English 10/2

Poore and Thang found that a great deal has been achieved – perhaps more than most expected (see pages 5–6). Advances in policy have been made: the report finds, for example, that “significant progress has been made in policy and legislative reform in almost all producer countries in all three continents”. Most countries have been able to establish a permanent forest estate and have increased the area of forest lands dedicated to conservation, soil and water protection and other environmental purposes. Many new initiatives in participatory forestry are offering local people the chance to help determine how the resource is managed. And while implementation in the forest is still largely lacking, six countries “appear to be managing some of their forests sustainably at the forest management unit level”.