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Governance of Local Forests in ENPI East Countries and Russia Stefan Michel February 2016 This report has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The content, findings, interpretations, and conclusions of this report are the sole responsibility of the FLEG II (ENPI East) Programme Team (www.enpi-fleg.org) and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the Implementing Organizations. The designation of geographical entities in this book, and the presentation of the material, do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of IUCN or the EC concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of IUCN or the EC. Copyright: © 2016 International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Reproduction of this publication for educational or other non-commercial purposes is authorised without prior written permission from the copyright holder provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of this publication for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without prior written permission of the copyright holder. Citation: Stefan Michel (2016). Governance of Local Forests in ENPI East Countries and Russia. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. 318pp. Cover photo: Fuel wood harvested by villagers in Kharagauli, Georgia. © Stefan Michel Available from: IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Global Forest and Climate Change Programme Rue Mauverney 28 1196 Gland Switzerland Tel +41 22 999 0000 Fax +41 22 999 0002 [email protected] www.iucn.org/forests CONTENTS Acknowledgments .................................................................................................................... iii Abbreviations and Glossary ..................................................................................................... iii Executive Summary .................................................................................................................. v Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... v Methods ............................................................................................................................................. vi Historic Background ......................................................................................................................... ix Findings .............................................................................................................................................. xi Pillar 1: Policy, legal, institutional and regulatory frameworks ............................................... xi Pillar 2: Planning and decision-making processes .............................................................. xxiii Pillar 3: Implementation, enforcement and compliance ....................................................... xxx Conclusions - Impact of Governance of Local Forests ............................................................... xl 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 2. Definition of key terms and of the scope of the Regional Study ....................................... 3 2.1 Definition of key terms ......................................................................................................... 3 2.1.1 Governance ................................................................................................................... 3 2.1.2 Good governance ......................................................................................................... 5 2.1.3 Forests ........................................................................................................................... 5 2.1.4 Local Forests ................................................................................................................. 8 2.1.7 Non-wood Forest Products (NWFP) and Non-timber Forest Products (NTFP) 10 2.1.8 Other terms .................................................................................................................. 10 2.2 Scope of the Study ............................................................................................................. 12 2.2.1 Scope in terms of characteristics of forests ............................................................ 12 2.2.2 Scope in terms of status as “local forests” .............................................................. 13 2.2.3 Geographic scope ...................................................................................................... 13 3. Methodology ................................................................................................................... 14 3.1 Existing tools and frameworks .......................................................................................... 14 3.2 Proposed Methodology ...................................................................................................... 15 3.2.1 Gathering of Information and Analysis .................................................................... 15 3.2.2 Framework for assessing the governance of local forests under this Study ..... 16 3.2.3 Case Studies for assessing specific aspects in selected countries .................... 18 4. History of Local Forests in the ENPI-FLEG II countries ................................................. 20 4.1 Pre-soviet Period ................................................................................................................ 20 i 4.2 Soviet Period ....................................................................................................................... 20 4.3 Post-Soviet Period .............................................................................................................. 21 5. Findings .......................................................................................................................... 25 5.1 Pillar 1: Policy, legal, institutional and regulatory frameworks ..................................... 25 Component 1.1: Policies............................................................................................................ 25 Component 1.2: Legal and regulatory frameworks ............................................................... 35 Component 1.3: Ownership and user right systems ............................................................. 41 Component 1.4: Mandates of forestry organizations and territorial bodies ....................... 50 Component 1.5: Financial arrangements, economic instruments and benefit sharing .... 60 5.2 Pillar 2: Planning and decision-making processes ........................................................ 69 Component 2.1: Stakeholder participation ........................................................................... 69 Component 2.2: Planning and decision making on conversion of lands ........................ 75 Component 2.3: Decisions on forest inventory and management planning ................... 80 Component 2.4: Decisions on implementation of forest management activities ........... 86 5.3 Pillar 3: Implementation, enforcement and compliance ................................................ 93 Component 3.1: Capacity of forestry organizations and territorial bodies ...................... 93 Component 3.2: Forest law enforcement .............................................................................. 101 Component 3.3 Administration of forest and land ownership and user rights ................ 108 Component 3.4 Cooperation and coordination .................................................................... 110 Component 3.5 Measures to address corruption and ensure transparency ................... 114 6. Conclusions – Impact of Governance of Local Forests ................................................ 120 6.1 Impacts of governance of local forests on forest cover and forest conditions ........ 120 6.2 Impacts of governance of local forests on economic and other benefits ................. 128 7. References ................................................................................................................... 134 Annexes ............................................................................................................................... 137 1 Applying principles of “good governance” to the governance of local forests ............. 138 2 Case Studies ......................................................................................................................... 147 “Azerbaijan: Ivanovka – the last Kolkhoz and its Forest” ....................................................... 147 “Belarus: Governance of Local Forests by State Forestry Enterprises” .............................. 159 “Georgia: The Long Way to Communal Forest Management” .............................................. 184 “Moldova: Municipal Forests – Development towards Communal Forestry or Handover to the Central Level?” ....................................................................................................................... 217 “Ukraine: “Communal” forests – Effective Governance of Local Forests or Parallel System of Centralized Management?” ...................................................................................................
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