| Why: Conservation and sustainable management of the forests of the Amazon Basin is a critical environmental challenge facing Latin America . Unfortunately, in many parts of the Basin inadequate management regimes persist, deforestation rates are increasing, and illegal logging is widespread. These challenges undermine legal activity in the forest sector, lead to loss of irreplaceable biodiversity and negatively impact upon those whose livelihoods depend on forest resources.
The main goal of the workshop was to promote better forest conservation and management through improved transparency in the forest sector in all Amazon Basin counties. “Increasing transparency” encompasses more than efforts to combat the major threat of illegal logging and associated corruption. Creating greater transparency is a comprehensive process involving clear articulation and communication among all stakeholders of policies and practices related to forest use (planning, harvesting, sale, etc). Greater forest transparency depends upon the commitment of governments, communities, and members of the private sector to work together to achieve common goals such as verification of legality in wood sourcing, improved public awareness of activity within the forest sector, and creation of a public constituency able to demand accountability in forestry transactions and access to forest resources.
What: The Forest Transparency Workshop presented a range of tools, incentives, approaches, lessons, and techniques from the Amazon Basin and beyond. It provided opportunities for participants to learn from successful private sector, government, community, and indigenous approaches to managing forests and forest products. It featured an innovative Marketplace for Ideas demonstrating emerging and proven technologies to improve monitoring of forest cover and the movement of forest products and to strengthen auditing systems that regulate forest management. The following organizations presented at the Marketplace for Ideas: Helveta and Tropical Forest Trust, Global Witness, World Wildlife Fund “PandaTrack”, Winrock, Atech, Friends of the Earth - Brazil , Forest Stewardship Council, Instituto Centro de Vida (ICV), Amazon Institute for People and the Environment (IMAZON), World Resources Institute (WRI), Rainforest Alliance/Smartwood, SGS, and VERIFOR. The Marketplace for Ideas and related workshop sessions provided an opportunity to address obstacles to the widespread adoption of these new technologies by producers, consumers, and policy makers. The workshop served as a neutral forum to discuss and propose concrete solutions to challenges faced by each stakeholder group within the forest sector.
Workshop Objectives:
- Identify main challenges to and opportunities for improving transparency in the forest sector in the Amazon Basin .
- Exchange experiences and share lessons learned about forest transparency in the region.
- Equip workshop participants with knowledge and resources about available technologies and approaches to increase transparency.
- Identify concrete actions and/or commitments.
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