As new mechanisms for ‘reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation’ (REDD) are being negotiated in international climate change talks, resource tenure must be given greater attention.

Approximately 17 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions are caused by land-use change and, in particular, the destruction of tropical forests. Reducing land-use change and forest degradation has been shown as a cost-effective way of slowing carbon emissions compared to other mitigation strategies such as curbing emissions from power stations.

This report reviews the status of SMFEs in Ghana. It provides information on the various issues confronting the sub-sector and identifies mechanisms for harnessing the potential of SMFEs to effectively contribute to poverty reduction and sustainable forest management in Ghana.

The Program on Forests (PROFOR) supported a research project in the miombo ecoregion to address these and other issues that a REDD program in the region would be confronted with.

The annual value of small and medium forest enterprises (SMFEs) in Ethiopia amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars – dominated in rough order of value by fuelwood, herbal remedies, wild coffee, honey and beeswax and timber furniture. The majority of these enterprises are informal and remain largely unregulated and untaxed by any government authority.

This paper looks at a legal arrangement for enabling forest communities in Ghana to better participate in the benefits generated by timber activities. In Ghana, legislation requires logging firms to commit a portion of their financial resources towards the provision of social amenities to local forest communities. Logging firms must perform this legal obligation by signing and implementing “Social Responsibility Agreement” (SRAs) with forest communities. This report assesses strengths and weaknesses in the design and implementation of SRAs, and the extent to which they have made a difference to forest commun

This report reviews the growing consensus on best practice in small enterprise support, both within and outside the forest sector. It describes how a framework known as ‘market system development’ unites attempts to: strengthen enterprise associations, facilitate better provision of financial and business development services, and improve the business environment. It concludes with specific recommendations for support to SMFEs

This study surveys a thriving, albeit largely informal, SMFE sector in Malawi. It looks in detail at four promising subsectors: timber, cane furniture, tree fruit juices and woodcarving.

This paper is for government authorities with responsibility for the forest sector. It aims to clarify what ‘responsible forest business’ might mean. Drawing out four major conclusions, it proposes a bigger and bolder idea of responsibility than many notions of corporate social responsibility. It suggests broader ethical consideration of what business is responsible for, who business is responsible to and over what time frame business is responsible. The paper ends with some practical steps to improve governance towards responsible forest business.

Although Bolivia is one of the countries with the most water per capita in the world, and demand is about 1% of supply, localised water scarcity continues to breed conflicts. Despite many attempts at integrated watershed management, there have been few successes. Projects have rarely focused on improving efficiency or managing demand. Management has usually been through top-down laws and regulations, few of which have succeeded. This report assesses whether market tools can improve watershed management, and the livelihoods of watershed residents. It describes the studies commissioned as part of the analysis, what they were intended to assess, and their findings. The report concludes by offering lessons learned for negotiating fair deals for watershed services in Bolivia.