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Underlying Causes of
Deforestation and Forest Degradation
Oceania and Pacific Strategic Issues Report on the
Underlying Causes of Executive Summary Inter-governmental Action on Forests Alarming past and current trends in global deforestation and forest degradation document a deepening forest crisis worldwide. In an effort to address this forest crisis, the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, in 1995, established an Intergovernmental Panel on Forests. As a follow-up to the IPF, at United Nations General Assembly Special Session, governments established the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF). At the first meeting of the IFF in October 1997, participants decided to include an analysis of underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation in the program of work. At the first meeting of the IFF, an Organising Committee consisting of inter-governmental, governmental and non-governmental representatives decided to organise a series of regional workshops on the underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation. An Overview of Underlying Causes of Deforestation and Forest Degradation Basically an underlying cause is any social, political or economic factor that is behind an individuals or group of individuals motivation for cutting down trees. Workshop Aim The key focus of the workshop was to identify Issues, define Objectives and Actions, then to determine Responsibilities for carrying out the actions to address the underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation. Official Opening The workshop was officially opened by Mr Peniasi Kunatuba, Permanent Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forests, Fiji. He underscored the fact that the growing global market meant that economic pressures from outside the region were influencing our ability to manage our natural resources. He hoped that other regions of the world would learn from the Oceania workshop and thanked the governments of Australia and New Zealand for their financial contribution to the workshop. Workshop Organisers The Workshop was organised by Pacific BioWeb Inc, facilitated by Robert Thorman, Environmental Consultant. Funding was provided by the Australian and New Zealand governments with additional support from UNEP and the United Kingdom government. Issues Associated with Regional Underlying Causes As result of a series of small working groups the workshop came forward with the following key set of Issues, Objectives and Actions: Lack of Stakeholder Resources and Involvement Objective: To establish full and adequate stakeholder involvement Suggested Actions include:
Poorly Directed Foreign Assistance Programmes Objective: Encourage better stakeholder access to international financial institutions and issues and develop better communication between stakeholders. Suggested Actions include:
International and Domestic Trade Pressures Objectives: Encourage consumer education and promote FSC criteria in key timber products markets (eg Japan). Encourage participation in, and community awareness on, the effect of globalisation on the timber trade in the region. Suggested Actions include:
Domestic Financial Pressures Objective: To create alternative models for development that: address people’s needs and aspirations, develop effective programs of poverty alleviation, create alternative means of income generation that don’t involve deforestation and forest degradation; and utilise forest resources in a sustainable way for the benefit of future generations. Suggested actions include:
Unsustainable Population Growth Objective: To address population growth issues and ensure equitable resource distribution Suggested actions include:
Lack of Recognition of Cultural Values and Land Tenure Systems Objective: To respect, encourage, recognise and preserve all aspects of indigenous cultures and explore methods of sustainable forest management, appropriate to the land tenure system of each country. Suggested actions include:
Inappropriate Development Policies and Practices Objective: To develop agricultural systems which acknowledge and appropriately integrate both production and non-market values and uses of forests Suggested action include:
Inadequate Valuation of Forests Objective: To raise awareness amongst stakeholders of the total value of forests: short-long term including economic, social and ecological. Suggested actions include:
Inadequate Policies and Capacity to Management Resources Objective: To review and formulate appropriate natural resources use policy and legislation in addition to strengthening human resource capacity to enable the proper implementation of the policy. Suggested actions include:
