Guatemala - Small enterprises getting organised, "Reforestando Petén Sociedad Anonima"
In April 2011, the NFP Facility and GFP Guatemala began providing support to a group of 189 "reforestadores" (tree planters) in San Francisco Petén, Guatemala to establish a wood products enterprise. These tree planters have reforested and now manage a total area of 1.084 hectares, or an average of 6 hectares per tree planter. Prior to their enterprise development efforts, these individuals in this group were "poor" and isolated. They were not organized in a coordinated network, and did not have contact with the formal market nor with the forest industry. Most of their sales were to intermediaries who established their own purchase rules and conditions, such as prices and volumes, leaving no room for the sellers to negotiate prices.
The aim of the NFP Facility and GFP support has been to empower this group of tree planters and wood producers by sharing with them key information to assist them in their decision-making about the advantages and disadvantages of creating a small enterprise.
A key outcome of this initiative has been the decision from the group to establish a new enterprise called "Reforestando Petén Sociedad Anonima", offering wood products derived from their plantations. The enterprise has developed to include 6 sub-groups representing different communities.
Some of the activities that have been undertaken by the tree planters' group are: - Meetings to share information about the benefits and advantages of associating into an enterprise that would aggregate the wood products offered by the individual tree planters, and to compare these with the possibilities available to individual tree planters who face isolation and the lack of an organized network
- An inventory of the raw wood (by tree species, diameter and location) available for sale from the tree planters.
- Elaboration, for all the enterprise and for each one of the six member associations, of fact sheets showing the technical information related to the offer (attached). - Meetings to develop, in a participatory way, the cost structure of the forest operations of each member association.
- Meetings to share all the legal alternatives for establishing an enterprise in Guatemala. The advantages and disadvantages of each alternative were discussed.
- Meetings to determine and decide on the products to be offered.
- Identification of potential markets for the products and meetings with potential commercial partners.
- Linking the new enterprise with partners interested in "fair business".
- Capacity development trainings to members of the enterprise on the management of cost structures, negotiations with partners and other key issues.
- Facilitation and technical backstopping to strengthen the commercial partnerships.
Similar support will start soon with other group of tree planters in Las Verapaces, Guatemala. | | Recent activities implemented | | |
Strengthening knowledge and skills of trainers in Africa, Asia and Latin America
During the period July – November 2011, FAO and the NFP Facility have continued to respond to country requests aimed at strengthening their capacities to implement key principles in their national forest programmes. The following activities were conducted in
Africa:
Training for ANAFE Francophone Africa members (July 2011) The training which was organized by Institut des Sciences de l'Environnement was attended by 18 participants (faculty deans, professors and lecturers from universities and colleges) from 5 Francophone African countries, namely, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Benin and Senegal.
The training focused on exploration of collaborative management concepts, on reviewing the process and steps of consensual negotiation and mediation; and on the application of key communication and facilitation techniques for the successful management and resolution of conflicts. Training of Trainers on Collaborative Conflict Management (October 2011) 8 countries including: Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa sent a total of 18 participants from government forest officers, NGOs, training colleges and professionals from private sector to be trained on collaborative conflict management in natural resources. The training aimed at supporting the creation of a pool of quality trainers in the region on collaborative conflict management.
They were oriented to an overall understanding of what conflict is, how it can be analysed and ways to manage it. They attained new knowledge and skills in application of experiential training methodologies for adult learning; and improved their skills in negotiation and mediation processes. This training focused on the exploration of collaborative management concepts and the appropriateness of such responses to the types of conflict occurring in the context of natural resources; on reviewing the process and steps of consensual negotiation and mediation; and on the application of key communication and facilitation techniques for the successful management and resolution of conflicts. Further mentoring support for trainees, in their country level training preparations, session planning and training will be pursued by FAO and the NFP Facility. Asia:
Training of Trainers on enhancing stakeholder participation (November 2011)
15 participants drawn from Nepal, Cambodia, Bhutan, Laos, Indonesia, Pakistan and Philippines were trained as trainers and oriented to the concept and principles of nfps. They were further provided with knowledge and application of experiential learning to enhance their facilitation skills. Several practical tools of enhancing stakeholder participation were introduced to the participants, which they used in simulated exercises, group discussions and through a field practical where they directly interacted with a range of stakeholders.
