Forests Sourcebook - HCV Resource Network

nal activity at the field level are often simply laborers (and
usually poor people with few alternatives) working at the
direction of others, genuine ethical reasons exist to question
the use of force. In any responsible suppression program,
these risks need to be systematically considered in light of
the probability of success, the accountability and transparency
of the suppression effort, and the skills and training
available to law enforcers. In addition, suppression is an area
for which the World Bank has strict guidelines based on its
mandate that define its level of involvement.
Effective suppression may require the following:
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Developing risk-success matrices to make appropriate
preparations for safe conduct of suppression operations,
or to determine when safe operations are a practical
impossibility. Such matrices should be developed by law
enforcement practitioners.
Tailoring institutional arrangements for major suppression
efforts or crackdowns to local circumstances (see
note 5.2, Reforming Forest Institutions). However, these
arrangements also clearly need to incorporate adequate
provisions for accountability and transparency commensurate
with the likely use of force and the need for security
and confidentiality.
Developing interagency arrangements in which the
police, military, customs, and other law enforcement
agencies frequently and effectively work together with
natural resource agencies. These arrangements require
resources, budgets, planning, and reporting provisions to
be in place.
Training staff members at all levels where extraordinary
suppression efforts are needed, for example, in specialized
skills such as investigating criminal activities, documenting
crimes, handling evidence, and preparing judicial
proceedings. In highly dangerous or specialized
investigations, training appropriate for undercover operations,
firearms safety, and other special expertise may be
needed.
The complexity and risk of suppression efforts underscore
the value of measures to avoid the emergence of a serious
law enforcement problem through sound prevention
and detection efforts. Where such efforts fail, or are not
made, the problems of suppression can rapidly become
nearly insurmountable.
Many of the specific interventions and tools discussed
above can simultaneously contribute to more than one of
the enforcement functions of prevention, detection, or suppression.
Issues of cost, risk, capacity, and commitment
need to be addressed in the design of these programs.
Annex 5.5B to this note brings the drivers of forest crime
(motive, means, and opportunity) together with the prevention-detection-suppression
framework in several typical
typologies of forest crime, and can be used as a tool to facilitate
discussion in country contexts (for example, in the
context of national-level action plans as discussed below).
National-level processes to combat illegal logging
and other forest crime
National and local level forest law enforcement
program. Forest law enforcement programs need to be formulated
at the national and local levels, building on established
laws, institutional arrangements, and the interests
and capabilities of different stakeholders, and need to
address the specific crime problems being encountered.
As a consequence of the FLEG processes (see chapter 5),
some countries are beginning to address forest crime
through concerted, coordinated, multistakeholder, nationallevel
FLEG processes, resulting in national-level FLEG
action plans. Experience with these processes has demonstrated
that combating illegal logging and other forest crime
is as much a political process as it is technical, and involves
reconciliation of the various stakeholder interests in a manner
that enables change. Where the economic stakes in illegal
activities are high, powerful interest groups can forcefully
protect the status quo even if the outcome is clearly
negative from society’s point of view.
Stakeholder coalitions. Rarely is one stakeholder group
able to push through a major change in the established
power balance. Instead, successful change processes rely on
coalitions of several interest groups with different capacities.
Local and international NGOs have often managed to
bring the problem of illegal logging out in the open and
raise awareness among politicians and the general public of
the need to act. Representatives from interest groups
directly involved in timber production can wield considerable
influence among their peers and colleagues. High-level
political champions are also required who are able to fend
off efforts to slow down the implementation of the proposed
measures through behind-the-scenes maneuvering.
Partners willing to support FLEG can be found among
many stakeholder groups. Ministries of finance and local
municipalities are interested in the increased tax revenue
that reduction of illegal activities could bring about. Forest
194 CHAPTER 5: IMPROVING FOREST GOVERNANCE