Thu, 09/08/2011

Our friends at The Program on Forests (PROFOR) have released an informative toolkit on conducting Forest Sector Public Expenditure Reviews (PERs).  ReSAKSS-Africa Wide coordinator, Sam Benin, aided this project by providing relevant and necessary materials for the findings of the PROFOR team.

"Understanding the processes that drive public expenditure allocations, as well assessing the efficacy of the expenditures undertaken, is crucial for ensuring that forests are properly and sustainably managed." - Executive Summary, PROFOR's Forest Sector Public Expenditure Reviews

In the report, Forest Sector Public Expenditure Reviews Toolkit, PROFOR sets forth an elemental method for ensuring that the forest sector across the globe is well protected and maintained by those who keep them.  The toolkit was molded from 61 different country PERs to set forth "principles and procedures have been developed to guide and support future public expenditure analyses in the forest sector."  The Toolkit discusses challenges that are specific to the forest sector, such as the "compromise between competing objectives" in the forest sector, "ranging from timber production by the private sector to conservation interests to resources for local communities and livelihoods."  Other challenges include corruption, gaps in policy and implementation.

PROFOR was created in 1997 to support in-depth analysis, innovative processes and knowledge-sharing and dialogue, under the belief that sound forest policy can lead to better outcomes on issues ranging from livelihoods and financing, to illegal logging, biodiversity and climate change.  Since 2002, PROFOR has encouraged a big-picture approach to forest conservation and management in developing countries.

Read: Forest Sector Public Expenditure Reviews Toolkit

Visit: The Program on Forests, PROFOR