In the 1990s, the world’s forests declined at the rate of 17 million ha per year. The rate of deforestation is excessive and threatens rural livelihoods in many countries.

For example, in the Huacamayos Forest in Ecuador, people use 212 plant species and 141 animal products for food.

Millions of people around the world depend on forests, directly or indirectly -

• Some depend on forest products for livelihoods.
• Some use forest products as a means of ensuring food security.
• Others engage in forest enterprises in order to raise livelihoods above subsistence level.

Conflicts over the use, access and ownership of forests threaten human and environmental security and adversely affect natural resource management. In Nyangui Forest, Zimbabwe, a long running conflict over reserve boundaries has not been resolved because of a lack of recognition of traditional and local rights and a lack of conflict management mechanisms.

Negotiating roles and responsibilities of stakeholders is more important than adjusting contested boundaries. It is important to negotiate the long-term access rights and management responsibilities as a prerequisite for sustainable use.

Throughout the world there are many examples of communities regulating forest use in order to sustain long term benefits, leading to improvements in forest condition. In many places, the participation of communities is increasingly becoming a central feature of forest management.

However, experience has shown that most Government forestry programmes often yield few opportunities for significant local income generation. The opportunities are restricted and can be characterised as ‘little trees for little people’.

There is a need to test the theory that assisting communities to generate incomes from forests will strengthen incentives for conservation and support rural livelihoods. So far the theory has yet to be demonstrated convincingly.

There are strong links between so-called ‘natural’ disasters, human activity, vulnerability and environmental damage.

Hurricane Mitch killed 18,000, displaced almost 2 million, left 300,000 homeless, and caused 6 billion US dollars damage, including huge infrastructure losses.

Why did this hurricane cause so much damage?

On the other side of the world, the Bay of Bengal is exposed to cyclones that create storm surges of 5-7 metres in height, threatening lives and property. The mangrove forests of Bangladesh help to diffuse these storm surges.

But, the mangroves are threatened by increased salinity from reduced water flows, encroachment and over-exploitation.

Natural fire regimes can help maintain forest ecosystems. Uncontrolled, human induced fires threaten people and forest biodiversity.

Recently, the frequency and intensity of forest fires has increased dramatically as a result of human action. Worldwide, 14 million ha of forests were impacted by fires in 1997/98.

Most uncontrolled fires are started by humans either deliberately or accidentally. Underlying causes of fires include perverse economic and social incentives; land and resource conflicts, climate change, and greed and corruption.

The Khabarovsk Krai fires in Russia threatened protected areas, Ramsar sites, and critical habitats. There is tremendous concern about the 3 million hectares of radioactive forest in Russia. Such radioactivity could be released in the event of fire.

The 1997 fires in Indonesia caused economic losses of some 9 billion US$. An estimated 20 to 70 million people suffered health problems due to smoke haze, and 40,000 people were hospitalized in Indonesia alone.

A major shift has occurred in our expectations from forests. We now expect forests to be managed not simply for timber but for multiple objectives, involving multiple stakeholders. Forests are expected to provide benefits for conservation, production and services, economic benefits to rural communities. This has made the task of forest management increasingly complex.

The downsizing of Forest Departments and state budgets means that local communities are expected to take more responsibility for forest management. But there is still a reluctance to give communities either genuine control or access to the full benefits from the resources they are managing. The increased responsibilities are often given without additional resources or capacity building. There has not been a shift in decision-making power, especially regarding resources that can provide real income. But we need to know more about what conditions are needed for communities to be even more interested in sustainable forest management.

There is a gap between policies and implementation. Policies and laws are often not ratified or implemented, especially at an international level.

International forest debates have shown slow progress. It seems that the emphasis is on the debate and not on the purpose of the debate. We need to build a culture of success, from the positive action that is taking place on the ground.

The policies of multi-lateral institutions provide another avenue for addressing forest conservation and rural livelihood concerns.

The World Bank influences the state of the world forests. The Bank’s greatest impact results not from their forestry loans, but from non-forest sector loans for structural adjustment, transportation, hydropower, mining, transmigration, and agriculture.

One example is the Barranquilla – Soplaviento Road in Colombia. The road choked off the water flow to the Cienaga Grande de Santa Maria and destroyed some 30,000 ha of mangrove forests, and impacting the lives of 200,000 poor people who relied on these resources for a living.

And fiscal and trade policies call for agreements which can potentially have adverse, unforeseen consequences on forests. (For example: IMF deregulation of oil-palm investments in Indonesia may have accelerated forest clearance). Thus natural resource stability (and sustainable livelihood) precautions need to be incorporated into adjustment frameworks and other similar agreements.

The challenges mentioned above can be addressed by IUCN in the following general ways.

• Rigorously test the theory that supporting income generation from forests can contribute to conservation and poverty alleviation.
• Emphasize and support tenurial negotiations and the full implementation of community forestry programmes.
• Focus on both the direct and underlying causes of deforestation, loss in forest quality, and the links with "natural" disaster damage.
• Explore ways to work at the watershed/ landscape scale to better address highland – lowland interactions.
• Emphasise and build on effective action on the ground, and mobilise the full range of stakeholders from local to the global level.
• Work cross sectorally, especially with IUCN’s commissions and members.
• Develop partnerships with key players who can have an influence, such as the World Bank.
• Gather and disseminate information where it is lacking and avoid studying issues that are already well known.

For further information, please contact Josue Anselmo, Head, Communication Unit.