ADVISORY BOARD MEETING 2013

An Introduction to the What, Why and

How, of Forest Governance

Assessments.

Nalin Kishor (Sr. NR Economist, PROFOR, The World Bank)

WHAT IS FOREST GOVERNANCE? HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM FOREST GOVERNMENT?

• Forest governance comprises processes, and institutions (formal and informal) through which government agencies, citizens and other groups articulate their interests, exercise their legal rights, meet their obligations, and mediate their differences. It is geared to the management of the resources of the sector to sustain and improve the welfare and quality of life for those whose livelihood depends on the sector.

• Responsibility for fostering good forest governance lies collectively with the Government + Relevant Stakeholders.

• With this responsibility comes the need to understand forest governance better

• An assessment is an attempt to measure forest governance.

• Assessments can be used to diagnose problems, compare conditions, or monitor efforts to change.

• Assessments require a clear and detailed definition of what is to be measured.

• Many recent assessments have used the FAO–PROFOR Framework, a detailed definition of forest governance developed by a diverse panel of experts representing NGOs, development agencies, and country-level practitioners.

WHAT IS A FOREST GOVERNANCE ASSESSMENT?

ADVISORY BOARD MEETING 2013

FAO-PROFOR Forest Governance Framework (“Framework”)

Pillar 1: Policy, legal, institutional and regulatory frameworks

• 1.1 Forest-related policies and laws• 1.2 Legal framework to support and protect land

tenure, ownership and use rights • 1.3 Concordance of broader development policies

with forest policies• 1.4 Institutional frameworks• 1.5 Financial incentives, economic instruments and

benefit sharing

EXAMPLE: COMPONENTS IN PILLAR 1 OF THE FRAMEWORK

EXAMPLE: SUBCOMPONENTS IN PILLAR 1, COMPONENT 1.1, Forest-Related Policies and Laws

• Existence and quality of policies, laws and regulations

governing forest use and management

• Clarity and coherence of policies, laws and regulations

governing forest use and management

• Extent to which forest-related laws and regulations facilitate

effective and efficient implementation and avoid overreaching

and unnecessary requirements

• Extent to which policies and laws support adaptive forest

management

• Consistency of forest laws with relevant international

commitments and obligations

Our planning discussion draws on the PROFOR–FAO publication, “Assessing Forest Governance: A Practical Guide to Data Collection, Analysis, and Use”. To begin, we will discuss the following:• Identifying why you are doing an assessment. Your

answer to “why” forms the foundation of your remaining work.

• Assessing the context in which you are working. Context can affect when you decide to do an assessment and what approach you take.

• Setting out your objectives in consideration of what is practical to achieve.

PLANNING A FOREST GOVERNANCE ASSESSMENT (1): SETTING YOUR OBJECTIVES

Defining the “Why?”

Some examples of why people have done assessments:

•To diagnose problems, as a first step in developing measures to improve. (Uganda case)•To raise awareness, as an NGO might do as part of an advocacy campaign. (Ecuador case)•To monitoring impact of a new law or policy. (Liberia case)•To set a baseline for future monitoring. (Indonesia case, for REDD+)•To expand existing forest monitoring to cover governance. (Tanzania case)

Considering context

Think about—

•Windows of opportunity: could upcoming events affect the impact of an assessment?•Risks: what might go wrong, such as misuse of results, injury to reputations, etc.•Other ongoing initiatives: to prevent duplication and find synergies•Widely known sector issues/key problems: to be sure to measure relevant aspects of governance•Stakeholders and political economy: to know who to involve and how to make the assessment more influential

Setting objectives

Develop a hierarchy of objectives, reflecting a theory of change:

•Outputs: tangible items that will come from the assessment (e.g., a report, reflecting views of diverse stakeholders, on governance problems and priorities)•Outcomes: key developments that will follow from the outputs (e.g., consensus develops regarding problems and priorities; planning and funding respond to this consensus)•Goals: the ultimate objectives that the assessment will serve (e.g.: to coordinate and inspire donor and country efforts to address illegal logging)

PLANNING AN ASSESSMENT (2): ADDRESSING THE “HOW” QUESTION & DEVELOPING A WORK PLAN

Six steps:

1. Identify the scope. Are you interested in governance generally or just specific aspects? What geographic areas will you cover? What’s the social scope (e.g., special emphasis on particular agencies or stakeholders)?

2. Identify the approach. Based on your capacities and desired outputs, how do you expect to gather data? Desk reviews? Expert consultations? Focus groups? Surveys? Workshops?

Common data-gathering approaches

•Desk reviews: Analyze existing documents•Expert analysis: Ask one or more experts to provide knowledge and opinions•Surveys: Collect new data from the public or affected populations through questionnaires, structured interviews, etc. •Key informants: Hold structured or semi-structured interviews with selected knowledgeable individuals•Focus groups: Hold small structured discussions with groups of key stakeholders•Workshops: Convene a broad range of stakeholders to share knowledge and insights

STEPS TO DEVELOP A WORK PLAN (CONTINUED)

3. Identify who will conduct the assessment. Who will fund it? Who will do the field work? What will the stakeholders’ roles be?

4. Consider timing. When will the assessment be done? How long will it take? Do we expect to repeat it periodically? For how long?

5. Create a budget.

6. Capture all of the above in a written plan.

WHERE WE WILL HEAD NEXT:

• Webinar 2 (19 February) will cover forest governance data collection: planning it and doing it.

• Webinar 3 (26 March) will cover analyzing your data, making recommendations, and getting your results out to the right audiences. Also, we will talk about setting the stage for any assessments that might follow.

For More Guidance:

The FAO–PROFOR Framework: Search on the internet for “Framework for Assessing and Monitoring Forest Governance”

The PROFOR–FAO Guide to Good Practices: Search on the Internet for “Forest Governance Data Collection and Analysis”

THE REFORM CHALLENGE

“And one should bear in mind that there is nothing more difficult to execute, more dubious of success, nor more dangerous to administer than to introduce a new order of things; for he who introduces it has all those who profit from the old order as his enemies, and he has only lukewarm allies in all those who might profit from the new. This lukewarmness partly stems from fear of their adversaries ... and partly from the scepticism of men, who do not truly believe in new things unless they have actually had personal experience of them.”

(From Chapter VI of Niccoló Machiavelli, The Prince. Peter Bondanella and Mark Musa, translators. (Oxford U. Press revised edition, 1984, p.21).

ADVISORY BOARD MEETING 2013

THANKS FOR LISTENING

QUESTIONS?

Nalin Kishor, Ph. DSr. Natural Resources EconomistPROFOR Forests Team, GENDRnkishor@worldbank.orgThe World Bank1818 H St., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20433 ' +1-202-473-8672www.profor.info