Participants also made action plans as follow-up to the training in their own countries. This country-level training will enable them perfect the skills and learning obtained in the training.
Latin America:
Training of Trainers on enhancing Stakeholder participation (November 2011)
22 participants drawn from Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, and Costa Rica were trained as trainers on this subject. Their training skills were improved as well as their understanding of the concept of nfps and its main principles. 
South – South exchange of experiences on forest financing incentives for small holders
In Latin American, many countries are elaborating and implementing incentive programs for smallholders in support of agro-forestry activities and forest plantations. A Community of practice on forest financing incentives for small holders has been established by the NFP Facility to support the exchange of lessons learnt and experiences from the advanced countries with the countries that are initiating this kind of process. Members of this Community of practice are practitioners from Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and experts from FAO and other development organizations. As concrete outputs of this knowledge exchange initiative, two documents were realized with the members of the group: (i) the Program of forest incentives for small cattle and agro-forestry stakeholders in Nicaragua - Pilot implementation in Tomabú, Nicaragua, (ii) the Program in support of the sustainable forest management in Pando, Bolivia (COMSERBO). With this program, the first payments to beneficiary's communities of the COMSERBO were made in December 2011. 
| | | | | Gambia Silver Medal of the 2011 Future Policy Awards - 21 September 2011
In 1995, the Republic of The Gambia began implementing the Gambian Forest Management Concept (GFMC) through their Forest Policy to promote community based forest management. The GFMC promotes participatory forest management at the local, district, regional, and national levels. The Forest Act of 1998 supported the objectives of GFMC through the establishment of the Participatory Forest Management Unit (PFMU) to provide Forestry Department support to the rural communities in the establishment of Community Forests. The task of transitioning from a centralized to a decentralized approach to forest management required a clearly defined programme to ensure that sustainable forest management is achieved. In response, The National Forest Programme (NFP) of The Gambia was launched in 2009 to support participatory forest management.
Progresses of the NFP in the regions.
For the past two years, NFP has been working towards poverty alleviation through sustainable forest management, reforestation, strategic partnerships, forestry conservation, and capacity building. The coordinated efforts of all of the stakeholders towards forestry initiatives through the NFP are essential to meeting the objectives of Gambian Forest Policy.The NFP is reported to be progressing very well, according to a team of reporters and experts on the management of natural resources that recently trekked around the implementation sites of the pilot programme.
Ecotourism benefits for village development and livelihoods.
In West Coast and Lower River Regions, where the NFP is being piloted, communities as well as implementers applauded the great strides registered in the transfer of ownership of forests from the state to the local people. At Tumani Tenda in the West Coast Region, the villagers have not only instituted sound and sustainable forest management and preservation practices but also established a vibrant eco-tourism industry comprising accommodation, catering facilities as well as guided bush tours and creek cruises. The enterprise now yields dividend for the village development activities and livelihoods. According to Mr. Kanimang Kamara, Director of the National Consultancy on Rural Extension and Training (NACO), who run Market Analysis and Development (MA&D) programmes on the forestry sector, the village is a success story. People in Tumani Tenda are ploughing the benefits of eco-tourism into village development activities such as the payment of compound rates and school fees for their kids, he said. Mr. Kamara revealed that the projected total value of non timber forest products alone in the project area this year is around 2.5 million dalasi. Mr. Malang Jatta, NFP Focal Point at the department of forestry said he was impressed by the success of the NFP pilot programme and called on all to take it on even more seriously. At the Kafuta Forestry School, the stage is already set for the graduation of the latest barge of 42 in-service trainees. According to Mr. Pierre Kolly, a trainee, they are all set to complement government's efforts in natural resource management. In Besse, the Chairman of the Community Forestry Committee, Mr. Malang Kamara, exhibited a successful tree nursery for reforestation activities. He also has thirty bee hives in three cashew plantations, thanks to the educational and sensitization programmes run by St. Joseph's Family Farms in the area. Poverty alleviation with community forest management.
