Forestland and forest-products enterprises managed by smallholders, community groups, and forest-dependent peoples can make significant contributions to sustainable development. However, the investment required for such enterprises is often lacking or misplaced. In addition, concerns have been raised about potential threats to the legal or customary rights of forest dependent people when investments are made from outside. Work needs to be done to understand the problems faced by local forest owners and managers in this context, and solutions must be found to direct investments in a sound manner towards their enterprises. TFD convened a series of dialogues on these issues in 2009.

TFD's ILCF dialogue initiative was created with the Growing Forest Partnerships (GFP), which is a collaboration between the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), with the support of the World Bank. GFP’s goal is to support local initiatives and mechanisms that will improve the quality and quantity of investment in the forest sector through the implementation of bottom-up, in-country actions. It aims to give a voice to marginalized, forest-dependent groups in national and international policy processes.

GFP Brochure

Dialogues

TFD’s Validation Workshop on ILCF in Edinburgh

14-15 May 2012 - Edinburgh, Scotland

TFD's validation workshop on Investing in Locally Controlled Forestry (ILCF) will take place in Edinburgh, Scotland on May 14-15, 2012. TFD’s ILCF initiative is sponsored by the Growing Forest Partnerships (GFP)and Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA)and the workshop will be hosted by International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). A small group of participants will be joining the workshop to make sure TFD's ILCF Review is comprehensive and reflects the richness of the process we have accompanied. TFD's Reviews are the culmination of each initiative and have the purpose of summarizing and outlining the initiative, analyzing key lessons learned and conclusions we have gathered along the way and indicating ways forward. Needless to say, this document is critical to garner the richness of the initiative we have been a part of and be an added value to efforts in this field.

Ninth Dialogue on ILFC - Sweden Field Dialogue

16-19 April 2012 - Växjö, Sweden

TFD's field dialogue on Investing in Locally Controlled Forestry (ILCF)  will take place in Växjö, Sweden on April 16-19, 2012. TFD’s ILCF initiative is sponsored by the Growing Forest Partnerships (GFP) and Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and hosted by the Swedish Forest Agency (SFA), with support from The Federation of Swedish Family Forest Owners, Södra, and Linnæus University.

Meeting materials available.

Eighth Dialogue on ILFC - Indonesia Field Dialogue

6-9 February 2012 - Yogyakarta, Indonesia

TFD's field dialogue on Investing in Locally Controlled Forestry (ILCF)  will take place in Yogyakarta (Jogja), Central Java Province, Indonesia on February 6-9, 2012. TFD’s ILCF initiative is sponsored by the Growing Forest Partnerships (GFP)and Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA)and hosted by Telapak and The Forest Trust (TFT).

Since TFD’s dialogue in Kenya, stakeholders have developed a set of principles and guidelines for ILCF as well as an investment process model that demonstrates the steps necessary for successful investment in LCF. The Indonesia field dialogue will test the draft guidelines and investment process model against real cases on ILCF with the aim to refine the guidelines and model into a practical tool that can lead to more partnerships and increase investment streams into LCF.

Meeting materials available.

Seventh Dialogue on ILCF - Burkina Faso Dialogue

The seventh ILCF Field Dialogue will take place in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso between 12 September to 15 September, 2011. TFD’s ILCF initiative is sponsored by the Growing Forest Partnerships (GFP) and Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) The Burkina Faso dialogue is hosted by TreeAid.

The seventh ILCF dialogue, to be held on September 12 to 15 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso will look at ILCF cases in the country with the aim to: 

• Refine principles and guidelines for Investment in locally controlled forestry
• Define steps in an “investment process model” that are critical for successful “deals” in the investment in LCF
• Identifying concrete actions for new partnerships and financing mechanisms in ILCF

Co-chair Summary Report (English) (French)

Meeting materials available.

ILCF Writer’s Workshop London

5-6 April 2011 - London, UK

The Forests Dialogue organized a small expert writing workshop in London during 5-6 April, 2011. Building on the progress in ILCF initiative to-date and especially the outcomes of London 2010 Dialogue, the workshop aimed to develop an "investment support guide" for investing in locally controlled forestry. 

Meeting materials available.

Sixth Dialogue on ILCF - Kenya Dialogue

29 November - 2 December 2010 - Mombasa, Kenya

The next ILCF Field Dialogue took place in Mombasa, Kenya between 29 November and 2 December, 2010. TFD’s ILCF initiative is sponsored by the Growing Forest Partnerships (GFP) and the Kenya dialogue was hosted by IUCN in collaboration with Nedbank, Wildlife Works Carbon, Kenya’s Forest Action Network and the National Alliance of Community Forest Associations.

There is shared recognition of the importance of investing in locally controlled forestry to create resilient economies that are able to both sustain, and make returns from forest resources – and the interest in learning more about how to do this has been widely expressed. The goal of the dialogue initiative is to build relationships between the stakeholders, identify the obstacles and opportunities for investment in LCF, and increase the visibility, role, and potential that locally controlled forestry can achieve. The initiative has already made significant progress and contributed to the creation of the global alliance of the G3, the Three Rights Holders Group, which is a network for the collaboration between family forest owners, community forestry and tribal and indigenous peoples of the tropical forest. The three alliances, GACF, IAITPTF and IFFA, form the G3 network cooperating to promote locally controlled forestry and sustainable forest management. Now we want to move towards developing more concrete tools to be used on the ground by investors and communities alike.