Introduction Inter-governmental Action on Forests Alarming past and current trends in global deforestation and forest degradation document a deepening forest crisis worldwide. In an effort to address this forest crisis, the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, in 1995, established an Intergovernmental Panel on Forests to address a wide range of forest-related issues. The IPF produced a final report in early 1997 containing a set of 135 proposals for action that governments have agreed to implement. This package of proposals was formally endorsed at the June 1997 UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on the implementation of Agenda 21. As a follow-up to the IPF, at UNGASS, governments established the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF). At the first meeting of the IFF in October 1997, participants decided to include an analysis of underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation in the program of work. Global and Regional Workshops At the first meeting of the IFF, an Organising Committee consisting of inter-governmental, governmental and non-governmental representatives decided to organise a series of regional workshops on the underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation and their relationship to national underlying causes as recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests. The results of the regional processes and a selection of case studies/ discussion papers will be presented to a Global Workshop, to be held in Costa Rica, February 1999. A schematic representation of this process in found in Appendix A Evolution of the Initiative
An Overview of the Underlying Causes of Deforestation and Forest Degradation The loss of forests worldwide can be attributed to a number of causes. In many countries the principle cause of forest loss is conversion to agriculture. Behind all these direct causes are a series of indirect or underlying causes. These underlying causes relate to various social, political and economic factors that underscore forest loss or degradation. Often underlying causes are linked to each
other and may form chains of causality. For instance, inequitable land ownership may be
linked to government corruption, which may be linked to corporate greed and consumption
patterns in industrialised countries. Basically an underlying cause is any social,
political or economic factor that is behind an individuals or group of individuals
motivation for cutting down trees. Goals Primary Goal The primary gaol of the workshop was to produce an Oceania Region Strategic Issues Report on the Underlying Causes of Deforestation and Forest Degradation. This was done by identifying Issues, defining Objectives and Actions, then to determining Responsibilities for carrying out the actions to address the underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation. The result of the regional workshop will be transmitted to the Global Workshop in Costa Rica, 1999. Secondary Goal The secondary gaol of the workshop was to stimulate an ongoing dialogue on this and other issues associated with the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests within the Oceania Region. Discussion Papers As adjunct to the workshop, a series of sub-regional discussion papers on underlying causes were commissioned. An informal discussion of these Discussion Papers was held during a free evening of the workshop. Due to the level of discussion associated with these Discussion Papers, it was decided to call for additional discussion papers from the region. All the papers will then be consolidated into a Compendium of Discussion Papers and this will then be transmitted to the Global Workshop. Official Opening The workshop was officially opened by Mr Peniasi Kunatuba, Permanent Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forests, Fiji. He noted that the workshop was the second in a series of seven, which would culminate in a Global Workshop in Costa Rica next year. He highlighted the fact that the workshop was held in conjunction with the South Pacific Heads of Forestry meeting, noting that with the participation of the Heads of Forestry, non government organisations and other institutions that representatives from fifteen Pacific nations were in attendance. He underscored the fact that the growing global market meant that economic pressures from outside the region were influencing our ability to manage our natural resources. He drew upon the example of the colonial exploitation of Fiji’s forests as one sample of this outside pressure. The fact that forests provide medicines and food was also noted. He hoped that other regions of the world would learn from the Oceania workshop and thanked the governments of Australia and New Zealand for their financial contribution to the workshop. Workshop Organisers The Workshop was organised by Pacific BioWeb Inc, facilitated by Robert Thorman, Environmental Consultant with logistic support from the Netherlands Committee for IUCN and the UNDP Pacific Islands Forests and Trees Support Program. Funding Funding for the workshop primarily came from
the Australian and New Zealand governments with addition support from UNEP and the United
Kingdom government. Workshop Format The workshop was based on a series of small group exercises. It initially started with the aim of small randomly selected groups working in teams to develop a Regional Strategic Issues Report. After the first session of the small groups a number of participants suggested it would be preferable to work in geo-political groupings. As a result it was decided to initially form three geo-political groups:
On the second day the New Zealand and Australia group was expanded to include participants from the other groups and this group focussed on a region-wide approach. The workshop was based around a series of exercises focussed on the following planning themes:
