It is proposed that the regional/IPO focal points solicit 5 case studies each taking into account the following criteria:

• as many countries as possible
• as many different situations (different forest types, different rates of deforestation, different direct causes, different underlying causes) as possible
• as much indigenous peoples´ involvement as possible
• if possible, it would be interesting to solicit two case studies from the same bioregion which show very different forest degradation rates due to different local, national or sectoral policies.

It is proposed that all case studies be carried out by an NGO/IPO or other institution, in close collaboration with a community facing deforestation/forest degradation in their area. Governments are also welcome to prepare case studies in collaboration with a community facing deforestation.

2. Suggested guidelines for case studies

The case studies could include:

2.1 A brief description of the situation including:

• description of the forest as a component of a bioregion, its biodiversity, endemism and environmental functions;
• description of the community and the relationship of people with the forest;
• description of the direct causes and actors leading to deforestation/forest degradation;
• description of actions undertaken by the community to counteract the deforestation process and problems encountered.

2.2 Description of underlying causes:

• identification, analysis and ranking of underlying causes
• identification and analysis of the different actors responsible for underlying causes (local, national, regional, global), including both actors "on stage" and actors "behind the scene";
• identification of the objectives, motivations and incentives for all actors;
• identification of strategies applied by different actors to achieve their goals;
• identification of relationships between the various actors;
• identification of contradictions between UC actors and other actors.

2.3 Possible solutions

• suggestion of possible actions to counteract local, national, regional and global underlying causes at short, medium and long term;
• identification of actors which could implement such actions;
• identification of actors which might support such actions;
• identification of actors which might oppose such actions;
• identification of socio-economic and environmental impact of such actions.

2.4 Length of case studies: no less than 10 pages; no more than 20 pages.

2.5 The case studies should take into account the diagnostic framework proposed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests.

3. Suggestions for the organization of workshops

3.1. Workshops could start with presentation of case studies by:

• a representative of the community involved;
• complementary report by the author of the case study.

3.2. Follow with presentations on underlying causes in their regions by non-case study participants.

3.3. Then follow with a presentations on the global dimensions of underlying causes (e.g. structural adjustment, external debt, trade) by regional focal point or person(s) from the region/IPOs appointed by regional/IPO focal point

3.4. Conclusions

3.5. Suggestions for global, national and local strategies and actions to eliminate underlying causes

4. General criteria for selection of regional workshop participants

• priority for those carrying out case studies
• priority for those who have carried out consultations on UC at national level
• gender balance, sub-regional balance
• include a balanced number of indigenous peoples' representatives and CBOs

Additional Suggestions and General Remarks

The Role of the Focal Points

The regional/IPO focal points are the engine behind the entire process. Their tasks are comprehensive and include the organization of a profound regional/IPO consultation, involving as many other networks and NGOs/CBOs/IPOs as possible. They are to put a lot of effort in the proper selection of case studies and the careful organization of the workshops. The report of the workshops should be of high quality. The focal points are also responsible for the implementation of an active outreach strategy to disseminate the results of both the regional and global workshops.

Process is part of the product

The process of consulting and building awareness of underlying causes amongst NGOs/IPOs/CBOs, governments and other stakeholders is at least as important as the final outcome of the workshop. Instead of hiring professional consultants to write case studies and other papers for the regional/IPO processes, it should be ensured a broad-based process is started up which stimulates a large number of people to think about these issues. Such a process should inspire and trigger actions, projects and campaigns, not only amongst the formal IFF participants (governments), as the formal mandate of the UC process prescribes, but also amongst all NGOs/IPOs/CBOs involved.

Involving all stakeholders

In order to effectively involve local communities and CBOs/IPOs, we should put a strong effort in mobilizing them, informing them, consulting them and involving them in all sorts of ways throughout the process. Speakers from industry and other non-governmental stakeholders could also be invited to give short presentations at regional workshop, strategic roundtables and the global workshop. More in general, it would be good if we could keep the process as open as possible. Thus, people are welcome to attend workshops if they want to. The regional/IPO focal points will select the speakers and determine who will receive a reimbursement for travel and subsistence costs, taking into account the need for proper gender, sub-regional and NGO-IPO-CBO-governments balance.

It should be ensured that the case studies are of high quality, also as far as their general conclusions are concerned. Thus, the regional/IPO focal points have an important task to solicit NGOs/IPOs or other people who can deliver a high quality product. Targetting the right individuals within key groups of stakeholders forms a major challenge in this respect. In general, the autonomy of regional/IPO focal points is very important. The global secretariat will start up a number of general outreach activities (publications in newsletters, a global web-site, briefings at international meetings etc), but it will refrain from directly inviting people to participate in regional/IPO processes.