People in the Kiang and Jarra Districts in LRR, on their part, are emboldened by sensitization activities of The Freedom From Hunger Campaign. Villagers are demarcating surrounding forests for sustainable management and rational socio-economic exploitation. There are reports of good financial returns and benefits from the already established Community Forests in the area which are lending great support to poverty alleviation and village development programmes. As a result the demand for Community Forests is sky-rocketing.
Meanwhile, NACO intimates that work to up-date the forestry field worker's manual, which seeks to streamline and accelerate the implementation of the National Forest Policy, is at an advanced stage. The Kombo Foni Forestry Association (KOMFFORA) on their part, have concluded the first round of consultations with communities at District level, in a bid to establish the first ever District, Regional and National Forestry Platforms.
Forests provide vital resources to the people of the Gambia. One of the most important and creative steps The Gambian government has taken toward protecting the forest resources of this country has been the introduction of the community forestry system of forest management. However, community forestry has not yet reached its full potential in the Gambia. Collaboration of all of the stakeholders towards putting Forest Policy into practice is essential to ensuring the protection of one of The Gambia's most valuable natural resources. The creation of national, regional, and district forestry platforms supported by the NFP Facility provide the opportunity to build capacity, coordinate efforts, and promote participatory forest management. By Sheikh Alkinky Sanyang, and Ismaila Senghore 
Nepal - Launching of the study of forestry sector reform in a changed context
In August 2011, Nepal Foresters Association launched the study of forestry sector reform in a changed context in Nepal with the support of the NFP Facility. With the objective to reform forestry institutions in line with state restructuring for better functioning including enhanced service delivery, cost effectiveness, efficiency, transparency, accountability and relevance, the study aims to advise and suggest options on the restructuring of community based forestry organization networks, professional societies/associations in the forestry sector, private sector forestry networks with particular reference to the state restructuring process and other changes in the forestry sector that have taken place since 1994.
In collaborate with Nepalese Federation of Forest Resources Uses Groups (NEFUG), Nepal Foresters' Association will carry out the study adopting both inward and outward analysis approach to identify internal and external opportunities, challenges and interactions affecting to develop robust forestry institutional networks, following the principle that actions of various actors and stakeholders directly and indirectly affect the performance of forestry institutions. Through applying 4 Ds (discuss, derive, develop and decide), the approach will ensure stakeholders' participation and ownership in the process and options of the reform. Various institutional models will be developed and their pros and cons will be analyzed and debated before making decision on the final structures and functions of forestry institutions.
Through implementing a series of activities including literature review of the past and current forest policies and strategies, carrying out organization and management survey of Nepal's forest administration, and organizing stakeholder consultations, by early next 2012 the study is expected to achieve such outputs as identification of the likely specific needs and implications of state restructuring on their organization management; identification of the implications of upcoming forestry sector needs, roles and responsibilities over the next 20 years and capacity building requirements; clarification and agreement of the key roles and functions of state and non-state organizations in Nepal's forestry sector to avoid duplications and improve service delivery of a range of different services; and identification of transition pathways that can be used to manage the institutional change process whilst at the same time ensuring continued delivery of the services and roles played by different organizations in the forestry sector. | |  | | | | The NFP Facility, hosted by FAO, was created in 2002 to support countries to develop, implement and valorize their nfp. It has allocated 700 small grants (70% to the civil society and 30% to governments) based on national priorities, agreed by the stakeholders, in 80 partner countries and regional organizations, through a transparent process of call for proposals. The wide range of thematic supported through studies, trainings, knowledge sharing and pilot activities include forest resources, agroforestry, climate change, development of national forest financing strategies, conflict resolution, national timber industry, indigenous knowledge, governance and land use. The added value of the NFP Facility is to develop sustainable institutional mechanisms for consultative processes. | | | | | | National Forest Programme Facility - Forestry Department - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla - 00153 Rome, ITALY -Fax: +39 06 570 55137
www.nfp-facility.org | | |
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