Forestry sector needs transparency to reduce risks of REDD

SHARE:

Forestry sector needs transparency to reduce risks of REDD
mongabay.com
January 25, 2010

A new project aims to increase transparency in the forestry sector, an area long plagued by corruption and mismanagement.

The Forest Sector Transparency Report Card, launched by Global Witness, an environmental NGO, assesses 70 transparency indicators, evaluating the public availability of land use maps, logging contracts, and other forestry-related information in Cameroon, Ghana, Liberia and Peru. The effort will eventually be expanded to other countries.

The report card found forest sector transparency in the four countries to be "generally poor", with the public often kept in the dark about logging and mining projects. It warns that lack of transparency in the sector could cause the U.N. REDD mechanism, a climate change mitigation scheme that would pay tropical countries to protect their forests, to founder.

Rainforest logs in Gabon. Photo by R. Butler

"While [REDD] offers an opportunity for forest preservation, there is very little legal commitment to transparency for environmental services and carbon deals, and often the rights to these goods are disputed," said Global Witness in a statement.

Speaking at an event hosted by Chatham House in London last Thursday, David Young, a forest campaigner for Global Witness, said the report card shows where transparency in the forestry sector can be improved.

"This report card highlights best practice while also exposing the ways in which vested interests can secretly control and siphon off profit from a nation’s forests," he said. "It is designed to be a tool for civil society members to put pressure on their governments to address failures of democracy and push for positive change."

"The report card provides a useful tool for civil society to improve their analysis of the issues and prioritize strategies. This is crucial to help them engage with government and the private sector and push for greater access to information and policy processes."

Global Witness will be releasing the complete 2009 Annual Transparency Report later this year on www.foresttransparency.info

SHARE THIS ARTICLE:

Tags:
redd forestry logging forests carbon finance environment green peru Cameroon Liberia Ghana deforestation illegal logging

CITATION:
mongabay.com (January 25, 2010). Forestry sector needs transparency to reduce risks of REDD. http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0125-transparency.html

News index | RSS | News Feed | Twitter | Home

Advertisements:

Organic Apparel from Patagonia | Insect-repelling clothing

Mongabay Store
Wildlife of Madagascar T-shirt		Bold and Dangerous - Pygmy tyrant
Love me before I'm gone - Gladiator frog		Licking this frog may make you crazy

MONGABAY.COM
Mongabay.com seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development (more)

CONTENTS

Rainforests
Tropical Fish
News
Madagascar
Pictures
Kids' Site
Languages
TCS Journal
About
Archives
Topics | RSS
Newsletter