using market forces to improve rural livelihoods and conserve smallholder forests lessons in...
DESCRIPTION
Cecile LachauxPresentation for the conference on Taking stock of smallholders and community forestryMontpellier FranceMarch 24-26, 2010TRANSCRIPT
Using Market Forces to Improve Rural Livelihoods and Conserve Smallholder Forests;
Lessons in Certification of Smallholder Community Forests
Subtitle
25th March 2010
Linking Business with Responsible Forest Management
The Forest Trust (TFT)
• A Non-profit company registered
in UK
• Started in 1999
• A Membership Organization
• Focus on Forest Industry & Trade
• Financed by Members & Donors
TFT Forest Partners(Forest Concessions &
Communities)
TFT Supplying Members
(Wood factory)
TFT Buying Members
(Retailer)
LEGEND
Financial Support
Advice, guidance, and technical support
Products
Purchase payment
External Funding Partners
Community Forest Program
Goal: To facilitate communities and smallholders managing forests for timber to:
• Implement international Best Management Practices for forest management,
• Achieve FSC Certification, and • Link to international markets paying a price
premium for certified wood.
Progress to dateExisting Community Forest Projects; 6 Worldwide• 3 in Indonesia• 1 in Laos• 1 in Vietnam• 1 in Brazil
In Scoping or Development
• 1 in China• 1 in Madagascar
Indonesia & Laos• Independent smallholders
planting high value wood (teak and mahogany) on private plots
• Agrarian households; agroforestry systems
• Wood planted on farmers’ own initiative
• Long history of cultivation of these species by smallholders
Vietnam
• Acacia plots planted on private smallholder land
• Part of government ‘greening’ initiative
• Government forest agency buying wood from smallholders
Brazil• Settlers (colonos) receiving
100 ha natural forest from government
• 80 ha to be managed as forest
• 20 ha for agriculture• Natural forest managed as a
contiguous unit; contracted to logging company MAFLOPS
How it got started; KHJL Case Study
• 2003: High demand for certified teak among garden furniture factories in Indonesia
• Exploration of teak sources in SE Sulawesi
SE Sulawesi; Konawe Selatan District
• Pre-existing program aimed at community management of state teak plantation
• Pre-existing social capital of a 36 villages organized into a cooperative
• Farmers growing teak on their private land• Local partner ‘JAUH’ (Jaringan Untuk Hutan)
• Build on the existing strengths, or social capital of the location in which you start a project
Approach• Facilitate farmers to agree on group guidelines and rules for
management• Empowerment through action-oriented trainings (such as
forest inventories, chain of custody, accounting, contract negotiation)
• Help with documentation• Bringing stakeholders together; farmers, government officials,
market actors• Pilot first, then scale up
Initial ChallengesLegality & Land Tenure
• Lack of land certificates
• Harvesting License Expensive & bureaucratic
• Unexpected Positive Impact
Solutions
• Used receipt for payment of land tax + letter from Head of Village
• Organized large number of farmers to spread out cost (>500)
• Dedicated cooperative staff to process license
• Short-term loan from TFT• Better engagement between
community members and government
• Increased understanding of the laws among farmers AND local officials
Complex Supply Chains
LEVEL 4
LEVEL 5
FIGURE 3. UD. SERBA ADA MAHOGANY CHAIN OF PRODUCTION
LEVEL 2
LEVEL 1
LEVEL 3
FACTORY
6 LOG YARDS
LARGE WOOD TRADERUD. SERBA ADA - BANYUMAS
(CENTRAL OFFICE)
5 SAWMILLS
B A K U L(small wood trader)
WOOD BUYER
F A R M E R
WO
OD
TR
AD
ER
SA
WN
TIM
BE
R
tens of thousands; throughout Java
10-25 small wood traders per medium traders; or approx. 2,300 people
Medium Wood traders 135 total; 50 permanent & 85 non-permanent
Large Wood trader owning multiple sawmills & log yards
Trends: Defining a Group Structure• 2 of 6 (KHJL & KOSTAJASA in
Indonesia) are cooperatives• 1 (PT Dipantara in Indonesia) is
an NGO-owned business• 2 (Vietnam & Laos) are co-
management structures between local government and local communities
• 1 is a logging company (Brazil)
KHJL elected
leadership
council
Cooperative’s All-
Member
Meeting
Village farme
r group
Members Membe
rs
Members
Hired Staff
; such
as accountant,
secretary &
forester
Market Linkage• Selling as a group to overcome middlemen• Calculating expenses per cubic meter• Contracting for transport & sawmill• Estimating time required• Negotiating a Sales Contract; down payments• Ensuring Chain of Custody was applied, and wood was 100%
legal
• Result: Price immediately increased by 50%
KHJL12 villages Assessed February 2005
FSC Certified!– 20 May 2005
2010 28 villages,; 750+ members; FSC certificate maintained
Benefits of Certification• Price Premium• Link with appropriate market;
(small volumes ok; commitment to FSC & CSR principles )
• Increased credibility in the eyes of government & market
• Increased access to information, & inclusion in national policy discussions
Replication of the ApproachJava Mahogany Program
• 2006 began program to certify mahogany smallholders in Kebumen, Central Java, based on demand from TFT member
• 2008 KOSTAJASA mahogany cooperative formed
• 2009 Achieved FSC Certification; 10 villages, 500+ members
Luang Prabang Teak Program; Laos
• 2007 Scoping Visit• 2008 Program Launch with
partners SIDA, JICA, WWF & Laos government
• 2009 first wood sales; formation of co-managed group structure (farmers & provincial government)
• Expected Certification 2010
Lao Cai District, Vietnam• Scoping in late 2007
• Signed MOU to work with the District Forest Department on group certification for surrounding smallholder acacia + government acacia plantations
• Delayed due to lagging market demand
Central Java Teak; Dipantara• NGO focused on empowerment
of smallholder forestry
• Now developed business largely owned by local communities; aimed at group certification and improving local prices
• Started 2007; expected certification 2010
Moving Forward• Developing a Smallholder Certification Handbook
with trainings for how other NGOs can facilitate similar projects; partner with TFT for market linkage
• Exploring possibilities of ‘community wood’ labels or FSC-Fairtrade
• Options to work with plywood factories
TFT Community Forest ProgramSustainable Forests, Improved Livelihoods, Good
Governance