Year: 2002
Type: report
Abstract: Tropical forestry provides a useful entry point for governance programmes. The very factors which make it a challenging sector for development assistance commend it also as a crucible for governance reform: its inclusive focus, linking the global to the national and local; the high levels of income and other benefits which it generates; its local fiscal base; the centrality of issues of tenure and collective rights; and its importance in rural livelihoods, all reinforce the linkages between good governance, public accountability and poverty alleviation. Ensuring that the forest sector fulfils this brief is a major challenge not just to host country governments but also to the donor community. Policy conclusions • Tropical forestry has experience of more general relevance to the good governance debate, and may offer an important source of learning for other aspects of governance reform. • Progress in the forest sector can secure wider gains in governance. • The governance challenges, and the potential contributions of the forest sector, vary according to the nature and management of the resource. • Tropical forestry’s experience shows that a combination of pressures – both ‘bottom up ’ and ‘top down ’ – may be needed to build public accountability. • The transfer of rights over resources is important for turning ‘participation ’ into citizenship. • Forestry’s local fiscal base can strengthen decentralised government, and contribute significantly to poverty alleviation.
Authors: David Brown, Kate Schreckenberg, Gill Shepherd, Adrian Wells
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2337956333