Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
-
ArticleBuilding sustainable landscapes and local livelihoods through community forestry in Timor-Leste
XV World Forestry Congress, 2-6 May 2022
2022Also available in:
No results found.Agriculture, forests, and livestock sectors contribute to the livelihoods of more than 70 percent of the rural population in Timor-Leste. Forests play a significant role to keep the hilly landscape intact, conserve biodiversity, and support income generation and enterprises development. Studies revealed that there is an increasing trend of deforestation, and degradation in Timor-Leste posing significant threats, including those on climate change, food security and survival of local communities. Forest Resource Assessment (FRA), 2020 shows that the forest areas declined from 0.96 mha in 1990 to 0.92 mha in 2020, and this trend has been accelerating very fast. At present, 67 percent of the forests and forestlands in Timor-Leste are under private (largely customary) and 33 percent under public ownership. Management of customary forests and agricultural land is commonly governed by customary institutions such as tara bandu and recognised by the Laws on General Regime of Forests (2017). The Law stipulates that community forestry is the main strategy for implementing the national forest policy. The Government has recognised the role of local people in conservation of watershed, reforestation, generating income and employment through forest-based enterprises. Furthermore, the Government is committed to devolve legal rights to local communities necessary for protection, management and utilisation of forest resources under community forestry. Against this backdrop, as a part of the community forestry technical cooperation program (TCP) to Timor-Leste, FAO has been supporting community-based forestry,and forest tenure assessment in the country using recently developed global frameworks. In addition, community forestry will be further strengthened through enabling legal framework such as forestry law and community forestry strategy. This paper shares the results, and lessons learned so far obtained from the project and draws outlines on future implications for community forestry for building sustainable landscapes and livelihoods in Timor-Leste. Key words: community forestry; Timor-Leste; forest policies; tenure; customary rule ID: 3485599 -
ProjectStrengthening National Forest Policy in Timor-Lest - TCP/TIM/3601 2020
Also available in:
No results found.Forests cover two-thirds of the land area of Timor-Leste. The majority of the population lives in the forested uplands, and their livelihoods depend on agriculture and forest products. In the last decade, forest area has decreased as a result of unsustainable management, reducing the ability of forest to provide livelihoods to rural people and ecological services, such as water regulation, protection of soils and climate-change mitigation and adaptation. The first ever National Forest Policy (NFP) was formulated with technical assistance from FAO, and enacted in 2007. In order to promote sustainable forest management for the benefit of local people, the Government of Timor-Leste requested that FAO assist in reviewing the NFP, and in formulating the Forest Law as a legal instrument for NFP implementation. -
ProjectSupport the Elaboration and Alignment of Forest Policy and Action Plan to SDGs and Climate Change Agenda - TCP/KYR/3603 2020
Also available in:
No results found.Although Kyrgyzstan is a country with little forest cover, its forests provide a wide range of goods and services and are particularly important for the local communities. More than 35 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. The poorer, more isolated rural communities tend to rely on forests as a source of consumables, energy, and, to an increasing extent, income-generating products. Indeed, many rural families depend on forest resources for their daily subsistence and income. However, forest degradation is a serious problem throughout the country, despite measures taken by the Government of Kyrgyzstan; owing to the unstable economic situation, urbanization and the encroachment of agriculture on forest lands. In addition, the lack of norms clearly defining tenure arrangements for infrastructure, agriculture and mining development on forest lands broadens the gap between the measures taken by the Government and the real situation locally. The low capacity of the local population, a lack of information on the decision-making process for forestry management, and inadequate funding also increase the number of problems affecting the forest sector. In this context, the National Forest Policy, comprising the Concept of forest sector development, the National Forest Programme, and National Action Plan for forest sector development were last revised and updated in 2005, and therefore risked becoming outdated and not relevant to current challenges. Against this background, the Government of Kyrgyzstan requested that FAO provide technical assistance to the State Agency on Environment Protection and Forestry (SAEPF) to improve the forest policies framework, and to create an enabling environment and guidance for country-driven forest sector development, with mechanisms for more participatory and intersectoral approaches, and strengthened institutional capacities for their implementation, towards a more efficient use of public resources and effective conservation and sustainable management of the country’s forest resources.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
No results found.