According to Mike Shahanan (mike.shanahan@iied.org ), Press Officer of IIED, the online webinar will focus on the work of the Forest Governance Learning Group (FGLG), a network of teams in ten countries in Africa and Asia who grapple with (vật lộn) this central question of who gets to decide about forests. The FGLG teams believe that solutions to forestry problems lie in increasing the power of local people to make informed decisions over how forests are managed.
You can watch some films about the FGLG on IIED’s website. The film selection includes 5 or 20 minute overview films and country specific films from Ghana, Malawi, Uganda and Vietnam.
The FGLG has produced these short films to show how small teams can have a big impact in tackling forest governance. They collectively make the case that for long term sustainability it is necessary to put social justice centre stage – and that in practice, this means investing in locally controlled forestry.
The webinar will take place today at 1300-14.30 (British Summer Time) at http://www.iied.org/webinar-justice-forests
James Mayers, the head of IIED’s Natural Resources Group will be live online (streaming video) to discuss the films and the answer any questions you have.
Justice in the forests, Vietnam
Local people need legal rights to forests shows how benefits have started to accrue to communities in Vietnam when they were given commercial rights to use forests – and how this provides an incentive for sustainable forest management.
Although many communities in Vietnam have managed their forests for centuries, it is only recently that the government has recognised the legal status of community forest management.
This film compares the case of one village that has received legal title to one that has not. Thon Bon is one of the few villages to have been given legal title under the government’s pilot scheme while Pho Trach, which also relies heavily on the forest for its wellbeing, has been managing it successfully for centuries without legal title.
The co-operative has done a good job of looking after the forest yet the village has not yet been issued legal recognition to its rights to the forest. Instead, they must rely on the co-operative system to manage their natural resources and can fall victim to outside exploitation without compensation.
In the current context of global schemes to fight greenhouse gas emissions, these legal titles provide a real opportunity for Vietnam, provided they can be made to work at the community level.
Gaining security and rights will not only ensure the health and well being of the forests themselves, but also for the people who have cared for them for generations and hope to continue doing so far into the future.