Indigenous peoples involvement

The IPO focal point and other IPO steering committee members will take the lead in ensuring that indigenous peoples are actively involved in all regional and global processes/workshops. After all the regional workshops have taken place and before the global workshop, a special workshop for IPOs will be held in order to consolidate and deepen the IPO proposals for action. The outcomes of this workshop will be fed, together with the outcomes of the regional processes, into the global workshop. The IPO focal point will also ensure that the UC process is linked up with other ongoing initiatives of IPOs in the field of forest conservation, both during and after the process.

Involvement of CBOs

An important issue is to try to involve in the process a balanced mix of people from grassroot organizations and from the more "international" or "networking organizations. While the latter are often very good speakers and feel comfortable at international events, grassroots people, who are based in the field/local community, might bring in more first hand information and experiences to the process, as well as ensuring that a large number of people from communities becomes involved.

National Consultations

In general, it is important to involve the people who have been involved in the IPF/IFF process. It should be encouraged to organize national consultation processes which will feed into the regional workshops. It should be ensured, however, that regional/IPO workshops also involve a sufficient number of new faces. The selection of speakers and funded participants for the workshops will be made by the focal points. Advice from national and other coalitions can be taken into account, of course, but the focal points select them, in consultation with steering committee members from their region, taking into account the need for a proper balance between people from different backgrounds, sub-regions, countries, gender, major groups, etc.

Allow for oral presentations

While all the case studies will be presented in written form before the global workshop takes place, there should also be ample room for people to bring oral case studies /experiences to the regional/IPO workshops. Such oral case studies are a necessary complement to the written presentations. This is particularly important for the presentations by representatives of affected communities.

´Globalists´ and Grass-roots people

It should be ensured that the latest analysis of global issues which may constitute underlying causes of deforestation (IFIs, WTO, MAI, corporate accountability, IPRs, Debt, WSSD follow up, UN reform, etc. etc.) is fed into the process. Yet, there is a risk that the ´experts´ on these global processes will shy off experts on local processes, when both groups are invited to a regional/IPO workshop. The regional/IPO focal points can fulfill a bridge function. They can be informed about globalization processes at steering committee meetings and take this information, and maybe one or two good ideas for speakers from their region/constituency, back to their regional/IPO processes. For this purpose, it was proposed that the steering committee meetings include one or two strategic roundtable debates with globalization experts. These roundtables could also be used to involve people from outside the process and/or other stakeholders.

If experts on global issues are invited to the regional/IPO workshops, however, it should be ensured that the programme prioritizes the local experts. The experts on global issues could be invited at the second day, to respond to some of the underlying causes and recommendations suggested on the basis of local experiences.

The focal points should probably make a provisional list of underlying causes themselves, in order to be able to identify the best experts to be involved in a meeting (preferably not more than 2). They should ensure that those speakers are people who are able to explain complicated processes in a clear manner.

Integral reports

It is very important that a comprehensive report is made of all the regional/IPO consultations/workshops. Thus, we would suggest all workshops are taped, and those proceedings are typed out entirely. Naturally, these reports will be edited afterwards and the regional/IPO focal points would be encouraged to disseminate summaries or statements from the workshops/consultations. A good system might be to let the speakers themselves ´polish up´ their own presentations. Yet, the final report should also take into account the integral report of all processes, as some issues that might seem unimportant in one process might come back in various processes.

The Role of the Global Secretariat in Regional/IPO Workshops

In order to ensure continuity, a representative of the global secretariat will be present at all regional/IPO workshops in order to do a short presentation about the initiative. It is important, though, that the global secretariat does not interfere in any way with the substance of the regional/IPO process. Their presentation should not include any substantive elements. Naturally, they are free to share their expertise on the matter informally with the participants, but it should be avoided that the global secretariat pre-determines the substantive outcomes of the regional/IPO processes.

Additionally, the representative of the global secretariat could be asked to write a small personal evaluation of every regional/IPO workshop. This evaluation could address the substantive outcomes of the process, but it should especially address the (methodology of the) process itself: whether there was a large enough and balanced group of people involved, whether it was a genuine participatory process, what were the social dynamics during the workshop, etc. The evaluation could also include a few recommendations for the regional/IPO workshops that are still to follow. The personal evaluation will be edited by the global secretariat, sent back to the focal points for comments, and then, as a more formal evaluation, be disseminated amongst the OC and SC.

Output

The conclusions and recommendations which come forth from the regional/IPO and final workshop need to be action oriented and should take into account the need for an integral approach towards groupings of interrelated underlying causes. Some of these proposals for action may be achievable in the short term, while others may require a longer period. Some can be achievable through national government actions, while others may require changes at the regional or global level, which will imply decisions taken by other actors.

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