Governing Africa's Forests in a Globalized World

Governing Africa's Forests in a Globalized World

Edited By Laura A. German, Alain Karsenty and Anne-Marie Tiani

'We often read about African forests in popular media, but it is books like this that set the stories straight, providing insight about experiences, knowledge and interaction based upon the realities of local people and their experiences. If you wish to understand African forests, particularly with a view to global environmental governance approaches, then this book will be an important read.'
Jeff Thurston, Vector One

$104.00
Hardback

The Earthscan Forest Library
November 2009 • 400 pages • 240 x 170mm • ISBN 9781844077564

Many countries around the world are engaged in decentralization processes, and most African countries face serious problems with forest governance, from benefits sharing to illegality and sustainable forest management. This book summarizes experiences to date on the extent and nature of decentralization and its outcomes - most of which suggest an underperformance of governance reforms - and explores the viability of different governance instruments in the context of weak governance and expanding commercial pressures over forests.

Findings are grouped into two thematic areas: decentralization, livelihoods and sustainable forest management; and international trade, finance and forest sector governance reforms. The authors examine diverse forces shaping the forest sector, including the theory and practice of decentralization, usurpation of authority, corruption and illegality, inequitable patterns of benefits capture and expansion of international trade in timber and carbon credits, and discuss related outcomes on livelihoods, forest condition and equity. The book builds on earlier volumes exploring different dimensions of decentralization and perspectives from other world regions, and distills dimensions of forest governance that are both unique to Africa and representative of broader global patterns. The authors ground their analysis in relevant theory while drawing out implications of their findings for policy and practice.

CONTENTS (Expand Contents)

Foreword

1. Forest Governance and Decentralization in Africa: Linking Local, Regional and Global Dialogues

Part I : Governing Africa's Forests in a Globalized World: Framing the Dialogue

2. Forestry and Democratic Decentralization in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Rough Review

3. Elusive Meanings: Decentralization, Conservation and Local Democracy

4. The New Economic 'Grand Game' in Africa and the Future of Governance Reforms in the Forestry Sector

Part II: Decentralized Forest Management: Forms and Outcomes

5. Forest Sector Reforms, Livelihoods and Sustainability in Western Uganda

6. Hidden Harvest: Unlocking the Economic Potential of Community-Based Forest Management in Tanzania

7. Gendered Representation and Participation in Decentralized Forest Management: Case Studies from Cameroon and Senegal

8. Forest Revenue Decentralization and Profits Redistribution in Democratic Republic of Congo

9. Governance of Decentralized Forest Revenue in Central Africa: For Better or for Worse?

10. Local Government and Forest Resource Governance in Mali: Taxation and Decentralized Management of Forest Resources in Siby Rural Commune

Box C: [S. Africa Inlay], 'Governance of Multi-stakeholder Forested Landscapes: The Case of Tree-Water Interactions in South Africa'

11. Decentralization Outcomes in the Context of Political Uncertainty in Zimbabwe: A Comparative Assessment of Co-Management and CAMPFIRE and Implications for Policy

12. Bridging the Gap between Environmental Decision-Makers in Madagascar

Part III: International Trade, Finance and Forest Sector Governance Reforms

13. Trends in Ghana's International Timber Trade: Implications for Local Livelihoods and Sustainable Forest Management

14. Forestry Governance and Trade Transformations: Experiences from Tanzania and Implications for Sustainable Development

15. The AFLEG and FLEGT Processes and the Challenges of Forest Governance in African Tropical Timber Exporting Countries

16. Free, Prior and Informed Consent: Implications for Sustainable Forest Management in the Congo Basin

17. On the Nature of Intergenerational and Social Networks in the African Forest Sector: The Case of Chinese, Lebanese, Indian and Italian Business Networks

18. Climate Change: What are its Implications for Forest Governance?

Part IV: Conclusions

19. Forest Governance and Decentralization in Africa: Issues and Emerging Trends

ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)

Laura German works in the Governance Program of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Indonesia.

Alain Karsenty works for CIRAD, the French research organisation for rural development and forestry, in Montpellier, France.

Anne-Marie Tiani is an independent consultant affiliated with CIFOR and the African Model Forests Initiative.

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