Publications

Voices from the forest

At a time when the space for civil society is shrinking, the need for people to be able to influence the powers that control their lives, and have the freedom to work together to tackle the challenges they face, is more critical...

28/03/2018

Forest governance

VPAs and NDCs: Sharing the Toolbox? – How lessons learned from EU FLEGT can be put to work for the Paris Agreement

As the Paris Agreement is ratified by each of its signatory states, they commit to put into action their specific national plans to combat climate change. These plans are called Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC). Fern...

14/03/2018

What role do forests and governance play in countries’ nationally determined contributions to the Paris Climate Agreement?

This study analyses the correlation between forest governance and deforestation, and aims to improve national understanding of the challenges involved in land-use governance. The multistakeholder Voluntary Partnership Agreement...

14/03/2018

Reports

CoNGOs project : Discussion of a new paradigm for community forestry

The CoNGOs project partners discuss a new paradigm for community forestry at the meeting of the CBFP parties in Douala.

At the 17th annual Meeting of Parties of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) in Douala, Cameroon, Fern...

15/12/2017

Forest governance, Reports

A year on from FLEGT licensing - VPA Update, November 2017

LoggingOff and Fern publish occasional Forest Watch updates detailing events in countries negotiating a Voluntary Partnership Agreement from a civil society perspective. In the November 2017 edition, the main article focuses on...

15/11/2017

Briefing Notes

Independent Forest Monitoring: a chance for improved governance in VPA countries?

The forest sector is particularly vulnerable to poor governance including corruption, fraud, and organised crime. Illegality in the sector generates vast sums of money and has helped fuel long and bloody conflicts. Even in...

16/08/2017

Reports

How much do communities get from logging? Social obligations in the logging sector in Cameroon, Ghana, Liberia and Republic of Congo

This study looks at the benefits gained by local communities from the logging industry in Cameroon, Ghana, Liberia and the Republic of Congo and was carried out with support from and on request of local NGOs in these countries.

T...

01/06/2017

Briefing Notes

Making Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) work for forests, people and the climate: Civil society recommendations on the future of VPAs

As decision makers in the European Union (EU) and timber producing countries consider the future of the FLEGT Action Plan, and its Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPA), civil society organisations and platforms from Cameroon,...

16/03/2017

Protecting forests, improving livelihoods - Comparing community forestry in Cameroon and Guatemala

This report conducts a comparison between the experience of community forests in Guatemala and in Cameroon. Community forests in Guatemala have met with some success, in some cases becoming effective enterprises at the same time...

01/01/2016

Reports

Community representation and participation in the VPA process

This report looks at the extent of community participation in VPA processes by considering case studies of communities from nine VPA countries.

02/05/2014