Naujienos

   WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank unveiled practical guidance on Tuesday to tackle the complexity of issues surrounding forests' role in poverty reduction, economic growth, and the protection of local and global environmental commons.

    The Forests Sourcebook: Practical Guidance for Sustaining Forests in Development Cooperation is designed to be a resource for countries, staff of the World Bank Group, government and development agencies and other stakeholders in the forest sector, including investment projects, according to a statement released by the World Bank.

    The sourcebook also aims to give guidance on the World Bank's stringent policies that relate to forestry work, said the statement.

    The Forests Sourcebook draws on the experiences of more than 70experts, both within and outside the World Bank, who have applied innovative approaches to implementing the World Bank's Forest Strategy.

    Through concrete illustrations in the first section of the document, the Sourcebook looks at the operational implications of seven themes that are priorities in the sector, from how forests can contribute to poverty reduction, to improving forest governance, and mainstreaming forest considerations in macro-policy dialogue.

    A second part of the Sourcebook provides specific guidance on how to implement the World Bank's Operational Policy on Forests, considered to be a rigorous, state-of-the-art standard in this sector, with special attention to the vital role that consultation and communication need play if a project with a forest component is to be successful and sustainable.

    "Sustainable forest management is more than just growing and protecting trees -- it is highly complex and can only be addressed through a range of actions that blend technical aspects of forestry with other considerations such as how to strengthen policy and governance frameworks to engaging market actors and mobilizing the necessary resources," said Warren Evans, World Bank Director for Environment.

    "Sustainably managing this resource for the vital global public environmental services it delivers will also require the participation of all stakeholders, from international donors to communities whose livelihoods depend on the forests," he added.

    Covering 26 percent of the earth's land surface, forests play a significant role in realizing the Millennium Development Goal of halving the number of people living in absolute poverty by 2015. They contribute to the livelihoods of more than 1.6 billion people and the forest industry provides employment for about 50 million people.

    Forests are also home to 80 percent of the world's remaining terrestrial biodiversity and play a critical role in balancing the global climate through carbon sequestration and climate adaptation. Forests house global public goods, which, to be maintained must be both protected and managed sustainably.

    "We need to tap into the wealth of expertise that exists within and outside the bank on how to structure forest activities so that they have a positive impact on poverty reduction, equitably distributed and sustainable economic growth, and preserving life on this planet," said Juergen Voegele, World Bank Director for Agriculture and Rural Development.

    "The Sourcebook is a key source of this expertise, which will not only help in improving activities in the sector but in ensuring that the sector is taken into consideration in the context of development objectives more broadly," he added.

    In 2002 the World Bank developed a Forests Strategy, in consultation with a broad range of stakeholders, to take advantage of the potential forests offer in poverty reduction, sustainable economic development and the protection of local and global environmental services.

    However, moving beyond the old view of forest protection to a more holistic view of the role of forests in the broader development paradigm brings with it different challenges.

    Addressing these challenges through the multi-sectoral approach outlined in the strategy -- taking into account the impacts of activities, policies, and practices outside the sector on forests and people who depend on forests for their livelihoods -- also requires specific tools, like this Sourcebook, to guide practitioners through the process, said the World Bank.