Tag Archive for: vpa

Dialogue with Ivorian womenRodrigue Ngonzo, EU-F4F/Particip

Les voix des femmes s’élèvent dans le secteur forestier ivoirien

La Facilité Afrique-Amérique latine de l’Institut européen de la forêt publie un article qui décrit la situation des femmes dans le secteur forestier ivoirien, ainsi que le renforcement de leur rôle dans les négociations d’un Accord de Partenariat Volontaire (APV) FLEGT entre la Côte d’Ivoire et l’UE. Ces négociations sont en train de reconduire la gestion des forêts ivoiriennes.

Dialogue with Ivorian women
Dialogue avec un groupe de femmes ivoiriennes. Source: Rodrigue Ngonzo, EU-F4F/Particip

Depuis 2018, la Côte d’Ivoire s’est engagée à prendre des mesures pour intégrer les femmes de manière effective dans la gestion des ressources forestières du pays.

Cette plus grande prise en compte du genre est également manifeste dans les négociations d’un APV sur l’Application des réglementations forestières, la gouvernance et les échanges commerciaux (ou FLEGT, acronyme anglais) avec l’Union européenne (UE). Cet Accord vise à améliorer la gouvernance forestière ivoirienne et à assurer que le bois et ses produits dérivés exportés vers l’UE sont légaux.

Plusieurs femmes représentant le secteur civil ivoirien, l’administration publique et l’UE ont partagé leurs points de vue sur les avancées réalisées jusqu’à présent en matière d’intégration du genre dans les négociations de l’APV, ainsi que sur les défis à surmonter pour atteindre l’égalité des sexes.

Ahoussi Delphine, présidente de MALEBI, une association de femmes rurales ivoiriennes, souligne que « si on parle de développement durable, on ne peut pas laisser les femmes en dehors des décisions qui concernent la gestion des forêts. C’est simple : si on veut y réussir, on a besoin des femmes. »

Pour Chantal Marijnissen, négociatrice en chef de l’APV pour l’UE, « les négociations de l’Accord doivent contribuer à la reconnaissance du droit des femmes à jouer un rôle dans la gouvernance forestière, et à être incluses dans le partage des bénéfices économiques obtenus des forêts ».

Lire l’article : Les femmes ivoiriennes réclament leur place dans le secteur forestier

En savoir plus :

EU-Côte d’Ivoire FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA)

Author: FLEGT.org Info

Dialogue with Ivorian womenRodrigue Ngonzo, EU-F4F/Particip

Women voices raise in the Ivorian forest sector

The VPA Africa-Latin America Facility of the European Forest Institute has released a story describing the situation of women in the Ivorian forest sector, and the reinforcement of their role in the negotiation of the EU-Côte d’Ivoire FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA). The Agreement is reshaping the way forests are managed in Côte d’Ivoire.

Dialogue with Ivorian women
Dialogue with Ivorian women. Source: Rodrigue Ngonzo, EU-F4F/Particip

Since 2018, Côte d’Ivoire has committed to taking measures to effectively integrate women into the management of the country’s forest resources.

This greater consideration of gender is also reflected in the negotiations of a FLEGT VPA with the European Union. The Agreement aims to improve Ivorian forest governance and ensure that timber and timber products exported to the EU are legal.

Several women representing the Ivorian civil sector and the public administration, as well as the European Union, have shared their views about the gender developments achieved in the negotiation of the VPA, and the challenges yet to overcome to achieve gender equality.

Ahoussi Delphine, president of MALEBI, an association of Ivorian rural women, highlighted that “if we talk about sustainable development, we cannot leave women out of decisions that affect forest management. It’s simple: if we want to succeed, we need women to be on board”.

For Chantal Marijnissen, chief VPA negotiator for the European Commission, “the negotiations of the Agreement must contribute to the recognition of women’s right to play a role in forest governance, and to be included in the sharing of economic benefits derived from forests”.

More information:

EU-Côte d’Ivoire FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA)

Author: FLEGT.org Info

La Unión Europea y Honduras acuerdan combatir la tala ilegal y promover el comercio de madera legal

Honduras y la Unión Europea (UE) firman un acuerdo sobre la aplicación de leyes, gobernanza y comercio forestales. El acuerdo garantizará que toda la madera y productos derivados hondureños importados a la UE tengan un origen legal y dispongan de autorización.

Jutta Urpilainen (UE) y Roberto Ochoa Madrid (Honduras) firmando el AVA. Fuente: Comisión Europea

El acuerdo voluntario de asociación (AVA) fue firmado el 23 de febrero por el embajador de Portugal, Nuno Brito, la comisaria europea de Asociaciones Internacionales, Jutta Urpilainen, y el embajador de Honduras, Roberto Ochoa Madrid. Entrará en vigor cuando ambas partes lo hayan ratificado de acuerdo con sus procedimientos internos.

Honduras es el primer país latinoamericano en firmar un acuerdo voluntario de asociación con la UE en el marco del Plan de Acción para la Aplicación de Leyes, Gobernanza y Comercio Forestales (FLEGT, por sus siglas en inglés).

Según establece el acuerdo, Honduras pondrá en marcha mecanismos sólidos para garantizar que la madera producida en el país se obtenga legalmente. De este modo, se creará un sistema de seguimiento de la legalidad que permita evaluar la producción de madera en Honduras con criterios similares a los establecidos en el Reglamento de la madera de la UE.

