LIST-SERVE AVAILABLE DOCUMENTS
ARD is working with USAID’s Asia and Near East Bureau and several USAID missions in the region to analyze the types and causes of forest conflict, identifying approaches to reducing conflict, and communicating the seriousness of this problem to governments, the private sector, the donor community, and the US public. This work, under a task order entitled Managing Conflict in Asian Forest Communities, builds on the findings of a previous task order that ARD implemented for USAID entitled Conflict Timber: Dimensions of the Problem in Asia and Africa, which identified the extent to which timber is used to finance armed conflict and drive other types of conflict on these two continents.
Incidents of violent conflict over forest resources and forestland are widespread in the developing countries of Asia and are reported in the news media daily. Forest conflict undermines attempts to improve governance, retards economic development, impoverishes rural people, and impairs key environmental functions. Governments and rebel groups in several Asian countries have used tropical timber to bankroll armed conflict, while lower-level conflict over forests occurs in most of the tropical developing countries of the region. In many of these countries, politicians and security forces harvest timber to get cash to buy political support and fund operations, often using intimidation and violence to overcome resistance from communities that depend on forests for their livelihoods. Unable to protect their forests, these already poor people become further impoverished when they lose access to resources and land.
Forest conflict results from poor governance, specifically the lack of accountability and corruption of government and military officials and the failure to establish and enforce laws that grant access to forest resources and forestland in a way that is transparent and seen as legitimate by all stakeholders. Most developing countries in Asia have failed to equitably allocate and sustainably manage their forests, leading to steep declines in the quantity and quality of this valuable resource. Expanding road networks, increasing populations, and exposure to global trade networks have made Asia’s forests vulnerable and more attractive to those wishing to liquidate them for their own ends. The decline of forests, coupled with greater demand for forest products in growing economies, is driving a rush to claim remaining timber, and after that, the land itself.
For more information about this topic, please contact Jim Schweithelm, ARD Senior Associate (jschweithelm@ardinc.com) or Ramzy Kanaan, ARD Associate (rkanaan@ardinc.com). Telephone and fax numbers for both Jim and Ramzy: (802) 658-3890 (phone) and (802) 658-4247 (fax).
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A forum on Security, Development, and Forest Conflict will be hosted by the International Crisis Group and Fiona Hall MEP in Brussels on 8 and 9 February 2006. The forum is supported by USAID, the UK Department for International Development (DFID), and the Netherlands Ministry for Foreign Affairs, in partnership with the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), the European Tropical Forest Research Network (ETFRN), and ARD, Inc. For more information on the forum please visit their webpage: http://www.etfrn.org/etfrn/sdfc/index.htm.
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On December 1 and 2, 2005, USAID, The Forests Dialogue (TFD), and ARD, Inc. convened international leaders from government, the private sector, international organizations, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to explore the nature and impacts of forest conflict in Asia and to discuss what actions the represented sectors can take, individually
and collectively, to address this serious problem through their ongoing work or future initiatives. This event took place at the Beacon Hotel in Washington, DC. For the agenda (with links to presentations), participant list, a summary of the conference, and documents presented at the conference, see the links below:
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Listed below are documents produced or distributed under these two projects. New documents will be listed periodically; if you would like to be added to our list-serve to be notified of upcoming documents, please contact Tracy Simmons.
Documents Available
- Conflict Timber: Dimensions of the Problem in Asia and Africa (June 2003). This three-volume report is the result of the Conflict Timber: Dimensions of the Problem in Asia and Africa project undertaken by ARD for USAID/ANE/TS and OTI. Volume II (Asia) and Volume III (Africa) contain the regional reports that highlight regional findings and trends, and also include the Country Profiles and the in-depth Country Case Studies for Indonesia and DRC. Volume I, the Synthesis Report, highlights overall findings and provides recommendations for USAID to consider in combating conflict timber.
- Workshop Report on Community-Level Impacts of Forest and Land Conflicts in Mondulkiri (May 2004). This report synthesizes a Managing Conflict in Asian Forest Communities workshop in Mondulkiri Province, Cambodia. Due to the dramatic increase in the level of natural resource-related conflict in Mondulkiri coupled with the relatively low level of awareness among the province’s indigenous people of their land and forest use rights, Mondulkiri was identified as the best site for a workshop where community members, local government officials, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) could interact to improve their understanding of the nature of forest and land conflicts and to identify actions to reduce future conflicts.
- Cambodia: The Human Impact of Forest Conflict (February 2006). This 13-page paper synthesizes the context, legal framework and causes of forest conflict in Cambodia. Key statements by stakeholders affected by conflict are highlighted as well as the estimates and methodology for determining the number of Cambodians affected. An addendum, Cambodian Villages Directly Affected by Land Conflict and Located in Conflict Affected Areas presents the data used when compiling the above report.