The Kenya field dialogue built directly on the conclusions from the London dialogue (please see the Co-Chairs’ Summary Report below or the London Dialogue website) and focused on the recurring theme of the role innovative partnerships can play in increasing investment streams into LCF. The dialogue also aimed to strengthen the implementation of GFP’s work plan agreed by the ILCF stakeholders, by contributing to the development of specific guidance tools. Among the tools the dialogue hoped to expand on are a set of principles and guidelines for ILCF and an investment process model demonstrating the steps necessary for successful investment in LCF. There were around 50 participants, half of which were international stakeholders representing Indigenous Peoples, family forest owners, ENGOs, research institutions, civil society and aid and intergovernmental organizations.

The dialogue consisted of two days of field visits near the coast to see what ILCF can look like on the ground, followed by two days in a roundtable-style dialogue in Mombasa. The field visits included the following locations:

• Vipingo, North Coast – Bamburi Cement rehabilitated sites and biofuel plantation project;
• Arabuko Sokoke, North Coast – Forest reserve managed collaboratively between neighbouring communities, KFS, KWS, KEFRI, Nature Kenya and National Museums of Kenya and associated community projects such as butterfly farming and ecotourism;
• Kaya Kinondo, South Coast – Sacred forest designated as national monument and utilized by the Digo community;
• Rukinga Wildlife Corridor, vicinity of Voi – First CCB certified REDD project in Africa and related commercial activities with neighbouring communities.

Meeting materials available.

Fifth Dialogue on ILCF - London Dialogue

24-25 May 2010 - London, United Kingdom

Research indicates there are huge opportunities to invest in small-scale forestry or community-based forestry projects if financing mechanisms can be adapted and channelled towards this.There are many different perceptions (and perhaps even misconceptions) among ILCF dialogue stakeholder groups. This often involves a mutual lack of understanding of small-scale or community forestry by the investment community and of investment by small-scale orccommunity-based foresters.

Nevertheless, in an increasingly resource-limited world there is shared recognition of the importance of investing in locally controlled forestry to create resilient economies that are able both to sustain and make returns from forest resources – and the interest in learning more about how to do this has been widely expressed. The goal of the dialogue initiative is to build relationships between the stakeholders, identify the obstacles and opportunities for investment in LCF, and increase the visibility, role, and potential that locally controlled forestry can have.   

Meeting materials available.

Fourth Dialogue on ILCF - Macedonia Field Dialogue

1-4 December 2009 - Ohrid, Macedonia

Building on the dialogues in Panama and Nepal and meetings and side events the three rights holder groups involved in this initiative had in the World Forestry Congress, this dialogue focused on the opportunities and challenges faced by small private forest owners in Macedonia and the region. After this meeting the group also set the agenda for the 2010 continuation of TFD's ILCF initiative.

Meeting materials available.

Third Dialogue on ILCF - Nepal Field Dialogue

21-25 September 2009 - Kathmandu, Nepal

The objectives of the Nepal dialogue will be to continue building on the synergy and relationship established among the stakeholders in Brussels and Panama to further instill trust within the group. During this dialogue the group will also continue to build its agenda for subsequent dialogues, the World Forestry Congress in October and COP 15 in December. The dialogue will aim to identify the factors that have contributed to successful experiences as seen on the ground as well as the obstacles that are impeding other successes. Specific catalytic actions to be tested on the ground that can improve and ensure investment flows will be identified and proposed. The Nepalese dialogue will have a strong focus on the role of community forestry in LCF.

Meeting materials available.

Second Dialogue on ILCF - Panama Field Dialogue

22-25 August 2009 - Panama City, Panama

The objective of the ILCF initiative is to develop a clear understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing indigenous, community and family landowners managing forest resources and the need and obstacles for improved investment flows. The intention is to explore the potential north-south connections, to improve knowledge sharing and to identify factors to improve the quality and quantity of investment streams in locally controlled forestry. Through these dialogues we hope to create a functioning platform to link country level multi-stakeholder processes and partnerships to the international dialogue on forests (UNFF, UNFCCC, UN-REDD, FCPF, FIP, etc.) as well as present a joint, consensus-based statement of all participants as part of Forest Day 3 at UNFCCC COP 15 Copenhagen. In Panama we will be visiting local indigenous communities and a local medium-sized sawmill. Based on these field visits we will continue to explore the opportunities and obstacles for LCF and to strengthen the trust and synergy among the stakeholders.

Meeting materials available.

First Dialogue on ILCF - Brussels Scoping Dialogue

9-10 June 2009 - Brussels, Belgium

The Forests Dialogue (TFD) is convening a scoping dialogue in Brussels, Belgium on June 9-10, 2009 on investing in locally controlled forestry. The objective of this scoping dialogue initiative is to develop a clear understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing indigenous, community and small-landowners managing forest resources and the need and obstacles for improved investment flows. The intention is to explore the potential north-south connections, to improve knowledge sharing and to identify factors behind successful forestry interventions and possible ways forward. Through these dialogues we hope to create a functioning platform to link country level multi-stakeholder processes and partnerships to the international dialogue on forests (UNFF, UNFCCC, UN-REDD, FCPF, FIP, etc.) as well as present a joint, consensus-based statement of all participants as part of Forest Day 3 at UNFCCC COP 15 Copenhagen. TFD is collaborating with Growing Forest Partnerships to facilitate this initiative.

Meeting materials available.