The EU funded Strengthening Africa Forest Governance project in Cameroon, DRC, Ghana & Liberia (2011-2015)

The overall objective of this project is to improve awareness of Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) and other international initiatives to combat illegal logging, as well as the engagement of civil society, communities and the private sector in forest governance. This also includes promoting debate and freedom of expression on forest policies in the four countries.

What role does CIDT play?

CIDT is leading the implementation of this four-year 2.4 million euro EU-FLEGT capacity strengthening project, with implementing partners: IDL group, Fauna and Flora International (FFI), and Global Witness. In each of the four project countries CIDT has teamed up with local NGOs, including FODER in Cameroon, Forest Watch Ghana and Réseau Ressources Naturelles (RRN) in the DRC.

The project delivers capacity needs assessments and facilitates capacity building support for civil society, private sector and community actors in the four project countries. One of the main project activities is organizing Forest Governance Forums, or Chatham House style illegal logging update meetings at the national level.

The video below overview gives an insight into the project, the partners and the activities undertaken.

Find out more

• NEW: Read the final project evaluation (PDF, 1.4mb).
• Download the Forest Governance Forums Lesson Learning Study (PDF, 1.5mb).
• Download the project overview (PDF, 200Kb).
• Visit the Forest Governance Forum website.
• View PowerPoint slides about the project’s experiences on capacity building in Central and West Africa.
• Contact CIDT project manager Richard Nyirenda.

Related News

• CIDT hosts annual meeting of forest governance experts
• Capacity Needs Assessment Liberia
• 2015 Improving Forest Governance programme

Forest Governance Forums

FGF Video: Creating Space for Stakeholder Participation in Forest Governance

This is a short video to showcase the key achievements, challenges and recommendations around the Forest Governance Forums. The video is based on the final forest governance forum in Cameroon in 2014 and includes a number of interviews with stakeholders from the community, government, civil society and the private sector.

Lesson Learning Study

Download the Forest Governance Forums Lesson Learning Study (PDF, 1.5mb).

The Importance of Forest Governance

Forests are the world’s richest ecosystems in biological wealth. They provide key services and products for the livelihoods of millions of the rural poor. Forests also make huge contributions to the economies of many countries in terms of income and local employment.

The manner in which forests are governed affects the benefits that can be derived from them. Illegal logging for example, can be seen as a manifestation of poor governance, disregarding the rights of indigenous communities, often displacing them from their land and depriving them of a source of livelihood. It also results in loss of revenue for national governments, impacting negatively on the services they can provide for their citizens.

How the project meets its objectives

• Carrying out capacity needs assessments for private sector, communities and civil society actors involved in FLEGT VPA negotiations and implementation
• Facilitating in-country capacity building events for private sector, communities and civil society actors involved in FLEGT VPA negotiations and implementation
• Delivering an annual UK-based training course on Improving Forest Governance for ‘high’ level civil society and private sector stakeholders involved in FLEGT VPA negotiations and implementation
• Organising ‘Chatham House style’ illegal logging update meetings (Forest Governance Forums) in each of the four countries.