Forest Governance Index
Weak forest governance in a country’s forest sector can, for example, unfairly benefit select or powerful groups, harm weak or marginalised groups, or deplete natural resources by failing to manage them for the long term.
In contrast, when forest governance is good, participation, legislative clarity, accountability, transparency, law enforcement and other traits support and reinforce each other and consequently underpin legality and sustainability in a country’s forest sector.
As global governance indices appeared to be inadequate to understand the forest sector governance, IPF experts and researchers developed a set of indicators and an approach to capture forest governance evidence at the national level.
Our mission: enhancing forest governance for sustainability
To improve governance, we first need to understand it. The Forest Governance Index (FGI), developed collaboratively between the International Partnerships Facility and the Governance Programme, aims at deepening understanding of forest governance and fostering collaboration among stakeholders dedicated to the management, protection, and conservation of forests.
Our work: providing a comprehensive tool to assess and monitor forest governance
The Forest Governance Index is a key tool for assessing and monitoring the governance areas relevant to the management, protection, and conservation of forests, such as stakeholder participation, legislative and institutional clarity, accountability and oversight, transparency, and compliance, promotion and enforcement, based on evidence rather than perceptions.
In applying the FGI, the IPF has engaged national experts and stakeholders in their evaluation of forest governance at the national level. This collaborative process can help stakeholders to track the evolution of governance over time and see the influence of policy processes on these key areas.
By using the FGI, national stakeholders have the opportunity to participate in assessments, contribute to data analysis, and engage in dialogues surrounding the findings. The insights derived from the FGI hold potential for various actors interested in or concerned about governance in the forest sector. They can serve to raise awareness about critical aspects of forest governance, to facilitate inclusive discussions among stakeholders, and to guide reforms and capacity-building efforts by identifying focus areas and informing strategic interventions.
Resources
Please visit the website of Forest Governance Index to know more about the work.
Contact: Tim Dawson
Disclaimer: The Forest Governance Index (FGI) is a tool for assessing and monitoring governance areas relevant to the management, protection, and conservation of forests. Developed collaboratively between the International Partnership Facility and the Governance Programme, the FGI methodology involves applying the FGI via a collaborative stakeholder process that validates evidence and scoring, ultimately forming the FGI dataset. The framework includes a comprehensive set of indicators for assessing various governance areas together with definitions and a scoring guide to assist its application.