Timetable for Development of Report The workshop planning exercises lead to the development of a draft Oceania Region Strategic Issues Report. This will be circulated to participants and forwarded to the Global Workshop next year. The timetable for the Report will follow:
Defining Exercise As initial exercise the workshop was divided into three sub-groups based on a random selection process. Each participant for each sub-group was asked to write down three brief responses to the following question: What are the main underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation in your country? (The complete results of the exercise are
found in Appendix B) Regional Underlying Causes The workshop identified broad underlying causes. These include a number of sub-issues:
1. Inadequate stakeholder resources
1. Poorly directed foreign assistance programmes
1.International trade pressures
1. Increasing demand for cash income
1. Unsustainable population growth
1. Non-integration of cultural values into
management systems
1. Inappropriate agriculture model and economic
policies
1. Inadequate valuation of forests
1. Inappropriate policy implementation and
poor legislative framework Objectives, Actions, Priorities and Responsibilities For each of the Issues, Objectives, Actions, Priorities and Responsibilities for Action were defined. This activity provides the principle conclusions of the Workshop. The results of this activity are:
1. Issue: Inadequate Stakeholder Resources Objective: To establish full and adequate stakeholder involvement Action Priority Responsibility
2. Issue: Poor communication between stakeholders Objective: To improve coordination and communication between all stakeholders Action Priority Responsibility
Key: IF: International Financial Institutions
1. Issue: Poorly directed foreign assistance programmes Objective: To improve dialogue, consultation and coordination between all stakeholders in relation to foreign assistance. Action Priority Responsibility
2. Issue: Inappropiate role of International Financial Institutions Objective: Encourage better stakeholder access to international financial institutions and issues. Action Priority Responsibility
Key: IF: International Financial Institutions
1. Issue: International trade pressures Objectives: Encourage consumer education and promote
FSC criteria in key timber products markets (eg Japan). Action Priority Responsibility
2. Issue: Unsustainable domestic trade in timber products Objective: To improve legislative framework and enforcement to both large and small scale operations while encouraging non-timber income generating activities. Action Priority Responsibility
3. Issue: Unsustainable consumption in forest products Objective: To increase awareness at the global market level in order to rationalise the consumption of timber and non-timber products and to increase demand for sustainably produced timber. Action Priority Responsibility
4. Issue: Impact of trade liberalisation on forest product trade Objective: To encourage the WTO (and other relevant international bodies involved with international trade) to review their policies due to the implications and consequences which liberalisation of timber trade might have on national economies of developing ( or least developed countries) Action Priority Responsibility
Key: IF: International Financial Institutions
1. Issue: Increasing demand for cash income Objective: To create alternative models for development that: address people’s needs and aspirations, develop effective programs of poverty alleviation, create alternative means of income generation that don’t involve deforestation and forest degradation; and utilise forest resources in a sustainable way for the benefit of future generations. Action Priority Responsibility
Key: IF: International Financial Institutions
1. Issue: Unsustainable Population Growth Objective: To address population growth issues and ensure equitable resource distribution Action Priority Responsibility
Key: IF: International Financial Institutions
1. Issue: Non-integration of cultural values into management systems Objective: To respect, encourage, recognise and preserve all aspects of indigenous cultures. Action Priority Responsibility
2. Issue: Poor acceptance of land tenure systems Objective: To explore methods of sustainable forest management, appropriate to the land tenure system of each country. Action Priority Responsibility
3. Issue: Lack of recognition of culture / land tenure / land rights Objective: To ensure that any forestry or forest related development is compatible with the local culture and gives due recognition to land tenure systems and landowner rights and aspirations. Action Priority Responsibility
Key: IF: International Financial Institutions
1. Issue: Inappropriate agriculture models and economic policies Objective: To develop agricultural systems which acknowledge and appropriately integrate both production and non-market values and uses of forests. Action Priority Responsibility
2. Issue: Commercialisation of agriculture Objective: To develop and promote the use of appropriate and sustainable agricultural practices. Action Priority Responsibility
3. Issue: Inappropiate technology and practices Objective: Promote technologies and practices that enhance reafforestation and natural regeneration of healthy indigenous forests. Action Priority Responsibility
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