Introduction
The mission
of the Global Forest Coalition is to reduce poverty amongst, and
avoid impoverishment of, indigenous peoples and other forest-dependent
peoples by advocating the rights of these peoples as a basis for
forest policy and addressing the direct and underlying causes of
deforestation and forest degradation.
Background
The Global
Forest Coalition was founded in 2000 by 19 NGOs and Indigenous Peoples’
Organizations (IPOs) from all over the world. It is a successor
to the NGO Forest Working Group, which was established in 1995 as
an informal network of 15 to 20 NGOs from all regions that participated
in international forest policy meetings and organized joint advocacy
campaigns on issues like Indigenous Peoples’ rights, the need
for socially just forest policy and the need to address the underlying
causes of forest loss. In 1997, the NGO Forest Working Group took
the lead in the multistakeholder initiative to address the underlying
causes of deforestation and forest degradation, an initiative that
was co-coordinated by the Netherlands Committee for IUCN and the
World Rainforest Movement. This initiative included the production
of 40 case studies and 20 in-depth studies on the underlying causes
of forest loss, and the organization of 9 regional and global workshops.
Recognizing
the importance of NGO and IPO participation from developing countries
in international forest policy processes, the members of the NGO
Forest Working Group decided to establish the Global Forest Coalition
as an inclusive, informal alliance of Southern and Northern NGOs
and IPOs. The main aim of the Global Forest Coalition is to facilitate
the informed participation of NGOs and IPOs in international forest
policy meetings. Another important activity of the Coalition is
to produce independent monitoring reports on the implementation
of international forest policy commitments like the Proposals for
Action of the Intergovernmental Panel and Forum on Forests, the
Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Framework Convention
on Climate Change. GFC also manages a micro-grants facility to promote
capacity-building and awareness raising workshops on the underlying
causes of forest loss.
As a
result of the first independent evaluation of the Coalition in 2003,
it was decided to initiate specific campaigns through which the
participants in the Coalition could work together on specific policy
aims. In this light, the Life as Commerce campaign was developed,
which aims to analyze and raise awareness of the social impacts
of market-based conservation mechanisms, looking particularly at
the social impacts on women, Indigenous Peoples, and the rural poor.
The campaign includes five national projects (in India, Colombia,
Ecuador, Costa Rica and Paraguay) and a large number of international
activities like workshops and awareness raising campaigns.
Objectives
The objectives
of the Global Forest Coalition are:
- ·to facilitate
the informed participation of NGOs and IPOs in global policy fora
related to forests;
- to monitor the implementation
of the commitments made by governments at these global forest
policy fora;
- to raise the awareness
of local communities, Indigenous Peoples, social movements, women's
groups and relevant policy-makers on the potential social and
environmental impacts of market-based conservation schemes;
- to build and strengthen
the capacity of local communities, Indigenous Peoples, social
movements and women's groups to analyze and address the social
and environmental impacts of market-based conservation schemes;
- to build the capacity
of NGOs, IPOs and other stakeholders and rightsholders to analyze
and address the underlying causes of deforestation and forest
degradation;
- to further enhance
public and political awareness of the importance to analyze and
address the underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation.
Main
GFC Activities
Structure
of the Global Forest Coalition
The main decision-making
body of the Global Forest Coalition is the Coordination Group, which
consists of seven regional focal points, two Indigenous Peoples'
focal points, a representative of the host organization and the
Coordinator. Currently, the following groups are acting as regional
or Indigenous Peoples' focal points of the Global Forest Coalition:
For North and West Asia: Friends of the
Siberian Forests, Russia, laletin@online.ru
For South and East Asia: Kalpavriksh,
India, swati.shresth@duke.edu
For Africa: Institute of Cultural Affairs,
Ghana, lokrah@yahoo.co.uk
For Oceania: the Pacific Indigenous Peoples
Environmental Coalition, Aotearoa/ New Zealand, sandygauntlett@hotmail.com
For Europe: the Finnish Association for
Nature Conservation, Finland, harkki@sll.fi
For North America: Neotropico, Canada,
rosa.ortiz@sympatico.ca
For Latin America: CENSAT, Colombia,
bosques@censat.org
For Indigenous Peoples’ Organizations:
the International Alliance of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples of the
Tropical Forest, torim@centrin.net.id
and the Fundación para la Promoción del Conocimiento
Indígena mariasg@cwpanama.net
Until 2005, the Global Forest Coalition
was formally hosted by the World Rainforest Movement. In November
2005, the Global Forest Coalition was registered as an independent
foundation in the Netherlands. The International Secretariat is
based in Amsterdam. A Southern office has been established in Asunción,
Paraguay.
International Secretariat:
Adelaarsweg 54
1021BS Amsterdam,
the Netherlands
tel: 31-20-4945376
fax: 31-20-4945377
Postbank Amsterdam account no: 910323.
Southern office:
Bruselas 2273, Asunción, Paraguay
tel/fax: 595-21-663654
For more information, please contact:
Miguel Lovera, Lovera2@conexion.com.py
or visit http://www.wrm.org.uy/gfc
