Private Enterprise and Financial Markets > Environment > Forestry and Biodiversity Conservation and Management
Rethinking Forest Resource Use Contracts in Latin America
By Jared J. Hardner, Richard Rice (06/99, En)
The following paper is part of an IDB book recently published titled Forest Resource Policy in Latin America
For additional information on the book contact the IDB bookstore.
This study challenges the current design of forest resource use contracts in Latin America. Radical rethinking of forest resource contracts is imperative, due to the constraints that now face the successful achievement of forest policy objectives of economic development and conservation of forest resources. The constraints identified in this study include:
- Financial incentives that favor selective logging rather than management in tropical forests;
- Lack of a technical basis for silviculture in neo-tropical forests;
- Governments that lack the administrative capacity and political will to impose management; and Cultural and social norms that fail to recognize local users of forest resources.
Forestry is generally looked upon as an important activity in rural development. If conducted in a "sustainable" manner, it is widely embraced as a means to maintain forest cover and thereby provide various environmental services such as biodiversity conservation, watershed protection, carbon sequestration, soil conservation, and habitat preservation. Given the constraints outlined in this study, it seems unlikely that the dual objectives of economic development and conservation will be achieved via current models for forest resource use contracts.
Examples of the current constraints and future opportunities for improving forest resource contract practices are illustrated in five case studies:
- Peru: Current proposals for the privatization of public forests present some innovative approaches to resolving the current administrative and regulatory problems faced by the forest sector.
- Bolivia: The Bosque Chimanes case study illustrates that extensive forest management can be both efficient and of relatively low impact without regulatory oversight. Past efforts to mandate "sustainable" management through regulatory force have failed in Chimanes due to financial, silvicultural, and administrative constraints.
- Colombia: An industry/community collaborative effort at intensive forest management provides an example of resolving the issues of multiple-use and local user rights that plague many forest resource use contracts in Latin America.
- Brazil: The creation and development of extractive reserves offers insight into the viability of non-timber forest products as economic alternatives to timber production.
- Chile: In an effort to reduce the burden on State agencies and improve forest management, the government is experimenting with the transfer of forest concessions to private enterprises for eco-tourism development.
To rethink the current models for forest resource use contracts requires a clear definition of objectives. Current definitions of "sustainable forestry" are inadequate for measuring success. Once clear objectives are defined, realistic means to achieve them must be designed. The following are suggested as means to achieve these economic and conservation objectives:
- Replace command-and-control regulations with periodic performance audits;
- Replace complex revenue systems with an area tax;
- Promote adaptive management techniques that allow for new input;
- Require conservation set-asides within the contracted forest area; and
- Integrate local users into commercial forest resource-use contracts.
This study is intended to serve as a turning point in forest concession policy and provide useful guidelines for policy analysts, non-governmental organizations, and multilateral lending institutions interested in facilitating this process. A comprehensive rethinking of forest resource contracts will greatly benefit all those relying on the economic development and conservation of forests in Latin America.
Last updated: 04/20/07
