independent forest monitoring

project development work

This page is also available in Spanish and French

Global Witness continues to work to promote professional, objective, and effective IFM in countries where it promises to be a useful and necessary tool to address illegal logging and the associated trade. In 2004-5 we responded to expressions of interest from Ghana and Mozambique. In 2006, we have been aproached by forest authorties in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and Malawi and we will continue to explore the potential for IFM in these countries and others in 2007.

Ghana

Over recent years, Ghana has achieved a measure of success in forest sector reform, moving towards key elements of good governance: transparency, accountability, participation and separation of powers. The establishment of the Forestry Commission, together with implementation of a Service Charter laying out its commitments to various stakeholder groups, public auctions for timber rights (the results of which are made public), and publication of information on benefit sharing, are all initiatives which demonstrate the commitment of the Government of Ghana to public accountability and the rule of law in the sector. The Ghana Forestry Commission is committed to raising log tracking to a standard compatible with the legality licensing schemes proposed by the EU 'Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade' (FLEGT) process. As part of this, it recognises the need of IFM. A recent prospectus stated: 'Such a "Forestry Observer" will provide greater integrity and public confidence in the award and regulation of timber rights.' Global Witness undertook a Scoping Mission in Ghana in late 2005, which sets out options for IFM to those responsible for designing, funding and participating in it. It concludes that there is significant and growing domestic demand for transparency in the forest sector and that IFM would go some way to meet this, and recommends a clear legal framework for IFM which would place it properly as one element in a system of accountability – a set of checks and balances – rather than being seen as a single agency.

Mozambique

The IFM team visited Mozambique in August 2004 to explore the need and possibility of implementing IFM. There has been some interest from different stakeholders in the country and Global Witness continues to liaise with in-country contacts to further investigate the potential of implementing IFM.