Forests Sourcebook - HCV Resource Network
Forests Sourcebook - HCV Resource Network Forests Sourcebook - HCV Resource Network
■ be required, including, among others, lease rights, concessions, and privatization of forest land. Transaction costs tend to be high in countries where markets do not yet work effectively, corruption is common, risks and business protection costs are high, and other structural issues (uncertainties and frequent changes in taxation and other rules) increase costs to economic operators. High transaction costs significantly reduce the international competitiveness of the forestry sector and impede private investment. Institutional reforms should pay attention to the potential for reducing transaction costs. REFERENCES CITED McAlpine, J. L., P. A. O’Donohue, and O. Pierson. 2006. “Liberia: Forests as a Challenge and an Opportunity.” International Forestry Review Vol. 8 (1): 83–92. LFI. 2007. The Liberia Forest Initiative Web site. http://www. fao.org/forestry/site/ lfi/en/. PROFOR (World Bank Program on Forests). 2003. “Institutional Changes in Forest Management: Experiences of Countries with Transition Economies, Problems and Solutions.” Workshop proceedings. World Bank, Washington, DC. Public Affairs Foundation. 2004.“Benchmarking Public Service Delivery at the Forest Fringes in Jharkhand, India.” A pilot citizen report card. Unpublished. PROFOR, World Bank, Washington, DC. World Bank. 2005. “Forest Institutions in Transition: Experiences and Lessons from Eastern Europe.” Working paper no. 35153. ECSSD/PROFOR, World Bank, Washington, DC. CROSS-REFERENCED CHAPTERS AND NOTES Note 5.1: Decentralized Forest Management 172 CHAPTER 5: IMPROVING FOREST GOVERNANCE
NOTE 5.3 Strengthening Legal Frameworks in the Forest Sector The law is a powerful tool for shaping forest sector governance. Laws can create institutions and define institutional powers and responsibilities. Laws can set the bounds of acceptable behavior and set the punishment for crossing those bounds. Laws can change the allocation of money among government programs, and shift control over forest resources between central and local government and between government and other actors. Laws can define and strengthen property interests. Law can be part of the healing process that follows years of conflict (see box 5.12). In short, law plays a role in every forest governance issue (see chapter 5 for a definition of governance). The legal framework applicable to forests has at least two areas that the World Bank may help to strengthen. The first, and most obvious, is the law itself—usually statutes and regulations—and the instruments created to operate under the law, for example, contracts. The second is the technical capacity to work within the legal system. This includes the legal knowledge of forest officers and the forest-related knowledge of legislators, prosecutors, judges, and others who help shape and implement forest laws. It also includes the capacity of citizens to understand and work under the law. Making communities, enterprises, and civil society effective users of law and active participants in its development boosts the rule of law and amplifies the benefits of improving the laws. The usual focus of World Bank and donor legal framework projects is on the first of these areas, aiming to reform and strengthen the law. In the process, however, the projects also can strengthen capacity. For example, compiling an accurate set of the existing forest law is a first step toward writing new law, but the compilation process itself can also strengthen implementation of the present law. Public vetting of drafts of new laws is a way to improve the substance of reforms. It also gives officials hands-on training in dealing with the public, and gives stakeholders practical experience in policy making. Strengthening forest legal frameworks typically requires legal advisers, but the task calls for skills that go beyond knowledge of the law. Lawyers working in concert with foresters, economists, policy experts, government officials, and stakeholders can build frameworks that promote both sustainable development and the rule of law. OPERATIONAL ASPECTS The ultimate goal of designing legal frameworks is to ensure the creation of responsive structures that are capable of adapting to changing needs and conditions. Writing a law that works is no easy task, and the stakes are high. A really bad effort can leave the country with a law that looks impressive but is of little practical use and may promote cynicism about government and dampen commitment to the rule of law. A really good effort can set the stage for more effective forest administration. More important, it can improve the transparency of forest governance, motivate under-represented stakeholders to get involved in forest policy, and encourage respect for the law. Working with the law Writing forest laws. A good way to start is to consult two recent references on writing forest law. One, from the World Bank in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), is Forest Law and Sustainable Development: Addressing Contemporary Challenges Through Legal Reform (Christy, Di Leva, and Lindsay 2007). It is a comprehensive monograph on drafting forest law, with practical knowledge from experienced forest law drafters. Annex 5.3A to this note contains an outline of the monograph’s contents that 173
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■<br />
be required, including, among others, lease rights, concessions,<br />
and privatization of forest land.<br />
Transaction costs tend to be high in countries where markets<br />
do not yet work effectively, corruption is common,<br />
risks and business protection costs are high, and other<br />
structural issues (uncertainties and frequent changes in<br />
taxation and other rules) increase costs to economic operators.<br />
High transaction costs significantly reduce the international<br />
competitiveness of the forestry sector and impede<br />
private investment. Institutional reforms should pay attention<br />
to the potential for reducing transaction costs.<br />
REFERENCES CITED<br />
McAlpine, J. L., P. A. O’Donohue, and O. Pierson. 2006.<br />
“Liberia: <strong>Forests</strong> as a Challenge and an Opportunity.”<br />
International Forestry Review Vol. 8 (1): 83–92.<br />
LFI. 2007. The Liberia Forest Initiative Web site. http://www.<br />
fao.org/forestry/site/ lfi/en/.<br />
PROFOR (World Bank Program on <strong>Forests</strong>). 2003. “Institutional<br />
Changes in Forest Management: Experiences of<br />
Countries with Transition Economies, Problems and<br />
Solutions.” Workshop proceedings. World Bank, Washington,<br />
DC.<br />
Public Affairs Foundation. 2004.“Benchmarking Public Service<br />
Delivery at the Forest Fringes in Jharkhand, India.”<br />
A pilot citizen report card. Unpublished. PROFOR,<br />
World Bank, Washington, DC.<br />
World Bank. 2005. “Forest Institutions in Transition: Experiences<br />
and Lessons from Eastern Europe.” Working<br />
paper no. 35153. ECSSD/PROFOR, World Bank, Washington,<br />
DC.<br />
CROSS-REFERENCED CHAPTERS AND NOTES<br />
Note 5.1: Decentralized Forest Management<br />
172 CHAPTER 5: IMPROVING FOREST GOVERNANCE
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