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16 May, 2012

MSD Platform Successfully Established in Two New Districts

The EU chainsaw milling project has expanded its multi-stakeholder dialogue (MSD) platform to two new forest districts: Tarkwa and Nkwanta.

15 May, 2012

TBI Viet Nam holds a successful final phase two workshop

TBI Viet Nam held its final workshop of phase two on April 17th, 2012 in Hue, Viet Nam. The overall objective of the workshop was to evaluate the obtained results compiled by TBI Viet Nam, and to introduce the programme’s orientation thru 2016.

15 May, 2012

Workshop to assess the policy and practice of Forest Land Allocation held in Ha Noi

On April 10th, 2012, TBI Viet Nam, with support from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), conducted a workshop in Ha Noi entitled, “Forestry Land Allocation: Policy and Practice.” The event was held in cooperation with the Department of Science, Technology and Environment (under MARD) and the Institute of Forest Planning and Inventory (FIPI).

Formulation of a Code of Practice (CoP) for Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) in Suriname

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Suriname -

Until now the Suriname forest sector (both commercial loggers and community based forestry) lacks an appropriate set of rules and regulations for sustainable forest use and management.

Although there are provisions in the Forest Management Act, bylaws and guidelines to promote Sustainable Forest Management (SFM), the sustainability of timber harvesting and forest use (both commercial and at community level) is still hard to assess. Formulating and implementing a CoP will provide a 'reference' for sustainability, offering both commercial loggers and forest based communities clear and practical guidelines for timber harvesting operations and offering the authorities a tool for enforcing and monitoring SFM. Together with the earlier TBI Suriname project on the ‘definition of legality’ (2007) this CoP creates a solid base for (step wise) full SFM certification.

This project resulted in the formulation of a first draft of the CoP and will, based on practice, gradually develop and replace present guidelines and bylaws The project distinguishes the following phases of which the first three are completed within the present cooperation between TBI Suriname and the Foundation for Forest Management and Production Control (SBB):

Agreement among partners and stakeholders on the project, process and expected product(s); the 'kick-off' workshop,
Based on desk research, national, regional and international literature review; the formulation of a first draft of the CoP,
The identification of 'knowledge gaps', guiding the need for additional field research and practical scale testing, and
The enactment of the first draft and successive versions of the CoP.
Communication, capacity building and extension/awareness are core issues during the whole formulation process.

Both commercial loggers and forest dependent communities will directly benefit from improved forest management. Not only does a 'workable' CoP ensure sustainable resource use, it may also create new possibilities for improved livelihoods and poverty alleviation.

If well structured, a CoP is not only a set of guidelines for wise forest utilization but also a tool to communicate this with markets (marketing tool). In this sense the CoP will sustain existing markets and create new ones. Both private and public actors will benefit from this.

Objective

The objective of the project is the formulation of a draft national Code of Practice for sustainable forest management and forest utilization, based on all relevant national legislation and international treaties, concepts of the CELOS Management System and the results of the previous Tropenbos 'legality' project (2007).