Forests Sourcebook - HCV Resource Network

In summary, the global market for wood is characterized
by considerable and increasing pressure on the world’s
remaining natural forests. Without significant investment in
promoting sustainable management of natural forests and
in plantation management, especially in many World Bank
client countries, further degradation, fragmentation, and
destruction of natural forests can be expected. To successfully
change this situation, the wood market must be transformed
into one that ensures sustainable forestry and conservation,
provides satisfactory livelihood opportunities for
forest-dependent communities, and promotes sustainable
economic development.
The Global Vision for Forest 2050 Project, which brought
together leading experts, nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs), industry representatives, and donor institutions,
yielded the scenario depicted in figure 3.2 for a global
closed-forest area of 3 billion ha in 2050. This would result
in an increase in community-owned and -managed forests
and a significant increase in protected areas as defined by
the World Conservation Union (more formally known as
the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and
Natural Resources, or IUCN). The area of state and private
production forests under intensive management would
remain roughly the same as at present, and industrial plantation
forests would increase slightly, from 95 million to 100
million hectares.
Figure 3.2 A Possible Global Forest Scenario for 2050
500 million
hectares
1,200 million
hectares
100 million
hectares
Protected areas (IUCN categories I–IV)
Multiple use forests under community-based
forest management
State forests and private woodlands managed
primarily for timber production
Plantation forest management primarily for
fiber and timber production
1,200 million
hectares
These developments will have a significant impact on
how the World Bank—together with its development partners—can
engage in forest management to develop feasible
solutions to address these challenges. In a broad sense, this
engagement can be put into practice in two ways: (i)
through operational work directly supporting governments
and industry in their efforts to use the potential of sustainable
wood production from natural forests and plantations
to foster economic development and achieve poverty alleviation,
and (ii) through analytical work, ensuring up-to-date
knowledge management and dissemination.
PAST ACTIVITIES
The initial rationale for the World Bank to engage in the
forestry sector in the 1970s was based on addressing worldwide
declining wood supplies and the dependence of the
rural poor on wood energy. To meet these objectives, early
projects promoted industrial-scale forest plantations with
an emphasis on forest engineering components (plant
breeding, fast-growing species, plantation establishment,
and the like). One common feature during this period was
that the forest service was assigned a policing and controlling
role, enforcing forest laws with the main objective of
keeping people out of state-owned forest reserves and plantations.
The involvement of rural people in forestry was limited
to being a source of labor.
The early 1980s began with a shift toward greater participation
by stakeholders and community involvement. The
World Bank started to promote the importance of community
mobilization in stabilizing forest resources and improving
the incomes of forest-dependent communities. The
main objective of this change was to link investment in
forestry with poverty alleviation and environmental protection
efforts.
Following a period of strong criticism from civil society
organizations, especially environmental NGOs, who
regarded World Bank investments as strong contributors to
global deforestation dynamics, the Bank’s engagement in
productive forest management decreased significantly. As a
consequence, in the 1990s the World Bank’s forest policy
and Bank operational activities focused mainly on projects
aimed at the conservation of biodiversity.
In 2002 the World Bank adopted its current forest policy,
which provides the opportunity to reengage in industrialscale
forest management when such investments are certified
under an independent forest certification system that is
acceptable to the World Bank. 4 This development resulted
from the intervention of environmental NGOs that consid-
CHAPTER 3: MEETING THE GROWING DEMAND FOR FOREST PRODUCTS 97