d. National forest policy and programs

International Forest Policy Forum

Stakeholders at the international, regional, national and subnational levels have attached importance to criteria and indicators as providing a framework for policy formulation and monitoring of sustainable forest management and national forest programmes.

(c) Strengthen the vertical linkages between forest policy development and dialogue at the global, regional, national and local levels.

Implementation of national forest programmes. The proposals for action have effectively shaped the national forest programmes and their equivalents in many countries, and these national forest programmes have become national institutional frameworks for achieving sustainable forest management.

CPF members state that, increasingly, national forest programmes are seen as an effective tool for cross sectoral and participatory policy making and for translating international forest related commitments into practice.

Formulation and implementation of national forest programmes

Decentralization in the forest sector should not be implemented in isolation from a general national forestry strategy such as national forest programs.

For example, the FAO Regional Forestry Commissions have helped extend the global forest policy dialogue to the national level, by bringing together heads of the national forestry agencies, in the respective regions, to discuss policy and technical issues of interest.

For the future, there is a need to involve those working on forest policy at the national level, including stakeholders, more fully in the work of the Forum.

(c) Strengthen vertical linkages between forest policy development and dialogue at the global, regional, national and local levels by reviewing the scheduling and cycle of meetings and perhaps by holding regional and global thematic meetings on major forest related issues in alternate years

(l) Integrate national forest programmes, or other strategies for sustainable forest management, as referred to in paragraph 6 (a) above, into national strategies for sustainable development, relevant national action plans and poverty reduction strategies

Despite substantial progress in the formulation and implementation of national forest policies, deforestation and forest degradation continue at an alarming rate.

CPF members explain that they have facilitated national forest programmes in a number of important ways, including through the National Forest Programme Facility and the Programme on Forests (PROFOR).7

The reform of forestry policy is introducing two important innovations (i) preparation of forest management plans and (ii) adoption of forest certification and labelling systems.

The increasing importance of facilitating country level interactions between focal points of the Conventions and representatives of forest related institutions, through use of existing policy and planning mechanisms at the national level, such as national focal point agencies, was underlined.

Collaboration between national focal points of the Forum and those of the three United Nations Conference on Environment and Development related Conventions is also important in order to foster national level collaboration, particularly through the use of existing policy and planning mechanisms, such as national forest programmes.

A forest around the site was also planted by the Jewish National Fund.

National forest programmes have also become vehicles for meeting commitments under international agreements.

At the national level, important developments have included the formulation and implementation of national forest programmes and reforms in national legislation dealing with forests, land use and natural resources, as well as decentralization and the devolution of forest management to communities.

National population policy, 1992

National health policy, 1995

Setting clear objectives for international forest policy and linking sustainable forest management more closely to the internationally agreed development goals are avenues that warrant careful consideration at the Forum.

Epping Forest is a national park in Queensland, Australia, 855 km northwest of Brisbane.

serve as a forum to exchange information and experiences, foster partnerships and monitor progress mobilize financial and technical support towards the development and implementation of national forest policy and programs, including cross sectoral initiatives.

The National Plan of Action on Women and National Policy for Women were the result of a thorough consultative process involving all stakeholders including NGOs. Similarly the National Health Policy and the National Education Policy also involved NGOs not only at the policy formulation but also policy implementation phase.

Working with national policy frameworks

National investment and policy priorities

Over the past 10 years of the international forest policy dialogue process, the debate on a global forest convention has prevented progress on the issues mentioned above and on others.

Contrary to the other national parks in Finland, Koli National Park was originally governed by the Finnish Forest Research Institute Metla.

There is a need to explore ways to use available ODA for the forest sector more effectively in promoting sustainable forest management and building respective national capacities.

To achieve this, national forest programmes or similar frameworks should include clear statements explaining why forest related activities are a priority and why external funding is justified.

In addition, considerable efforts are being made to improve natural forest management and recover forest loss through the Forestry Incentives Programme of the National Forestry Institute (INAB).

Such a framework would also ensure that the objectives of global forest policy are internalized by those member States that ratify the convention, with commitments into agreed targets, improved coordination on the national level through translating commitments to integrated national policies and budgetary allocations.

Many countries report action to improve the use of economic and policy instruments to promote sustainable forest management.

Cross national policy spillovers are frequent.

Practical application National policy on equality.

Some progress has been made to achieve the integration of the principles of sustainable forest management into country policies and programmes, such as national forest programmes or similar strategies.

Such priorities could be common to all options discussed below and could be used to focus international forest policy.

In some countries, the programmes are developed at the subnational level because significant forest policy responsibilities have been decentralized.

One major group points out that national forest programmes are a constructive tool for translating relevant IPF IFF proposals to the national level.

The outputs from the Interlaken Workshop provide a useful framework to structure future deliberations and actions on decentralization at the United Nations Forum on Forests, as well as other national, regional and global fora addressing forest policy.

The national machinery helps the government to develop policy and policy related measures.

Investment policy reviews Exchange of national experiences

Investment policy reviews Exchange of national experiences . .