- Forest Conflict in Asia: How Big is the Problem? (February 2006). The primary purpose of this report is to provide a sense of the scale of forest conflict in Asia to allow governments of countries in the region, donor organizations, NGOs to gauge the relative importance of this issue from the viewpoints of governance, human rights, economic development, poverty reduction, and natural resource management.
- USAID/Philippines Success Story on the Environmental Governance (EcoGov) Project’s work with the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) government to adopt a Regional Sustainable Forest Management Act (RSFMA).
Cambodia: An Assessment of Forest Conflict at the Community Level (June 2004). This report, an assessment of community-level forest conflict in Cambodia, was conducted within the context of the Managing Conflict in Asian Forest Communities project. The assessment provides regionally relevant information and identifies opportunities to address forest conflict in Cambodia through additional activities within the project or through the activities of USAID/Cambodia’s implementing partners.
- Growing Conflict and Unrest in Indonesian Forests: A Summary Paper (October 2004). This summary paper is a synthesis of the Indonesia Case Study from the Conflict Timber: Dimensions of the Problem in Asia and Africa project.
- Indonesia: Meningkatnya Konflik dan Keresahan di Kawasan Hutan Indonesia-Ringkasan Makalah (Oktober 2004). This is the Bahasa translation of the summary paper synthesizing the Indonesia Case Study from the Conflict Timber: Dimensions of the Problem in Asia and Africa project.
- Managing Conflict in Watersheds of Sri Lanka (January 2005). This report examines the effect of the 20-year civil war and increasing demands of a growing population on forest and water resources.
- Forest Conflict in Asia: Undermining Development, Security and Human Rights (February 2006). This two-page brochure discusses forest conflict, its effect on local development and security, and ways it can be reduced or managed.
- Forest Conflict in Asia: A Decentralization Challenge (January 2005). This four-page brochure discusses forest conflict, its effect on decentralization, and USAID programming challenges and assistance.
- Cambodia: Voice of the Poor - Dual language newsletter published monthly by ABiC, a local contractor to USAID/ARD under the Managing Conflict in Asian Forest Communities project. This newsletter covers forest conflict issues in Cambodia.
We have also received information from members of the list-serve about other relevant documents (Note: Reports from other organizations do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or ARD, Inc.):
- Chatham House has launched a website (http://www.illegal-logging.info/) that highlights issues related to illegal logging. The purpose of their site is to provide background information on the key issues in the illegal logging debate, together with news stories, information on events, key documents and links to other relevant websites.
- The Forestry Research Programme of the UK's Department for International Development has been suporting research in Nepal that provides a slightly different perspective on the relationship between forest use and conflict. This study sought to understand how the escalating violent conflict in Nepal has affected the livelihoods of the poor. Traditional rural livelihood opportunites such as the collection and marketing of non-timber forest products have been seriously disrupted. A copy of the report prepared by ForestAction, Nepal, entitled Caught in the Cross-fire.
- The WWF's Global Forests Trade Network has several useful documents and links (http://www.gftn.org/)
- CIFOR's governance brief on Forestry Sector Conflict in Indonesia: Yuliana Cahya Wulan, Yurdi Yasmi, Christian Purba and Eva Wollenberg, An Analysis of Forestry Sector Conflict in Indonesia (1997-2003): http://www.cifor.cgiar.org/publications/pdf_files/govbrief/GovBrief0401.pdf. The full report in Bahasa: http://www.cifor.cgiar.org/publications/pdf_files/Books/BWulan0401I0.pdf.
- The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization has produced several documents about forestry and conflict management: http://www.fao.org/forestry/foris/webview/forestry2/index.jsp? siteId=1760&sitetreeId=8307&langId=1&geoId=0
- CIFOR, Forest Watch Indonesia, Wageningen University and Ford Foundation Jakarta have developed a conflict database and carried out 6 cases studies across Indonesia: Wulan, Y.C.; Yasmi, Y.; Purba, C.; Wollenberg, E. 2004. An Analysis of Forestry Sector Conflict in Indonesia (1997-2003), English version, and Indonesian.
- International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) has just released its newly designed and user-friendly website: www.iufro.org. Their newsletter, distributed 10 times a year, is accessible from the website.
- The “Small Grants Programme for Operations to Promote Tropical Forests” (SGP PTF) is a European Commission (EC) funded initiative implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and executed by the SEAMEO Regional Centre for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA). Mark Sandiford, the Regional Programme Coordinator provided the following brief: SGP PTF Update.
- Friends of the Earth commissioned a study on the social and ecological impacts of large-scale oil palm plantation development in Southeast Asia, "Greasy Palms," by Eric Wakker, AIDEnvironment, in collaboration with Sawit Watch Indonesia and Joanna de Rozario. March 2004.
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