Este proceso favorece las metas comerciales y de desarrollo sostenible de la UE y contribuirá al objetivo más amplio de reducir la tala ilegal.

Author: FLEGT.org Info

EU and Honduras agree deal to combat illegal logging, promote trade in legal timber

Honduras and the European Union (EU) have reached an agreement on forest law enforcement, governance and trade in timber products. The agreement will ensure that all Honduran timber and timber products imported in the EU are legally sourced and licensed.

Authorities from the European Commission (left) and Honduras (right) signing the Honduras-EU VPA. Source: European Commission

The Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) was signed on 23 February by the Portuguese Ambassador Nuno Brito, European Commissioner for international partnerships Jutta Urpilainen and the Ambassador of Honduras Roberto Ochoa Madrid. It will enter into force after each Party has ratified it in line with their internal procedures.

Honduras is the first Latin American country to sign a voluntary partnership agreement with the EU under the Action Plan on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT).

As per the agreement, Honduras will develop robust mechanisms to ensure locally produced timber is legally obtained. A timber legality assurance system will be set up to assess Honduran timber logging with requirements similar to the ones set in the EU Timber Regulation.

This process enhances the EU’s sustainable development and trade goals and will contribute to the broader objective of reducing illegal logging.

Author: FLEGT.org Info

Trees give small farmers in Thailand access to loans

The EU FLEGT Facility has published a story describing how farmers in Thailand are starting to reap the benefits from international timber trade talks between Thailand and the European Union.

Mongkol Wandee measures a tree. Source: Somporn Khongthanakrittakorn, EU FLEGT Facility

Until recently, forest laws put limitations on farmers around the harvesting and transportation of certain tree species. Organisations such as the Private Forest Plantation Cooperative Limited – a cooperative of tree growing farmers and private land owners – used the trade talks to push for amendments to forest laws to improve the situation for farmers. 

In 2019, the Thai Government changed regulations regarding the use of trees on private land. Farmers can now legally harvest all trees on their land and get additional income from them without burdensome paperwork and/or field inspections.

Read the story on how this is impacting one farmer and his family in Thailand.

Author: FLEGT.org Info

Evidence of VPA impacts: findings from Cameroon, Ghana and Indonesia

A study conducted in Cameroon, Ghana and Indonesia, three countries at different stages of implementation of Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs), signed within the framework of the EU’s Action Plan on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade, showed that the VPA process contributed to significant improvements in various dimensions assessed.

Source: Ollivier Girard/CIFOR

Supported by the FAO-EU FLEGT Programme, the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) conducted a study to gather evidence of the contribution of the VPA FLEGT process to four thematic areas:

  1. Sustainable forest management and forest conditions;
  2. Relation and development of the formal and informal forest sector;
  3. Jobs and employment;
  4. Governance, law enforcement and compliance.

Overall, the findings showed progress on many VPA-related targets, and that for most of the observed changes, VPA contribution is generally positive.

The most significant reported contributions of the VPA were found in the areas of Sustainable forest management and forest conditions, and Governance, law enforcement and compliance.

The full article with further details is available on the FAO-EU FLEGT Programme website. 

Other links

Author: FLEGT.org Info

South-east Asian countries share progress to tackle illegal logging and its associated trade

The 7th Regional Training Workshop on Timber Legality Assurance took place from 19 to 21 November 2019 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Participants included representatives of nine member states of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, Japan South Korea, the European Union, international organisations and the ASEAN Secretariat. They discussed their efforts to tackle illegal logging and its associated trade, and measures for trade in legal timber products.

Discussions on country progress on forest law enforcement, governance and trade. Source: EU FLEGT Facility

Delegates shared Indonesia’s experience with VPA implementation, FLEGT licensing and monitoring, and discussed progress in other ASEAN member states and in China, Japan, South Korea and the EU to ensure and document timber legality. Significant advancements since the last Timber Legality Assurance workshop in July 2018 in Thailand became apparent. Discussions also covered multi-stakeholder collaboration among ASEAN member states on forestry, governance and trade issues, and enhancing inter-agency coordination on environmental and forest law enforcement and management in the context of climate change. There was agreement on the need to improve understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing small and micro-economic entities to participate in legal and sustainable supply chains. 

 Participants of the workshop during the opening ceremony. Source: EU FLEGT Facility

Other topics covered were enforcement efforts for timber legality in ASEAN member states and the increasing importance of the legality of imported timber for Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand in particular.

The workshop was co-organised by the EU FLEGT Facility, the ASEAN Secretariat, the Indonesia Ministry of Environment and Forestry, and the Indonesia Multi-stakeholder Forestry Programme Phase 4.

Related content:

Author: FLEGT.org Info

Strong law enforcement drives responsible timber businesses in Ghana

The EU FLEGT Facility has published a story reporting how law enforcement and continuous checks on operators are transforming business practices in Ghana’s timber sector. Companies are making noticeable improvements, in particular in relation to environmental and social obligations.

The Ghana VPA has enhanced enforcement of health and safety requirements in forestry operations. Source: EU FLEGT Facility

Strengthened law enforcement is part of an ongoing effort in Ghana to improve the governance of the forest sector, and safeguard the long-term survival of the country’s forests. Law enforcement, as well as demands for better health and safety conditions by employees becoming more aware of their rights, and are yielding impressive results. 

Read the story: Strong law enforcement drives responsible timber businesses in Ghana

Author: FLEGT.org Info