Advancing poverty reduction and rural livelihoods through sustainable commercial forestry

International companies investing in developing countries need to purposely plan for social equity and community participation in their commercial operations, right from the start - in addition to the usual profitability and environmental impact considerations. This is the main conclusion from the recent review of The Forests Dialogue's Forests & Poverty Reduction Initiative.

Called Advancing Poverty Reduction & Rural Livelihoods Through Sustainable Commercial Forestry (pdf, 29 pages), the review notes that: "The complex connection between forests and human livelihoods has led some to view forests as poverty traps, providing sufficient resources to maintain forest-dependent populations but not generating enough wealth to enable these populations to escape poverty."

The review - based on field visits and stakeholder dialogues held in South Africa, Indonesia, China, Bolivia, Brazil and the Komi Republic in Russia from 2007 to 2009 - makes the following recommendations for structuring commercial forestry initiatives to reduce poverty and promote sustainable livelihoods:

Intentioned outcomes: To be pro-poor requires focus, planning, monitoring, and clear metrics

Cooperative partnerships: Cooperation within the supply chain and with a wide array of stakeholders who have direct and immediate interest is critical especially where power imbalances exist.

Promote business models that recognize and reward mutual benefits among social partners.

Understanding the local context in which a company operates cannot be overestimated.

Obtaining certification from an internationally recognized forest certification system is required.

Cost-shifting activities need to be avoided.

Promote and support efforts to clarify land use and increase public support and wealth from forest activity and associated products.

Develop long-term plans for the introduction of technology and other labor-reducing, waste-reducing machinery.

Promote forest land use as the desired alternative where wealth is shared proportionately with stakeholders.

Globalized market economies require proactive management to reduce illegality and labor distortions between countries, which can contribute to the creation of poverty. As such anchor tenants and governments need to be aware of both negative outcomes and the potential loss of non-economic values when they plan large-scale projects in remote and developing portions of any country.

The Forests Dialogue (TFD), formed in 1999, is an outgrowth of dialogues and activities that began separately under the auspices of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), The World Bank, the International Institute for Environment and Development, and the World Resources Institute. These initiatives converged to create TFD when these leaders agreed that there needed to be a unique, civil society driven, on-going, international multistakeholder dialogue forum to address important global forestry issues.

TFD's mission and purpose is to bring key leaders together to build relationships based on trust, commitment and understanding and through them, generate substantive discussion on key issues related to achieving sustainable forest management around the world. TFD's dialogues serve as a platform to share aspirations and learning and to new seek ways to take collaborative action on the highest priority forest conservation and management issues.

WBCSD Managing Director James Griffiths is currently a TFD co-leader. The field visits were hosted by WBCSD member companies Mondi, APRIL Group, Stora Enso and Aracruz (now Fibria), and CEDES Bolivia, a WBCSD Regional Network partner.