On July 28-August 1, 2014, Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) and the National Forestry Commission of Mexico (CONAFOR) hosted the fifth Next Generation of Forest Agency Leaders seminar. The gathering convened 15 forest leaders from 6 countries (Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Indonesia, Mexico, and the United States), 7 respected scholars and practitioners from around the world, as well as 4 former and current MegaFlorestais leaders, including the Associate Chief of the US Forest Service, Ms. Mary Wagner.
The weeklong meeting exposed the participants to tenure reform, the forest industry in transition, community forestry, Indigenous Peoples’ rights, and challenges with regulations in a relaxed and open setting that encouraged active participation. Through presentations, group discussions and a field trip to a variety of different tenured lands, participants left with a deeper understanding of global transitions and issues in forest governance. They discussed principles of governance for forest agencies of the 21st century. A full day was also devoted specifically to leadership to discuss the unique challenges that forest leaders are facing around the world.
Seminar’s objectives
- Better prepare the next generation of public forest agency senior leaders to lead in a more complex social, political, environmental and market context.
- Engage senior executives from forest ministries and related public agencies in cutting-edge analysis and information for a deeper understanding of global transitions in forest tenure and governance, and markets.
- Promote improved information sharing and networks among these agency leaders through frank and open dialogue in a small group setting where problems and solutions can be discussed openly.
- Strengthen contributions of forest agencies to addressing land rights, poverty alleviation, governance, conservation and climate-related challenges in their countries.
Resources
Presentations
- Introduction to Oaxaca (Spanish | French) – Miguel Angel Soto, Acting State Forester, CONAFOR State Office
- Forest Agencies in Transition – Sally Collins, Co-Chair, MegaFlorestais
- Community Forestry in Mexico – Gerardo Segura, Senior Rural Development and Forestry Specialist, The World Bank
- The role of Community Forestry on Economic Development (Spanish | French) – Francisco Chapela, Program Officer, The Christensen Fund
- Global Trends in the Forest Sector (Spanish | French) – David Brand, Chairman and CEO, New Forests
- Drivers of Deforestation – Bruce Cabarle, President, Concentric Sustainability Solutions
- Current status of FLEGT and VPAs and some thoughts about REDD+ – Jussi Viitanen, Deputy Head of FLEGT and REDD Unit, European Forest Institute
- US Forest Service & Cultural Change and Leadership – Mary Wagner, Associate Chief, United States Forest Service
- Trends in Forest Governance: Reality and Perception of Forest Agencies – Arvind Khare, Executive Director, Rights and Resources Initiative
- Forest Agency Leadership – Sally Collins
- Leadership (Spanish) – Luiz Joels, Former Director, Brazilian Forest Service
- The British Columbia Experience – Doug Konkin, Former Deputy Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, British Columbia, Canada
- Tenure Rights & Reforms around the World: Status and Opportunities – Claire Biason, Networking Support Program Manager, Rights and Resources Initiative
- Experiences from Forest Reform: The Example of Mexico – Gerardo Segura, Senior Rural Development and Forestry Specialist, The World Bank
- Challenges of Regulatory Reforms – Sally Collins and Jim Smyle, MegaFlorestais
- Community Forest Management and Enterprises (Spanish) – Francisco Chapela, Program Officer, the Christensen Fund
Related publications
- MegaFlorestais, Public forest agencies in the twenty-first century: Driving change through transparency, tenure reform, citizen involvement and improved governance (available in English | Spanish | French | Chinese | Portuguese | Bahasa)
- J. Blaser and H. Gregersen, Forests in 300 years (English | French | Spanish)
- Forest Experiences of Mexican Communities (available in English, French and Spanish)
- Rights and Resources Initiative, Lots of Words, Little Action (also available in French and Spanish)
- Rights and Resources Initiative, What Future for Reform? (also available in French and Spanish)
- Rights and Resources Initiative, Status of Forest Carbon Rights and Implications for Communities, the Carbon Trade, and Redd+ Investments (English | French | Spanish)
- World Resources Institute and Rights and Resources Initiative, Securing Rights, Combating Climate Change (also available in French and Spanish)
- The World Bank, An Indigenous Approach for Communal Conservation in the Oaxaca Forest