Side event on “Driving Change in Forest Governance: Public Forest Agencies in the Twenty-First Century”
Date: September 8, 2015 | 18:15-19:30
Location: Durban, South Africa
Organizers: MegaFlorestais, Rights and Resources Initiative, FAO
Background
Governing the world’s forests today is not the same as in the early 20th century, or even a few years ago. In an ever more connected world, change is happening fast, with global markets for food, fuel and fiber driving large-scale forest conversion and the impacts of climate change. Even the most visionary leaders couldn’t have imagined today’s immensely complex management environment. Government agencies must prepare to adapt to these challenges to sustain their relevant and critical roles in their countries. Last year, a group of former public forest agency leaders published a paper outlining five reforms modern forest agency leaders must implement, including: 1. Transparency in governance; 2. Clarification of forest tenure for indigenous and local communities; 3. Inclusive governance; 4. Evolving the design of forest agencies; and, 5. Acquiring new skills.
This interactive session will share innovations in public agency forest governance around these five principles. Of particular focus will be experiences of top forest agency leaders who have put innovations into action.
Programme
18:15-18:25 Introduction by the session’s moderator, Glenn Mason, Assistant Deputy Minister of the Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada and Co-Chair of MegaFlorestais
18:25-19:15 Panel discussion with:
- Tom Tidwell, Chief, US Forest Service
- Fabiola Muñoz, Executive Director, National Forest and Wildlife Service of Peru
- Doug Konkin, Former Deputy Minister, British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, Canada
19:15-19:30 Questions from the audience