Forest governance is increasingly seen as a key building block for sustainable forest management (SFM). The term “forest governance” applies to policy and planning, implementation, monitoring and improvement, including the related legislative and institutional arrangements. Due to the growing recognition of the importance of forest governance in progress towards SFM and the reduction of deforestation and forest degradation (including in the context of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, i.e. REDD+), a growing number of efforts are being taken to monitor and report the performance of forest governance.

Forest governance monitoring is a continuous and systematic process of data collection and analysis on forest-related policies, strategies, action or budget plans, and legislation. Data is collected on the way these are developed or amended, their status, and their implementation over time. Forest governance monitoring is usually designed to provide regular feedback in particular on the implementation of activities (e.g. what outputs have been produced, with what inputs, over what time period and by whom). Thus, it provides the information needed to identify and, if necessary, correct deviations from planned objectives and actions. It also provides the information needed for assessments and evaluations. In order to be relevant, Forest Governance Monitoring (FGM) at a country level needs to first of all connect to national monitoring needs, but must also fulfil reporting requirements in relation to international conventions and agreements, including FLEGT and REDD+.

This Working Paper has been prepared in response to country-government demands for support in strengthening their monitoring of forest governance. This publication is a collaborative effort of FAO, the Centre for Development Innovation of Wageningen University (CDI/WUR), Natural Capital Advisers and Tropenbos International (TBI), with inputs of a range of experts. It intends to inform national governments of key aspects of, and preliminary experiences with, the development and operationalization of national forest governance monitoring in the context of national forest-related monitoring systems. It is particularly meant to assist the key players involved in creating a shared understanding on the objectives, outcomes and expectations of the initiative and to clarify the roles and relations among the key players and to provide a basis for designing an implementation plan. It is largely based on the synthesis of the country experiences to date in Zambia and Vietnam. In Viet Nam Tropenbos International and CDI/WUR have jointly supported the process. In both countries scoping studies have been undertaken, followed by a national workshop to inform and consult on the next steps to take, and ways to engage stakeholders in the further work on strengthening FGM, building on existing mechanisms and initiatives.

The Working Paper and the Country scoping studies can be found at the following website: http://www.fao.org/forestry/governance/monitoring/71389/en/